Just like professional athletes, college athletes put their body n the line, and a free bachelor’s degree is not worth their body they put on the line. Someone that could potentially injure their body for life deserves more than a free bachelor’s degree. Secondly, if these college athletes cannot make any money or benefits, they should be able to have to opportunity to get a job like a normal college student. Wrong, the NCAA restricts the athletes to get a job or make money because they do not want them to cash in on their performances in any way.
There is a double standard in this situation that is not fair for the athletes who are just as broke as any other college detent. Lastly, the NCAA does not see college sports as professional simply because the athletes are college students. On the other hand, we see college coaches making salaries comparable to professional coaches and players. If it is not a professional sport, coaches should not be paid professionally.
College athletes should be compensated for their play In collegiate sports because of the money, they attract billions of dollars of revenue to their school while risking their bodies for no pay and no opportunity for pay, due to NCAA isolations that will not allow athletes to work for money, leaving them essentially broker college students than the rest. College for most students is to get a great education for a good job after college. For collegiate athletes, the goal is to get a good education and to hopefully make it to the next level in their sport.
To most of them, their sport is their life. These athletes who put their dream on the line risk their body while these colleges are making billions of dollars. Last year, collegiate sports brought in 845 billion dollars worth of revenue from these athletes who are asking everything for a bachelor’s degree. That does not seem fair to them at all. This is described as, “An education, however, is not all they need money for on the bumpy road to living their dream of playing professionally” (Elite 4).
Not only do they deserve an education, but they deserve compensation for the billions of dollars in revenue they are bringing in for risking everything they are going to school for currently. Not only do these athletes deserve some kind of compensation for their efforts of this essentially tedious “full mime job,” but also deserve medical insurance for themselves. These athletes deserve benefits for all the revenue they are bringing in, at least some coverage for the gruesome injuries that come out of all of these sports. With all this into account, is a bachelor’s degree really worth all the risk?
No, student athletes also have to work harder than the average student with training, practice, and keeping up with academics. People may say that college athletes do not deserve the money, but in retrospect, these athletes work harder than the average person could dream of working. With all the work these athletes put in, they more than deserve a paycheck for all their contributions they make with their talents and hard work. With a set amount of money for all college athletes, it will take stress off of finances for themselves in college.
With almost no free time at all, it is impossible for them to get a job, and it is illegal for them too. How else are these college athletes able to go buy food or medicine when they are sick? The NCAA restricts athletes to get a job because they could be paid based off of their performances. This is described as, “The NCAA is actually bold enough to restrict their athletes from having jobs or making money because they don’t want them cashing in on their performances in any way’ (Elite). This ruling makes absolutely no sense, because how else are these athletes supposed to get money or make money?
There is no other option than to give these students money for their essentially full time job they are working for their sport and being an athlete. There is also a double standard here. People are willing to buy these athletes items and give them money, but they are not allowed to accept those items or money either. Why? The NCAA restricts that also. If this athlete was on scholarship for a music, there would be no problem for them receiving gifts and funds from outsiders, but because they are athletes, they are not allowed to accept these gifts.
These students are not only deprived of funds because they cannot work, but they are not treated fairly because of their athletic distinction, therefore, not allowing them to have special treatment as compared to any other student on scholarship who can work and receive funds from supporters. The NCAA does not see college athletes as a professional sport, just because they are in college. On the other hand, they pay their coaches millions, which is very comparable to what professional coaches make in sports.
If coaches are treated as a professional, there is a problem here. The millions these schools are paying their coaches shows that there are funds available that could be going towards a stipend for these athletes. This is described as, “Why should a coach be getting paid more than any other tenured professor at a university, if it indeed is not a professional sport” (Elite). So the question is, if the coaches are being paid as professionals, do the athletes not at least deserve a little bit of pay for their efforts?
If the athletes are not being paid, the coaches should be making the salary of a college professor at a university because they are not indeed professional, just as these athletes are not considered professional. But in this case, since these coaches are making millions, these athletes deserve some money for all the hard work they put in. They do not deserve millions like these professionals, but they do deserve mom kind of compensation to take care of their certain needs in college to help them get by and make their college experience better, so they do not have to worry about finances while worrying about grades and their sport.
People who attract money to a cause for their talents and efforts are compensated for this kind of work, for college athletes, this is not true. This is not fair to these athletes who cannot get a job like a normal college student who can work just because the NCAA thinks they will get compensated based off of their performances. Athletes on scholarship cannot receive any compensation from outsiders and get a job, but any other person that is not an athlete on scholarship can receive both.
This is not fair for these athletes who work harder than any other student at their college, constantly practicing and doing their homework. These athletes put their bodies and their career on the line for an education, is that really worth their career? Not at all, these athletes at least deserve some kind of compensation from their university, even if it was minimum wage as if they were working a student job at their allege for their full time commitment to their sport.
