No Pay For Play

For years, there has been an ongoing debate regarding the payment of college athletes. In the perspective of many, student- athletes are putting their physical and mental health at risk when they commit to playing or “working” the long hours that athletes do, and that's what they should be paid for. These student-athletes work almost just as hard as professional athletes. Plus, they're are tasked with balancing their academic and athletics careers. Giving a salary to the players is flat out not realistic, possible, or logical for many reasons.

Firstly, only 1.8% of athletic programs turn a profit. So most colleges couldn't afford it. If athletes at schools with only about 500 athletes received monthly checks of $200 for 10 months a year that would add up to about $1 million annually. If the NCAA decided to pay student-athletes they would be forced to pay student- athletes of every sport equally. That means that female swimmers would have to be paid just as much as the male football players. If we only paid the athletes that people liked to watch, Universities, and the NCAA would get sued by the families of a female swimmer, for instance, who is there on a small scholarship that doesn't begin to cover the full cost of her education, who works just as hard as a football player, and who logs just as many hours as a basketball player. There is no way to determine exactly how much money each player is bringing in so the colleges would have to pay all of the athletes equally. If you're going to pay one, you have to pay them all, and there is not enough money for that to happen. On top of that, this would lead to chaos. The best players on the most profitable programs would complain and protest.

If the NCAA decided to pay student-athletes, the student athletes would have to be viewed as employees. The universities would have to focus their resources towards enforcement of these " employees". Colleges would have to ensure student-athletes kept healthy drug, sleep , nutritional habits, etc. This would take away from other responsibilities that the school has to the entire student body.

Also, schools already offer their student-athletes so much.

56% of all Division 1 student-athletes receive a full ride scholarship, the rest receive no scholarship at all. That 56% of students are getting a college education worth up to $265,532 for free. Student- athletes’ connection with the university and the recognition they receive for playing sports will aid them in the business world for the rest of their lives. These student-athletes are getting compensated in a way through complimentary tickets, apparel, equipment and, most importantly, the best academic support the university can offer. NCAA schools help student-athletes succeed in the classroom by providing state-of-the-art technology, tutoring and access to academic advisers.

There are even studies that show that student- athletes end up faring better in the real world than their non- athlete counterparts do in social well-being, physical well-being, community engagement, and goal achievement.