College Athletes Should Be Paid

As a college sports fan on TV I see most athletes having a great time on the field, no matter if they win or lose, but I never really get to see how athletes are doing in their other significant parts of their life. I never get to see if they are struggling in school well because college life can be super stressful due to grades, financial reasons, or maybe even both. As of lately, many college athletes have become frustrated with the NCAA in its decision to not pay college athletes. Many college athletes deem that they need the extra money. One would expect that the NCAA would try to satisfy their athletes’ demands since they are the backbones of the organization, however, the NCAA has yet not done so. The NCAA feels that by paying college athletes it would ruin the balance of competition and the role of

athletes being amateurs who play only for the love of the game.

This has led many athletes to take things into their own hands such as the athletes at Northwestern University who have decided to create the first union in college sports history. Consequently to me this proves that the NCAA has failed as an organization. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that the NCAA should pay college athletes and they should also provide better benefits such as insurance policies because college athletes are left to suffer when they are injured, for many college athletes school work usually comes second when compared to sports, the competition in college sports is already unbalanced, and it would be best for the organization to keep its athletes in good spirits.

The decision of whether or not college athletes get paid and receive better benefits will have a huge impact on the NCAA and it should

be held with great importance. The future of the NCAA rest on this decision. The NCAA needs to wake up and give the athletes what they want. Some college sports fans, however, think differently and back up the NCAA’s decision of not paying college athletes or giving them more benefits. They argue that there is not enough money to pay every college athlete. Kristi Dosh pointed out that “only 14 programs are turning a profit without having to rely on institutional support (like student fees or a check cut directly from the university coffers).” In addition Dosh also points out that many schools would have to raise the tuition, so that they could afford to pay their players. Raising the tuition would cause huge issues with almost every school because I’m sure people already think tuition is high enough. Dosh and college sports fans who support the NCAA make great points about potential problems. However, the problem could be minimized or possibly even be eliminated for some schools. One way to reduce the problem would be to “adjust by not paying coaches or athletic directors as much” (Hopkins and Richards). Some college coaches make up to six million dollars per year. Cutting that down to about one million per year would give schools create a better budget. Sure many coaches might not like the huge pay cuts, but it will be left up to the market to dictate how much coaches and athletic department heads should be paid. Athletes deserve a portion of the money that they are generating. A one problem should not stop the athletes from getting what they deserve.
Today many college athletes are left to suffer when they receive any injury to their body, while most of the time the NCAA does nothing to fix the issue. Any great mother will always care for its children no matter what happens to them. In this same way the NCAA should resemble itself as a motherly being to its athletes by caring for them and not throwing them away