Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

Only about 2% percent of high school athletes get sports scholarships every year at NCAA colleges and universities. For those who do get one, the average scholarship is less than $11,000 (Eitzen, D. Stanley). Every year college athletes are publicized and exploited for their talents and skills. Universities and Colleges sell jerseys and put athletes names on billboards and jumbotrons, and even used their likeness to have video games dedicated to the athletes themselves. In 2011-2012, the NCAA made 871.6 million dollars in revenue (Eitzen, D. Stanley). And guess how much money the athletes, who actually make the money, get from this exposure, 0%. The exposure or publicity of the athletes is the main reason why college athletes should be paid. College athletes are publicized on TV, magazines, and

Athletes lives and personalities have never been more open to the public than before and usually someone would get paid for this exposure but in this case, college athletes are not. College athletes should be paid because of the exposure and publicity they experience everyday. College athletes should be paid because of how publicized their lives are. The reason college athletes should be paid is because colleges and the NCAA make billions of dollars annually off of their name name but none of the money goes back to the players who actually make the money. Eitzen, D. Stanley said in his article about college athletes being paid, “Obviously, big-time athletic programs are commercial enterprises. The irony is that, while sports events generate millions for each school, the workers are not paid” (Eitzen, D. Stanley). Pretty much any university or college makes millions and millions of dollars in revenue each year from their personal athletic programs. If colleges were like most business, the workers or this case the athletes, should get paid