Should College Athletes Be Paid? Arguments and Solutions

Introduction

College athletes devote enormous time and energy to athletic competition — so much so that they are routinely considered athletes first and students second. For parts of the year, their role in sports actually obliges them to miss classes. Because college sports is a massive industry today, college athletes provide an extraordinary source of revenue for their universities. Yet, for all the work, time, and energy that student athletes invest in their sport — whether basketball or football — they receive no pay for the services and entertainment they provide to millions of fans across the nation. In a society where equity and fairness are highly valued, one must wonder why college athletes appear to be getting the short end of the stick.

This essay examines the reasons why college athletes should be paid and the reasons given for why they are not. It also examines some of the problems with the current arrangement and why it leads to the corruption of athletes and administrators. Finally, it offers a solution that should be satisfactory to all stakeholders by allowing players to benefit financially while also preserving the integrity of the game.

Reasons for Payment of College Athletes

As Hartnett (2014) notes, being a college athlete is more than a full-time job. When most athletes are also full-time students, either sports or education will take a hit — and the reality is that in the college sports industry, student athletes are expected to give 100% to athletics, even if it means missing classes. The average Division I college football athlete devotes more than 43 hours a week to practicing and training — three hours more than the average full-time worker logs at the office. The critical difference is that the worker is paid for helping the business generate revenue. The athlete, though helping to bring in millions of dollars for the institution, does not make a dime (Edelman, 2014).

What does the NCAA have to say about this arrangement? The National Collegiate Athletic Association, which states that it "is a member-led organization dedicated to the well-being and lifelong success of college athletes" (NCAA, 2018), argues simply that student athletes are students — not employees — and that events like the big-money-generating NCAA tournament do not oblige these same "students" to miss classes for nationally televised games that bring in huge advertising revenue for the colleges. In practice, however, they do: if students want to be part of the teams, they must put games before classes — especially if they are there on an athletic scholarship.

How much advertising revenue do these tournaments and games generate annually? The total figure suggests that college athletics is approximately an $11 billion-a-year industry — a figure that rivals, if not exceeds, professional sports in terms of revenue generated (Edelman, 2014). In order to guarantee this revenue year in and year out, college athletes are expected to perform at an extremely high level, which is why college coaches make enormous salaries, especially when their teams are title contenders (Edelman, 2014). Meanwhile, student athletes receive zero compensation — and if they dare accept a dime for their hard work, they can be expelled, investigated by the FBI, and have their lives and careers ruined.

Reasons Against Payment of College Athletes

Wilson (2016) provides several reasons why college athletes should not be paid. First, he argues that many college athletes are already being compensated for their performance: it comes in the form of an athletic scholarship that allows them to attend the university at no cost. That can often amount to a total compensation package worth upwards of $100,000. This gift of free education is provided to the student athlete in exchange for an athletic commitment to compete throughout the course of the year. In this sense, a quid pro quo exchange already takes place. Wilson (2016) asserts that student athletes should not act as though they are uncompensated when the value of the education they receive alone exceeds what most students earn working part-time jobs during four years of college.

Second, Wilson (2016) points out that if athletes were paid with an actual paycheck, there would be far too much focus on negotiations, contracts, and bonuses — all of which would detract from the fact that these students are attending universities, not playing for professional sports clubs. The worry is that monetizing athlete labor would diminish the integrity of the institutions. Colleges support athletics because they recognize the positive effect sports can have on a student body, on the development of students' character, and on the country as a whole. The emphasis of college athletics, Wilson argues, should remain on students pursuing a degree while playing games they love and building character and sportsmanship.

Third, Wilson (2016) suggests that if colleges were to pay players, many universities simply would not have enough money to do so — particularly smaller schools that are not major Division I programs routinely competing for championships. If one college begins paying players, every college would be expected to do likewise in order to attract talent and boost enrollment, and that is something most institutions cannot afford (Wilson, 2016).

Conclusion

College athletes should be paid for the work they put into the games played on the field — after all, these games generate huge revenues for the schools, and college athletes put in full-time hours in order to make the games exciting for fans. That reality leaves them no time for part-time employment and creates strong incentives to seek illicit compensation or to leave school early for a professional career. The college athlete trust fund represents the right solution: it compensates athletes fairly, encourages graduation, and preserves the educational integrity of the institutions they represent.

References

Edelman, M. (2014). 21 reasons why student-athletes are employees and should be allowed to unionize. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman/2014/01/30/21-reasons-why-student-athletes-are-employees-and-should-be-allowed-to-unionize/

Hartnett, T. (2014). Why college athletes should be paid. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/tyson-hartnett/college-athletes-should-be-paid_b_4133847.html

Mathis-Lilley, B. (2018). The real lessons of the weekend's NCAA scandal. Retrieved from https://slate.com/culture/2018/02/college-basketball-exposes-undermine-coaches-claims-about-paying-players.html

Moroses, R. (2017). Understanding the trust fund proposal. Retrieved from http://collegead.com/understanding-the-trust-fund-proposal-for-compensating-student-athletes/

NCAA. (2018). What is the NCAA? Retrieved from

Swanson, R. (2017). Want to clean up college athletics? Pay the players. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/made-by-history/wp/2017/10/02/want-to-clean-up-college-athletics-pay-the-players/

Wilson, B. (2016). 5 reasons college athletes should not be paid. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@brandonlwilson/5-reasons-college-athletes-should-not-be-paid-46c6d1399892