SPORTS AND ENTERTAINMENT: SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID TO PLAY?

Sports and Entertainment: Should College Athletes be paid to play?



Sports and Entertainment: Should College Athletes be paid to play?

Introduction

It is six o'clock in afternoon at Florida State University. A young college football player has just finished the three-hour practice and is walking down sidewalk with his teammates. They enter local McDonald's for the burger. The young football star reaches into his pocket and pulls out the hand full of lint. He cannot work the part-time job like vast majority of his peers, because he already has the full time job in football. His coaches, trainers, athletic directors, and university are all making large amounts of money off him and his teammates.

The actual producers of revenue, players, cannot afford the burger not to mention $70 replica jerseys of their self sold in school bookstore. Although scholarships pay for the college education, many believe that student athletes should receive money that schools make from athletic programs.

The NCAA has the history of suspending athletes for extra benefits. Roughly 130,000 Division 1 athletes compete in collegiate sports; NCAA makes money off each athlete (Stewart, 1998). For example, teams competing in six major bowl games shared over $40 million that sponsors put up for games. In 1995 Fiesta Bowl, both Nebraska and Florida each received $8.6 million for sending their football teams to play for College National Championship (Reeves, 1995). (Bremmer, 1990).

Many people accept as true that athletes are already being paid. First, scholarships are worth as much as $30,000 per year. Christiansen points out, in Big Ten conference scholarships come to $42 million the year (2000). That free education is entirely fair, considering that most athletes will not have the lucrative professional contract waiting for them after they leave college. Secondly, who is supposed to pay athletes? Many points out that NCAA schools are not raking in profits from sports programs.

Unless school is one of powerhouses, there is not much money coming into program. A third of all Division 1 schools lose money on their football and basketball programs, and average profit from an entire school's athletic program is about $600,000 (Christensen, 2000). Next, there are grants available to students who do not have money. Hundreds of millions of dollars are available through grants. Also, numerous accept as true that paying athletes will not hold talented players from going pro. Athletes can earn millions of dollars in pros and they would not be satisfied with the small payment (Keith, 1996).

Finally, NCAA is worried that colleges will start bidding for outstanding athletes if they can be paid. The NCAA is afraid that offers made by universities to lure in athletes will get out of hand and lead to possible corruption. Whichever school wants to spend most money on athletes could end up winning national championship every year.

Melissa Fisher, the University of Wisconsin graduate student in sociology, pointed out, "If you're going to pay athletes, you should pay normal students, ...