Should Collegiate Athletes Get Paid for Play?
There has been a discussion every year on if student-athletes should receive pay for their
performance in their sport. Most people agree that they should not because they receive a full ride and benefits as to being a collegiate athlete. Also, some people believe that universities and coaches make millions of dollars and the players are the ones that are out there playing. This issue could go both ways but it will always have its pros and cons. So, should they get paid if they are the ones bringing the money in?
Honestly, I feel that collegiate-athletes should not get paid because it would become a revolving door of issues. There will always be the larger universities that have more money to spend and smaller schools would not be able to hand out so much money. That's where the area of unfairness would come into play. If they were to start paying players, there would be a totally, big difference in how the more talented players are paid than the bench-warmers. In the beginning, athletes would probably like the fact that they’re getting paid and then some athletes will find a problem with the system and that will start complaints. Yes, they go out and win games, which bring money to the university but the school pay for all of their expenses, tuition, books, and room and board.In the article ”College Athletes Do Not Deserve to be Paid” , author William Boor, stated that Penn State assistant Jay Paterno had this to say, “let me start the argument by making a proposal to parents and students alike...I am going to ask you to work no more than 20 hours a week for 21 weeks - with at least one mandatory day off every week. For another 23 weeks you’ll work no more than eight hours a week. You’ll get eight weeks off. (These are all NCAA-mandated time limits).”
Now even though students do not get paid for their performance, there have been scandals where schools have given athletes some improper benefits for playing at their school. So if schools are paying players under the table, why should they get paid like professionals? They shouldn’t and should keep things they way they are. Everyone doesn’t get caught but that doesn’t mean that its right. According to the “Washington Post ”,Cam Newton, a former star quarterback for Auburn University, had many people to believe that he only attended Auburn because he received improper
benefits. So this issue would bring up plenty questions. Would players like Cam Newton get paid more than players that sit on the bench most of the game? I think, eventually there would become a difference on how much each athlete is paid because talented athletes will only attend a university at the right price.
Collegiate athletes with a full scholarship should be thankful.There are the normal students that will have to pay back loans that they received throughout their time in college. Athletes will not have to worry about that because everything that has to be paid for is done so by the university. Adam Robinson states in his blog post, “Bowl game and their gifts”, “Bowl are allowed to spend $500 on each player and the gifts continue to flow freely at the bowl games”. There wouldn’t be enough money to go around if they decide to pay all of the athletes a salary every year. Some sport departments may take hits because we all know that football and basketball would consume most of the funds. The sports like swimming, gymnastics, or maybe even field hockey wouldn’t be as fortunate as the top sports. The smaller schools wouldn’t be able to afford the cost. Alvin, states in his article “Should College Athletes Be Paid? Pros and Cons of Each Perspective Part 1”, “According to Title IX, a federally-mandated law, if conferences and schools decide to increase the value of student-athlete scholarships to cover living expenses, they have to do it for women’s programs as well.” School would have to take financial cuts in some programs like, swimming, gymnastics, and maybe even field hockey. We all know that football and basketball will call for most of it because those two sports bring in most of the money. Athletes would be more worried about getting paid than their education. Education is key and if they work hard enough, then one day they can play professionally and get paid for what they love to do.
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