College Athletes Deserve to Be Paid - Essay Example

College Athletes deserve to be paid

According to the regulations currently in place, intercollegiate athletes can only be compensated in the form of scholarships that cover academic costs such as books, tuition, fees, and accommodation. Compensation solely by scholarships that only cover expenses which can be paid directly to the college exposes a huge majority of college athletes to living standards that are below the rest of their peers who may be able to work or are eligible for student loans. This is because the remainder of the expenses that do not fall under the scope of the scholarship are not catered for. Dunnavant states that "grant-in-aid doesn't provide cash for incidentals such as laundry and toothpaste." The situation is worse for athletes who are not from privileged backgrounds as they cannot turn to their families for financial aid. Furthermore, the scholarships are awarded based not only on athletic performance but based on the student's academic performance. To uphold ethics, fairness and also ensure athlete students can perform academically, the current regulations should be changed to allow monetary compensation.

Firstly, paying student athletes would benefit not only the athletes but the college and the sports industry at large. It has been documented that students often engage in corrupt dealings in order to earn some extra money and be able to support themselves at school. Cases of athletes receiving illegal payments in order to attend certain colleges are common (Sage 290). By allowing payments, colleges would benefit in that they would not be perceived negatively or be suspended from sporting activities by the NCAA. Colleges lose much-needed revenue that can be used to support academic programs if they are suspended from sporting activities for irregular practices. Payments would also benefit students by keeping them in school and enabling them to attain their degrees. Many students drop out from college in the hopes of turning pro and being able to earn off of their talent. Finishing college is of great benefit for an athlete as they have more options in addition to pursuing professional athletics careers. They would also have a better outlook on life.

College athletes in sports like football, basketball and baseball rake in billions of dollars for their respective universities. The sports departments get revenue from the sale of tickets and sponsorship deals which are shared among coaches and other support staff while the athletes are legally not allowed to receive any payment. This is unethical as it can be argued that the athletes do most of the work on the field while directors, coaches, and NCAA officials only reap the benefits. These athletes are being exploited because in addition to producing revenue for their schools, other organizations that do not contribute to their scholarships like television networks and shoe companies also benefit from their talent. According to Burton and Peachey (3), the answer to the question whether intercollegiate athletes are unjustly exploited would be a definite yes. The NCAA, colleges and other for benefit organizations who generate millions of dollars unjustly exploit the labor of intercollegiate athletes because they do not give them their fair share of the profits.

In these hard economic times, everybody needs to secure their future the best way they can. Many families are struggling, and any financial input from family members would be welcome. Athletes may be popular around campus, but this does not reflect in their living standards. Some cannot even afford to buy tickets for their parents and bring them to the stadiums to watch them play (Corlett 296). Allowing athletes monetary compensation would change their lifestyles to reflect the amount of work they put into training. Some students who play in college are from underprivileged families. Their families cannot afford to pay their college tuition hence most struggle without a source of income. Indeed, the very essence of a scholarship is to help people with talents to pursue higher education while also exploring their talents. Paying students would lift the financial burden from low-income families who can rest assured that their children can access higher education comfortably. Athletes are forced to live in worse conditions than most of their peers because scholarships do not cater for all expenses. Other than tuition fees, a college student has other requirements such as money to fuel their cars, buy personal effects or afford to entertain themselves once in a while.

There are however arguments that seek to discredit the fight for student athletes getting fair compensation for the time and effort they put into sports activities that benefit their colleges. For instance, it is argued that athletes are already privileged in that they get to pursue courses they might otherwise not have been qualified for or able to pay for. College education provides them with an opportunity to get good paying jobs when they graduate. Furthermore, collegiate sports provides then with a platform to display their talent that could cold attract professional teams who scout for young talent. However, it is widely known that scholarships can be terminated if the player is not able to sustain the obligations stated during the award of the scholarship (Washam 26). Losing an athletic sponsorship would spell doom and uncertainty for those who do not have any other means to sustain college fees at the college institution. An athlete's future is not as certain as they would want us to believe. Furthermore, there is always a risk of sustaining an injury every time an athlete enters the field. Collegiate athletes should, therefore, be able to live off their talent as they are not guaranteed that their scholarships cannot be terminated once awarded.

Again, it is argued that student athletes are not that worse off considering that not everybody in college is from a well to do family. Other students apply for student loans or find part-time jobs to support their college education. Some collegiate athletes may however not be eligible for student loans. Athletes spend more than 40 hours a week in practice sessions. It would be impossible to sustain a part time job and also be able to perform academically with such a demanding schedule. Getting financial compensation would help athletes cover the added expenses that are not covered by their scholarships.

Opponents of college athlete getting paid for playing argue pushing institutions of higher learning to pay athletes would be unethical in that it would erode values that preserve amateurism and place athletics before academic performance which is the main aim of attending college in the first place. They further argue that this would unbalance the college sports industry as the best paying sports departments would be able to attract the best talent, leaving other institutions at a disadvantage. Sticking with the ethics argument, it is hard to justify why the NCAA would withhold stipends for athletes given the huge returns they get from conference agreements with broadcasting networks and sale of merchandise. It is difficult to argue about ethics when payment to athletes would only be a small fraction of the ever growing wallet of wealth of the sports organizations and sports departments of the universities and colleges. Currently, the NCAA has deals with CBS as well as Turner which amount to more than $800 million. For the tear 2014, it had standing contracts worth more than half a billion per year (Berri 481) While it might be true that there would be talent drain from poor institutions, it is also true that there already exists inequality in the scholarships themselves. Many athletes receive scholarships that only cover a portion of educational related expenses, leaving the individual to cover the remainder of expenditures. Furthermore, all athletes do not perform at the same level, and their compensation should not be the same. For this reason "compensation through scholarships is inequitable among athletes. It is not an accurate reflection of the quality of a stand-out athlete" (Murphy and Pace 167). The issue of inequitable pay among the athletes could be solved through unionization that would enable that all athletes get compensated based on their performance. It is reported that colleges earn millions from sponsorships and endorsements (Sanderson and Siegfried 117). Instead of having these profits go into the pockets of coaches and executives they could be used as a supplementary source of income for athletes in colleges of a scholarship to comfortably pay their student athletes.

It is argued that star student-athletes cause enough trouble already as it is. Opponents argue that it is not prudent to give 18-year-olds huge amounts of cash as it would interfere with their education. Already, even without the huge sums of money, fame and recognition that college athletes enjoy go into their heads and affect their academic performance negatively. Giving them monetary compensation would therefore only worsen the situation; most are young people can easily be drawn into bad practices by having large amounts of cash at their disposal (Sullivan). However, this argument can be refuted by the fact that student athletes are already getting paid, albeit illegally. As noted earlier, some colleges have been suspended in the past for luring athletes to play for them through monetary incentives. In addition, there is an underground economy, whereby athletes sell memorabilia and receive other favors such money handshakes from friends of the program (McFall 463). To put a stop to this illegal practice, one author suggests that there should be a standard stipend for all athletes for the first three years, which can be raised once they are seniors (Groves 134). This would be an effective measure to control improper behavior and also serve as an incentive for the athletes to pursue their degrees to completion. The fact of the matter is that it is crucial for colleges to pay athletes to reduce corruption in college sports and also ensure they are adequately provided for to finish their college degrees.

Finally, there is the argument that without their respective colleges, individual college athletes are not worth the value they place on themselves. The main argument here is that institutions, and not individuals inspire loyalty among fans and they would still be able to sell merchandise and tickets regardless of the players playing for them. Evidence to back this claim is that some teams have still managed to draw large crowds even during years they were performing poorly. Some big names in sports like football and basketball see little difference in attendance regardless of whether they had a good year or a bad year. This argument can, however, be refuted because it is only elite teams that can expect huge attendances even when they are playing badly. Even so, they realize that the numbers cannot be sustained and that is why colleges put a lot of effort into getting good recruits. Some individual players can attract crowds regardless of the team they play for. This can be evidenced by under the table payments from coaches to athletes in order to keep them in their teams (Southall 24).

All in all the arguments for paying college athletes outweigh those against monetary compensation in the college sports industry. Arguments that paying student athletes would be unethical as it would promote inequality in the industry do not hold because unionization as well as setting a standard stipend ca prevent talent shift from less financially able institutions to the established ones. The argument that athletes already get enough benefits from free scholarships can also be rebutted by the fact that these scholarships only cover academic related costs, leaving a huger percentage of the athletes living below the poverty line. Moreover, the argument that monetary compensation would negatively affect the academic performance and commitment to finishing the degree program can be solved through the plan to have a stipend compensation program that increases the payable amount as one reaches senior year. Considering the high amount of Revenues College athletes generate for the NCAA as well as the sports department and universities they play for, there is no justifiable reason to deny them monetary compensation.