The National College Athletic Association
There has been a rise in the discussion of whether college athletes deserve to be paid or not for their participation in sports. Some people are of the view that the scholarship that is awarded to them is enough payment to them and do not deserve any more as these sports leads to a career worth millions of dollars in contracts after school. Despite the argument on scholarship, most of the athletes do not have it as only a third of them receive the award. The rest pay for their education and those with scholarships have to pay for part of the expenditures. Considering the inputs that the college athletes put on sports and education, they deserve to be treated as employees rather than just students and be paid.
A college education is not cheap, and most of the athletes do not have scholarships that will cater for their expenses in school. The amount of time spent in class and the field practicing does not give the sportsmen a chance to find a side job to make a living. They can spend up to forty hours in the field practicing per week and also attend classes for about fifty hours within the week so that they can remain in school. The amount of hard work that they put in balancing classwork and field is excellent. Due to the short time to find a job to make some money, most of them fall into debts while trying to pay for education. If they are paid, they would be able to cater for their education expenses with ease. Therefore, it is rightful for them to be paid.
The National College Athletic Association NCAA continues to earn more money from college sports. In 2019, the association earned over $800 million through the television and marketing rights fees segment. It also made other earnings from different areas associated with the sports totaling to over $1.1 billion. If it were not for these athletes, the money would not have been earned by NCAA. In relation to the scholarships awarded to the students, the amount of money they generate is very high. If the scholarships were to be viewed as a payment to the students, then they would be underpaid for their work. Colleges also earn revenues from sales of tickets and apparel, and this money should be used to pay the athletes.
Many professional athletes have been shown to be bankrupt due to mismanagement of their finances. Although college athletes do not deserve to be paid high amounts like professional athletes, they deserve a small earning. This will teach them how to save while they are still young so that the skill develops to help them when they make millions of dollars as professional players. Since the athletes do not earn any money from their active involvement in the games, they do not understand the importance of having a savings account. This makes them misuse the money they get as professionals, thus getting broke. It is essential to promote life skills such as saving while athletes are still young in college as they will impact their lives positively in the future.
In conclusion, everyone is entitled to an opinion in terms of whether college athletes should be paid or not. The NCAA continues to make huge profits, which have recently reached a billion dollars from the exploitation of college athletes. Despite handing a few of the sportsmen some scholarships, they should pay these athletes for their hard work. These athletes put more time on the field instead of finding an alternative source of income. With a third being awarded partial scholarships, this means that they have no money to pay for their education. Not all college athletes join the professional levels and therefore, they deserve a pay so that they can be able to cater for their tuition and other expenses.
