The Reason Why College Athletes Deserve Fair Payment

Ever since the NCAA started gaining a big audience and viewership, college athletes have been underpaid and underappreciated. Athletes generate millions of dollars through televised games, tickets to games, advertisements, and gambling. The March Madness tournament, one of the biggest sports events of the year, is also one of the biggest sports events gambled on each year. In total, college athletes bring in crazy amounts of money, yet they receive none of it.

2,500 dollars, that is the amount of money people are spending to watch freshman phenom Zion Williamson and the Duke Blue Devils take on the University of North Carolina. Although, Duke vs UNC is a great rivalry, tickets are so expensive because people want to see the future no.1 overall pick Zion Williamson play. Some people are neither fans of Duke, nor UNC, they just want to see Zion Williamson, although he will not receive any of the money brought in. Williamson, like other college athletes Williamson cannot get a job because he spends all his time in the classroom or on the basketball court. Athletes spend up to 50 hours per week with practice, plus more hours going to class, so they do not have extra time to get a job to generate money for basic college needs. There are also risking career threatening injuries to try to get drafted. If for some reason they do suffer an injury and cannot get drafted they will have nothing to fall back on. Many athletes also leave school early to help provide for their families, paying athletes would allow them to finish their education and then go pro when they are ready. Overall, the athletes bring in millions of dollars for which they are not compensated for.

Although there are some points to be made as to why they should not be paid. Some of these reasons include, given scholarships for free or partially paid tuition, can leave with a degree and no student loan debt, they have access to state-of-the-art facilities, trainers, and equipment. They are also given free gear such as shoes, shirts, sweatshirts, and backpacks/ gym bags. These athletes are also being exposed to professional scouts and coaches during games, practices, and during their pro days. Another reason people think athletes should not be paid is because it would be hard to create a fair way to compensate everyone, for example, would the volleyball team who brings in less money than the football team get paid the same? Also, it would be hard to determine how much the starting quarterback would be paid compared to the 3rd string quarterback. Another reason is the teams with the most money could pay the best recruits and win the championship every season. Also, athletes could only play to earn money, or try even harder and not focus on their school work. Although there is a point to be made that maybe they should not be paid, the fact is that the athletes should be paid.

College athletes should be paid. If you compared the value of all the scholarships given out, it would show that the colleges make way more money compared to the money given out for scholarships. Due to the insane hours of practice, film study, working out, and meeting with trainers, there is no time to get a job. They also risk losing millions in the future if they get injured. All in all, college athletes generate millions, possibly billions of dollars and they should be compensated. If you were a college athlete working hard to try to go pro and you were paid in college, it would hurt as bad because you still made some money doing what you love.

As you can see, college athletes should be paid. They generate millions of dollars for schools off their talent, and their name yet they see none of it. They cannot get jobs because of their insane hours between practice and school work so they are not able to get a job. All in all, they work very hard to do what they do and deserve to be compensated.