Reasons Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

Every year college athletes bring in millions to billions of dollars to their colleges but never see any of that money. March Madness brings in a billion dollars alone. College athletes should be paid by their respected colleges.

March Madness is a basketball tournament that only includes the best colleges in the country to play against each other. Their estimated amount of earning is $900 million dollars. March Madness bring in about 90% of the college's annual income and these college athletes who risk their bodies aren’t receiving any of its profits. College basketball players go starving every year because they can’t afford to eat. Basketball takes up most of their times so they can’t get a real job. 

In college football the issue isn’t being resolved either. For the Crimson Tide they bring in $28,410,419 from tickets and it’s total revenue is $123,769,841. But the players for the Crimson Tide isn’t seeing any of the money. These college kids are going out there and risking their lives with head injuries, and death but won’t see a penny of it. 

The average athlete spends 43.3 hours a week practicing their sport. This is a full-time job hours and on top of this these students have to go to school and study just like everyone else. It will teach them responsibility if they pay the players. If the players learn how to deal with money in college than it will be an easier transition into real life when they have to manage money. In college they are given the help by the coaches and professors who will assist them if they need it for money help, but in real life they can’t go to anyone for help. It will decrease the amount of athletes who go bankrupt after college. 

The NCAA is an $11 billion dollar industry, they are receiving all this money from these students. The students go out there and risk everything for them to receive zero dollars. College athletes are struggling to go out to eat or even take someone on a date like a normal college kid. They are being deprived from their college experience because the NCAA doesn’t want to pay the people who are raising all their money for them. In a normal workspace you are paid based on the amount of money you bring into the business. Now imagine if a workspace isn’t paying their employees a dime even though they raise $11 billion dollars, typically it would be all over the news but the NCAA wants to cover it up and hide the issue. 

When an athlete signs his letter of content to their college they sign away any right to receive any amount of money for their use of image or anything they do in college. The athlete can not raise any money from apparences or anything they could be in. This includes even after they graduate college. If the NCAA uses their image even after college the former athlete can not receive a dime from it, nor can they use their image for money. This is a shame on the NCAA because the athletes could be starving and not receive any money from it.

Shabazz Napier was a perfect example of an athlete starving. After a game one day the media was interviewing him about what he liked about college. He said that he would often go home starving because he couldn’t afford to buy himself more food than what the college was giving to him. The colleges will give the athletes food but often it is of inadequate proportions. Because of this players like Napier are going to bed starving every night and the NCAA is turning the other way and won’t give them money. Even though players like Napier are generating all the money for the NCAA and are the ones who risk everything for them.

The NCAA athletes should be paid because of how much money they generate for the NCAA. They aren’t asking for a ridiculous amounts of money just enough to go on dates, movies, and enough to eat. The NCAA needs to start paying the athletes because they are the ones who are risking everything for them. \

Works Cited

ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016.

"How Much Does the NCAA Make off March Madness? | Investopedia." Investopedia. N.p., 15 Mar. 2016. Web. 10 May 2016.

"Top 10 Reasons College Athletes Should Be Paid." Top 10 Lists ListLandcom. N.p., 22 Sept. 2015. Web. 10 May 2016.