Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

There is one topic that has been pondering the mind of every sports analyst for the past few years. The topic at hand has been argued back and forth for quite some time now. College athletes have been debating this topic as well. At the Division I level, there are 176,000 student athletes and 346 colleges/universities (NCAA). College athletes should not be paid because only certain sports can create enough money for the payment of athletes. This is proven when researching which sports can generate the most money, another form of payment, how it would change the world of college sports, and how much the schools are spending.
First and foremost, not every sport can generate the same amount of money. Even though it is really obvious, not every

sport makes the same amount of money to fund their program. The programs that produce the most revenue is football and basketball (Marshall). The revenue will also differ depending on level of Division. There are so many different sports programs at so many different colleges. Not all programs are able to support the payment of college athletes. Some sports programs lose money from athletics and don’t create any revenue at all (Marshall). Since some schools don’t create enough revenue, the payment of college athletes cannot happen. The programs are not able to support the athletes with formal payment because there are other expenses.
Second, instead of paying the athletes an actual wage or salary, there are other forms of compensation. Another form of compensation would be some athletes receiving scholarships. “Athletic scholarships are their compensation and a fair one at that” (McCauley). For example, in Pennsylvania, the average student debt from a four-year university is $32,528 (McCauley). Students who are on a full-ride or half ride scholarship will graduate with barely any student debt. Most Division I and II athletes are paid through scholarships, so this will reimburse the athletes plenty.
In addition, the payment of athletes would change the world of college sports. Athletes have the risk of injuring their body every week. They do this voluntarily and nobody is forcing them against their will to play Furthermore, the colleges without a lot of money would not be able to pay the athletes. This would cause the athletes to only go to universities where they would receive payment (Marshall). In my opinion, the financial power of sports programs across the country would be unbalanced. I also think this would lead to major numerical changes when it comes to enrollment.
Last but not least, another big thing to look at is how much the colleges are spending. “Only twenty-four FBS schools generated more revenue than they spent in 2014” (Burnsed). In the fall of 2015, Auburn’s football program purchased one of the biggest video boards in college football. Auburn needed $13,900,000 even though they had a deficit of more than $17 million dollars from the year before (Hobson). This means the other expenses are costing more money than they are making. There is no possible way that athletes can be paid if some colleges are not making a profit.
In conclusion, college athletes should not be paid because only certain sports can create enough money for the payment of athletes. They cannot be paid because not every sport makes the same amount of money, there are other forms of compensation, it would change college sports, and some schools are spending more than they make. College sports are a great thing and obviously should continue to be played at a high level. This world has seen college athletes do some astounding things. Athletes put in a lot of heart, time, and dedication, but they should not be paid.