Tyson Hartnett- Huffington Post

Entrepreneur, Writer, and Professional Basketball

Player

There has been major discussion recently if college athletes should or
shouldn't be paid hile they are in school! The first thing opponents say is,
"They're already getting a scholarship# That's more than anybody else# $on't be
greedy#"
%ine, let's not be greedy and look at ho much a scholarship is actually
orth! &n a'erage, a full $i'ision ( scholarship is )*+,,,, per year!
"That's )(,,,,,, o'er four years#"
-es it is, but most athletes don't last at a school for the hole four years!
&nce you get a sport in'ol'ed, there are politics, injuries, and a call to the
office to tell the player, "Thanks, but e don't need you on this team anymore!"
.any players ill get a scholarship for a year or to, then transfer to a
different school hich turns out to be a better situation!
/ )*+,,,, scholarship may seem like a lot of money, but it really only co'ers
the basics! 0t co'ers thousands of dollars in mysterious, unknon uni'ersity
fees, tuition, housing, a meal-plan and multiple hundred-dollar te1tbooks! 2ome
players, if they come from a lo-income household, get a fe hundred dollars
each semester from Pell 3rants hich enables them to buy chicken soup instead of
chicken-fla'ored ramen!
4ontrary to hat all the opponents belie'e, being an athlete is a full-time
job! &n a typical day, a player ill ake up before classes, get a lift or
conditioning session in, go to class until 5 or 6 p!m!, go to practice, go to
mandatory study hall, and then finish homeork or study for a test!
%or a little e1tra money to see a mo'ie or go out to dinner once a eek, my
freshman roommate orked a job at the uni'ersity, earning about )78hour! He
ould ork his butt off all day, ith to or sometimes three basketball training
sessions, plus classes and homeork, and go to that job for a fe hours late at
night! He ould come back e1hausted, but he needed hate'er money they ould
pay him!
Hoe'er, once the season started up, he couldn't ork that job anymore! We
ere on the road all the time, e'en gone for to straight eeks at one point!
The teachers let us do our ork from the road, but the job asn't going to pay
you just because you ere playing basketball on a road trip! The team ga'e us
meal money 9about )7 per meal: so e could get chips and condiments ith our
sandiches, but anything else as considered an ;4// 'iolation!
/
The point of this is that a scholarship doesn't e<ual cash in a player's
pocket! E'en ith any type of scholarship, college athletes are typically dead
broke! But ho much do the top ;4// e1ecuti'es make= /bout )( million per year!
Who else makes money off these near-professional le'el athletes=
%irst, their on coaches! .any coaches earn at least )(,,,,,, per year
to coach one of the major sports like baseball, basketball, or
football at a school! These coaches ill recei'e bonuses for getting to the
playoffs, inning championships, or breaking school records! -ou kno hat
athletes recei'e as a bonus= ;othing!
2econd is the ;4//! >ecently, the ;4// and 4B2 signed a )(,!? billion tele'ision agreement
o'er (6 years! The ;4// is also considered a non-profit company!
Third, the athletic programs! @ni'ersities bring in hundreds of thousands or
e'en millions of dollars to their athletic programs each year! Through
donations, ticket sales, media rights, ad'ertising, and anything else ith a
price tag, these athletes are symbols for their school and their program! 0f a
school makes a huge scientific achie'ement, they ill be in the nespaper for a
fe days! The athletic teams, hoe'er, are in the nespaper the entire year!
The flip side of this is that not all sports teams are profitable! %or
e1ample, some less popular teams like simming, tennis, or 'olleyball don't earn
the uni'ersity much money, and the bigger sports like basketball and football
make up for the lost re'enue! 2o hy ould e pay athletes if entire teams are struggling to
sur'i'e=
We ould pay athletes because hen President Theodore >oose'elt helped create
the ;4// in (A,B, he had no idea hat it ould gro into! /t first, it as a
great place to atch athletes play sports hile making sure the rules ere being
folloed! But no in the *(st century, the ;4// is a billion dollar company! Why
hasn't anything changed= Because the decision makers ha'e the mentality of,
"This is the ay it's alays been!" They're scared to make amendments, e'en
hen it's necessary!
0'm not saying e should be paying athletes )+,,,, or e'en )(,,,,, per
semester! 0f each athlete got )*,,,, paid o'er the course of the semester, this
ould gi'e them some spending cash and an opportunity to start managing their
money! .ost athletic programs can't afford to pay athletes on their on, so the
;4// and their e1ecuti'es need to figure out a ay to start compensating their
golden geese!
/thletes earn their schools hundreds of thousands of dollars, increase
enrollment, and if they do ell, pro'ide a recruiting piece for generations!
Top ;4// e1ecuti'es are getting )( million per year hile an athlete can't earn
)+, from signing a fe autographs!
Cet's open our eyes to hat's really going on! The ;4// "pre'ents
student-athletes from alloing their likeness to be used for promotional
purposes!"
There's only one thing 0 can say to thisD Why=