College sports program has grown within the past decades hence attracting more investors. Due to this positive growth, college sports have become the primary source of income to coaches and various bodies that are associated with it. The National Collegiate Athletes Association (NCAA) has been regarded as the body that governs college athletes both on how they should conduct themselves academically and in athletics. Besides the NCAA is against paying athletes, various debates have evolved in favor of the college athletes being paid. However, most of these arguments were based on the income that the associated parties get as a result of the hard work college athletes do in the field but not on the primary reason of going to college. This paper points out different reasons as to why college athletes should not be paid for playing but be motivated to concentrate on their studies.
Most research that has been done by scholars conclude that, exposing college students to a high level of income has a high impact of initiating inappropriate behavioral change to the student. College students who are enrolled in financial benefits have engaged themselves in unethical behaviors such as associating themselves with alcoholic drinks and other forms of drug abuse (Facts on File 2005, n.p). Furthermore, the luxurious life that these students live in the university makes them not to participate in the coursework actively but involve themselves in weekend parties. Consequently, they will spend much of their time in non-scholarly activities rather than reading for the exams. According to Harper " Donnor (67, in spite of post-secondary institutions providing academic support to college athletes, they should also focus on building them on an ethical behavioral background. Most college students would spend much of their money on alcohol, weed, and other non-scholarly behavior during the weekend (Whitlock, 2). Putting these claims into consideration, college athletes should not be paid to safeguard their ethical behavior in the academic institutions.
College athletes joined their universities with one main objective of succeeding in their education. Sports come in as a co-curriculum activity that its primary purpose is to educate the students both physically and mentally. Paying college athlete could turn this primary goal of sports in post-secondary institutions into a business for the players. NCAA has bound college athletes from receiving payments in their contributions to post-secondary sports. NCAA points out that, college athletes should be treated as students and not employees. The college athletes should be compensated for their hard work in games through being awarded scholarships that would directly contribute to their education (Viewpoints Online Collection, 1). Furthermore, most athletes’ students attain the graduation mark, but they lack the skills to fit in the workforce. Therefore, much effort should be put in assisting the college athletes in acquiring the relevant skills they need rather than paying them for their participation in sports. Besides, they should not benefit from any employment returns since college athletes are students and not workers. Paying the students would affect their academic performance since they won’t put much effort in their studies but to sports. As a result, college athletes should not be paid for their contribution to games.
Furthermore, given the number of sports program a given college runs, only a few programs would generate a high income to the university. As a result, the low-income rate the university earns from the other sporting activities leaves it operating under a loss. Therefore, the university could not afford to pay all the athletes. Karaim (5) points out that, with the billions of money that the NCAA and Colleges earn, they are not able to pay all their athletes. Averagely, a medium Division I sports program suffers a loss of $11 on the operating cost every year.
Moreover, a college has to spend millions of money to compensate all the athletes. As a result, putting more effort on paying athletes would only leave an institution on a financial deficit situation (Gele n.p). Besides, there are more than 21 sporting activities the Division I but only two, basketball and football, are generating high income for the college's sports program. The other 19 sports programs would have to depend on the income earned from basketball and football so that they can efficiently run. Paying the college athletes would mean that those athletes who are generating revenue for the school and other should not be compensated. According to Karaim (6), the money generated from football and basketball needs to be stretched further to support other sports programs which are bringing in fewer amounts that can’t even pay the coaches’ salary. As a result, paying college athletes would not positively impact the school’s objective of perfecting in sports.
Despite the reasons for paying the college athletes, proponents of the idea of offering monetary compensation point of several factors. The college athletes have put much effort into their training hence producing fruitful results during the match tournaments. This approach has called for more investors and organizations that support college sports. However, NCAA together with this other bodies ends up being the top beneficiaries of the hard work done by college athletes. Besides, the coaches are handsomely paid leaving out the athletes who are the primary contributors to the desired performance. According to Clotfelter (21), college athletes should be spent on the basis how their hard work generates a high level of income to other people. In spite of the NCAA claiming that it is an amateur association, it has outgrown into a revenue-generating business. In 2006, colleges which had registered their membership with NCAA received $4.2 billion from the basketball program – which is more than what all NBA team earned in 2005/06 season when combined by $1 billion (InfoBase learning, 2). Additionally, the NCAA is merchandising the likeness of college athletes in TV programs hence using them to gain financial advantage. Consequently, the college athletes should be paid with a portion of the income that NCAA and other organizations have earned using their talent.
On the other hand, paying college athletes would motivate the athletes from not participating in unlawful activities. The rise of gambling activities has contributed significantly to lack of integrity in sports (Facts on File 2010, n.p). Various athletes both college and non-college athlete have engaged themselves in match-fixing activities so that they can earn extra cash to finance their needs. Whitlock (1) points out that, Chris Webber a top basketballer at Michigan University together with five other teammates had engaged themselves in an income generating activity whereby they participated in match fixing with Ed Martin a renowned gambler. Besides this being unlawful act, the students involved in the match-fixing so that they could afford some of the needs that they wished to.
Whitlock (1) further points out that, Webber a renowned basketballer could not raise the cash to buy a “Big Mac” jersey which was being sold for only $50. If the college athletes were being paid, Webber and other teammates could be able to sustain some of their needs hence being motivated not to involve themselves in corruption.
Overall, different arguments have risen suggesting that college students should be compensated for playing. These arguments claimed that NCAA, colleges and other associated bodies are earning billions from the hard work college athletes put in the field while playing. They are the primary beneficiaries of the output of these college athletes. As a result, the athletes should be paid a portion of what these organizations earn. Furthermore, college athletes involve themselves in match-fixing activities due to lack of basic needs that they opt to have. If they were being paid, they could afford to purchase their necessities hence ensuring integrity in sports.
However, paying college athletes could promote unethical behaviors among the students. The athletes would earn much money hence involving themselves in drug abuse and other forms of the luxurious lifestyle that would affect their academic performance. Nevertheless, the primary purpose of introducing sports to post-secondary institutions was to educate the students both mentally and physically but not to expose them to financial benefits. Besides, paying athletes would contribute to their poor score in exams hence they would lack the necessary skills they need in the workforce. Moreover, the education institutions cannot afford the millions to be used to pay all the athletes. It requires a lot of money to facilitate both the sports operation cost and paying the athletes. If colleges initiate athlete payment programs, they may end up operating under deficit financing. To safeguard the financial situation of post-secondary institutions the athletes should not be paid. Therefore, college athletes should not be paid for playing.
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Work Cited
Gele. "Compensation for College Athletes." Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2017. Opposing Viewpoints In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/XOHCYL235319839/OVIC?u=lincclin_vcc"sid=OVIC"xid=e0f30b23. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
Facts on File. "Paying College Athletes: Should the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) pay college athletes?" Issues " Controversies, Infobase Learning, 21 June 2010, http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=1775. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
Clotfelter, Charles T. Big-time sports in American universities. Cambridge University Press, 2011. Print.
Facts of File. Spotlight: Paying College Athletes Follow-up: Bush Forfeits 2005 Heisman Trophy. "Paying College Athletes Follow-up: Bush Forfeits 2005 Heisman Trophy." Issues " Controversies, Infobase Learning, 14 Sept. 2010, http://icof.infobaselearning.com/recordurl.aspx?ID=9615. Accessed 17 Apr. 2018.
Harper, Shaun R., and Jamel K. Donnor, eds. Scandals in College Sports. Taylor " Francis, 2017. Print.
Karaim, Reed. "Paying College Athletes." CQ Researcher by CQ Press. CQ Press 11 (2014).
Whitlock, Jason. "College Athletes Should Not Be Paid." Sports and Athletes, edited by James D.Torr, Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints. Opposing Viewpoints In Context,
