Pay To Play: Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Does it make sense for an academic institution to run a multimillion dollar entertainment business, which is what college football and college basketball have become?  Does it make sense for these institutions to pay the student-athletes who participate in these football and basketball programs?

The reality is that college sports programs, namely the "big name" programs such as football and basketball programs at marquee schools, are businesses that stand to make a large amount of money for their respective schools.  According to an article in the Harvard Journal on Legislation, "[i]n the past twelve years, the amount of money generated by these two sports has increased nearly 300%, such that they now fund almost all other sports programs. 41 Harv. J. on Legis. 319.  The student-athletes who participate in these programs are part of the reason why these schools stand to make such handsome profits: through ticket sales, endorsement deals, broadcasting deals, and jersey sales (although player names cannot be represented on jerseys), among other things.

Mark Murphy, Director of Athletics at Northwestern University, who participated in an ESPN debate on the topic of paying student-athletes, argues that these athletes currently receive scholarships, whose value, in some instances, totals close to $200,000 over four years.  He stated that all student-athletes have made similar commitments to the schools, and that football and basketball players should not be treated any different than other athletes, who participate in sports that are not as popular and lucrative.  Paying athletes anything beyond a scholarship, argues Murphy, would cause problems, particularly from a gender equity standpoint.  What Murphy seems to referring to when he says "gender equity" is Title IX federal regulations, which cut off federal funding of colleges if those colleges discriminate on the basis of sex.  Paying male student athletes more than female student-athletes could possibly be construed as discrimination.

However, others argue that these athletes are producing revenues not only for the schools, which gives these students scholarships, but also for shoe companies, television networks, and the conference in which these schools belong.  Moreover, the equity problem could obviously be solved if all collegiate athletes get paid the same base salary for their participation. 

There are also student-athletes who have to leave school early because they do not have enough money to continue, or to pay their bills and leaving school for a career in professional sports is an easy way of making money.  The argument is that if student-athletes get paid, they will remain in school and complete their education.

But, is money such a big problem for these student-athletes?  Don't they receive scholarships?  How much more money do they need?  The truth is that "full" scholarships do not always entirely cover tuition and cost of living.  However, these students can still do what a majority of students do, which is to get loans.  Still, some of these student-athletes do not qualify for such loans, so there is still a gap between the money they get and the total cost of attendance.  This gap,coupled with the fact that football and basketball players help generate so much revenue, has caused some intercollegiate teams to provide their athletes with extra compensation, which is in direct violation of NCAA bylaws. 41 Harv. J. on Legis. 319. 

Perhaps creating a method of payment above and beyond scholarships would help to decrease the amount of corruption, and "under the table" activities of some of these nationally recognized sports programs.  But creating such a system may also lead to other problems.  Developing such an economy in college football and basketball would result in a monetary race to buy the best athletes in the country.  This would lead to a significant gap in talent between rich schools and poor schools.  The disparity would result in a lack of competition, and may result in "Cinderella" teams becoming a thing of the past.  The more the disparity, the less the competition, and the less the competition, the less excitement.  Less excitement will result in less revenue, and less revenue means less money for collegiate programs other than basketball and football.  Ultimately, however, the main concern with paying athletes should not be one of establishing competitive balance and preserving "Cinderella" teams. 

The main problem with paying student-athletes is that it is not the college's primary function.  The primary function of academic institutions is to educate, and not to hire student-athletes for their contributions on the basketball court or football field.  Moreover, colleges already provide student-athletes with an invaluable benefit.  This benefit comes in the form of a college degree, which gives students opportunities in the job market that they would otherwise not have had.  These basketball and football programs also provide some student-athletes the opportunity to get excellent educations for which they normally would not have been qualified, or have applied.  These programs also give student-athletes the opportunity to become professional athletes.  Moreover, most of these sports programs have been around long before present-day student-athletes began to participate in them.  How much of the financial success can be attributed to the players, especially in college sports, where a team's success is largely dependent on the coach's and his or her staff's abilities? 

Many of these programs were profitable long before some of these players arrived, and some of these players probably chose a particular program because of their past success.  These players may have chosen a school due to the amount of scholarship money they were receiving, but scholarship money is usually not enough to overwhelm other considerations such as a school's academic standing, the coach's leadership and teaching skills, and a school's reputation.  Paying student-athletes any more than a scholarship would put such considerations in jeopardy, resulting in student's making decisions based on how much money they are offered, as opposed to making decisions based on where they will succeed in all aspects of college life.  The college experience, a student-athlete's educational experience should be about more than just dollars and cents.

Despite the strength of the reasons as to why student-athletes should not be paid, there are certain problems with the current NCAA system which can and should be cured.  The gap between a full scholarship and the cost of attendance should be covered by the academic institution, especially when a student athlete does not qualify for a loan.  Such a policy will go a long way in ensuring that student-athletes are not leaving school to become professional athletes because they cannot pay their bills.  Academic institutions should be able to provide at least that much for their athletes.  Ultimately, this is a form of payment, but it is not the type of payment that some individuals are advocating.  The primary purpose of these institutions is to educate; it is the coach's job to teach, and not just in terms of the sport a student athlete plays.  These schools should facilitate the educations of student-athletes through scholarship grants, but not through a system of salaries dependent on supply and demand, which ultimately detracts a student-athlete from picking a school, and detracts them from attending a school, for the right reasons.

Comments

[AbsogsTab]

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[T.C.]

This comment is directed towards Garrett (April 24, 2006 at 12:29 AM) I, actually know a starting (high school senior) basketball/football player that feels college athletes should not be paid. He feels that student sports players have the glory of being on those fields and courts. Playing sports that bring in millions of dollars does not justify paying these young men and women because they are not on a professional level , and I agree. Going to college and receiving an education is their main priority; sports is their job. Playing sports is not their job; therefore they should not be paid for it.

[Jack]

College Athletes should not get paid. Scholarships are enough. If you pay them, it will turn in to the NFL/MLB problem. They will use all of their money to buy steroids and other performance enhancers. They don't know what else to do with it. Stupid idea

[hillary]

Why should we pay college athletes? I thought playing sports was about the love of the game? And money shouldn't be motivation for playing sports. Student athletes should play because they want to not because they want a paycheck.

[Carlos]

i think paying student athletes would be great! not just for the money but it can also help us, and for some motivate them! we the athletes put lots of effort in the sports we play, and what do we get??? well the congrat, n the trophies are great, and we rank ur schools higher makin them look tough to beat! but what bout us? Money can be helpfull in lots of positive ways. You all shoul think about the positive ways this can help us!

[No Way]

I disagree with Steve (2nd post). Sports are an extracurricular activity; they are not a mandatory college course. I feel college athletes have the pride and honor. College is a beginning in life; what you do after that is up to you. For example, my dad played football in college: he had fun with the sport and has the memories with him. College athletes are jealous that non-student athletes have money. They feel that for playing sports they deserve money. In the off season they should find a job. Which most do!!

[O.Sharpe]

Yeah I feel this Article because its not fair if you go to collage and just not get paid for it and you sit on the sideline and don't get no shine and then if you do, you still might not go no where cause it happen to good players in the past too.

[Steve]

Anyone that posted a comment saying that athletes shouldn't get paid obviously aren't athletes. I saw something like should a student get paid to study? Well that isn't even the same thing. Athletes take the same classes and put in 6-7 hours (sometimes more) of sport specific work. Non-Student athletes hold job to support themselves, athletes "work" 42-49 hours a week at their sport. That is a full time job and they have no time for anything else. You saying that athletes on scholarships shouldn't get paid is like saying that students with academic scholarsihps should be forced to do 49 hours per week of community service at taco bell not getting paid.

[OLLIE TOM]

i think the college players should not be paid because no other people get paid if there in like high school or middle school because there both in school and if they want to gat paid they schould play in the NFL.

[michael gonzalez]

awesome topic!!! being a former collegiate athlete i find this topic very interesting and ironically i attend a different university than the one i used to play football. I'm very passionate about this topic and i'm currently writing my research paper on this topic. If anyone has any information on this topic (sources) i can use please let me know!

[Alexandra]

Everyone is putting Athletes on a high pedestal that is unnecessary. Most College Athletes have been given scholarships. Most dont have to worry about paying for college, paying for books, paying for a gym access, paying for tutoring, paying for food. As an student athlete all of these things were taken care of. Athletes should not get paid for working hard. Should a student get paid for studying? Should an athlete get paid for playing? the answer is NO. If Colleges were to pay their athletes just think about the chaos it would cause.

[Amy S.]

someone plz help I'm writing an essay on whether athletes should have scholarships. E-mail me if u can help me.

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[matthew consalvi]

im writing a controversial essay about college athletes being paid. If you have any suggestions let me know. thank you!!

[Brad]

Im doing a debate speech on weather or not college athletes should be pay to play. I would really appreciate it if i could get some information. Any thing would be great. Thanks.

[tom]

When the coach of a large school basketball program like Tom Izzo of Michigan State University makes a total compensation of 7 million dollars and his program loses 1 million dollars its time to rethink college athletics. Other coaches get 2 to 3 million dollars of base pay and they get this to coach 20 to 30 guys to play basketball. The coaches have agents for god's sake. Meanwhile the ATHLETE gets at best $30,000 a year of room, board, and tuition money. They also get to be treated like slaves. MAKE THE ATHLETES PAID EMPLOYEES OF THE UNIVERSITY. This will eliminate all the problems of title IX, etc... . The athletes can pay for their education out of their salaries like any working student. If the universities can pay students to be teaching assistants, lab assistants, and other scutt work jobs, why not pay athletes that make the school MILLIONS?

[Tyler]

I am writing a persuasive essay on this topic and would appreciate any information that anyone has.
Thanks

[jen]

hey i am writing a pursuasive speech about why stipends should NOT be allowed. Any good ideas??

[Kyle Douty]

I do not think college athletes should be paid to play sports. They recieve scholarship money to come to the school, and that is a fair amount of payment. Other college students hold down one or two jobs, do homework, study, and still maintain social lives. Paying athletes raises too many questions without answers. Are they paid by hourly wages? If so, what about extra practice times? Do wages increase or decrease with wimming and losing records? The most important question is where the money comes from. Sports porgrams in general pull money for a school, but not enough to pay athletes. It is usually just enough to maintain the sport and perhaps add to the budgets of some other programs.

[Brett C.C.]

I feel that student athletes should be paid while playing for their university. These athletes have no time to themselves, they are in class, working out, going to practice, and doing homework everyday of their lives. Now that they have done all that in one day, its at least 8 or 9 at night. Where in their schedule would they have time to get a job to support themselves? This is just one of the many reasons why student athletes should be getting paid to play!

[Kenny CC]

I believe that college athletes should get paid for their time and effort that they devote to their teams. These athletes put in about 20 of practice time a week, plus travel. In addition to that, people pay some serious money to come watch these student-athletes play. I know that I'm not the only one who knows where that money goes (into the Athletic Dept) but these kids are what makes the athletic dept possible, so thats why i think that they should get paid!!!

[Elizabeth C.C.]

College athletes should not be paid. There is the issue of where the money would come from because most athletic departments do not have enough money to pay all student-athletes. If only certain players or teams are paid, this creates conflict between all the programs. Even though some college athletes are highly recognized, they are still representing the school. Also, some athletes already receive full scholarships to compete even if they are not great students.

[Meghan C.C.]

I believe college athletes should get, paid but make it even all across the board if one sporting team gets money so must the next. I feel that sports are a full time job plus having academics on their plate. When you are involved in a sport during college you can’t (don’t have enough time in the day) get a part time job, because you just don’t have anytime and I feel that athletes need to be receiving just a little extra money to pay for food, uniforms, insurance (medical), practice gear etc. The Necessities! Some athletes come from low-income families and just can’t afford the extra things!

[carrington cc]

I don't think they should because there will always be the debate on who gets paid how much. There are always ego's with stars on a football team thinking they should get more money then a bench player.

[sarah CC]

College athletes should be offered to pay to play, including a full scholarship. Salary levels should be kept at reasonable amounts,not as high as a professional would earn. Scholarships do not cover every student-athletes' needs and that brings about the question when does the student-athlete have the time to work a job besides school, practice, games, conditioning, etc... Time for a job is out of the question because athletics is a job itself. Pay them to play, probably more athletes that are recruited into the program, will stay in the program. Most cases when money runs shorts, their college career is done.