College Athletes: Why They Should be Paid

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College athletics have been incredibly profitable businesses for many years. With the advent of televised sporting events, the profit margin has increased exponentially. The Texas Longhorns’ football program alone grosses 104 million dollars annually (forbes.com). So, where is all that money going? Most of it goes right back to the school. The athletes who practice for endless hours and devote their lives to the sports get nothing but the satisfaction of winning. So, should Division One college athletes be paid? Division One athletes should be paid because they generate a significant amount of revenue for the school.
For basketball players at the University of Kentucky, their day starts earlier than most other students and ends later than most as well. They wake up early in the morning and have a morning practice and lifting session. After that they go to their classes and study. When that is done they have a mandatory team study hall and watch film. This is then followed by an evening practice and lifting session. They do that 6 days a week for the whole year. These athletes have all the class work and studying of every other student but they also have hours of practice, travel time to away games plus game time added on.
In college athletics there are lots of injuries. During March Madness earlier this year, Louisville guard Kevin Ware suffered a gruesome leg fracture. In college football there is an average of over 20,000 recorded injuries each year. There are 125 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams with an average of 107 players per team. This averages to each athlete getting an average of 1.25 injuries per year. Not all these injuries are sprained ankles or hangnails however. There are lots of serious season ending ...

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