Why Do Student Athletes Get Paid?

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ESPN college basketball analyst and former Duke basketball player Jay Bilas once said, “For what reason do we limit athletes, and athletes only, in this multibillion-dollar business?”. The reason for his strong opinion is because there has been an ongoing discussion on whether or not college athletes should receive compensation for the sports that they play. The NCAA’s justification for why student athletes aren’t paid is that they believe that the real compensation is benefitting from academics and being able to receive major professional sports contracts for their efforts. “Rather than push college athletics further and further from academics, we need to bring it closer.”, said NCAA president Mike Emmert, who backs up the explanation set up by the NCAA. While many still consider college …show more content…

This was a huge historic event in the collegiate sports world because it would mean that college athletes are no longer, according to former Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter, “stuck with sports-related medical bills, do not lose their scholarships when they are injured, are not subject to unnecessary brain trauma and are given better opportunities to complete their degree." Colter, along with other supporters of the unionization of the athletes, argue that players can receive actual compensation that can help with potential medical bills or other benefits including a meal plan or housing. Former Northwestern football player Michael Odom felt that a union was “long overdue” ever since he had to quit the team because the demands of staying on the football team distracted him from earning his journalism degree. The decision on whether or not the players can unionize or not is being appealed and could remain so for months or even

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