Neil Sudan

Ms Wittman
Writing Seminar
6/6/16
We Should Pay College Athletes
College Sports is one of the Largest businesses in the world.
Amateur sports have been around since the 19th century and have
become an integral part of College life. However, amateur sports at the
college level are dead. Every other week it seems, we see a new school
violating NCAA rules and regulations; however, it is not the schools that
are hurt by the punishment, it is the athletes who attend these
universities that are victimized by the actions of the universities and
NCAA sanctions. In addition, while the athletes are hurt most by the
actions of others, they do not receive any of the royalties from their own
labor often causing these young men and women to go hungry. College
athletes deserve compensation because of the billions in revenue they

generate, the lack of education, and the fact that many college athletes
are starving.
College athletes generate billions of dollars in revenue for
universities, sponsors, and the NCAA, and they deserve to share in these
profits. The word student athlete was created by the first director of
the NCAA Walter Byers. Byers specifically created the term to remove
the obligation of Workers compensation. By removing this obligation,
the NCAA has gotten away with not providing even basic healthcare for
its athletes, along with not allowing universities to give a small stipend
to athletes. It has come to the extent where universities will be
prosecuted for any form of compensation for athletes beyond basic
monetary compensation. These exploits are further salt on wounds
considering the amount of revenue the NCAA generates in a year.
During the month of March alone, one sport, basketball, generates near a
billion dollars. While specifics on other sporting events are not clear,
the per game income generated by the bowl games in college football
are expected to be comparable. While the NCAA is finding billions in

these events, the athletes are left with, if they win, a medal, and if they
lose, a high five, either way nothing compared to the gains of the
universities and NCAA.
In addition to the exploitation, athletes deserve compensation for
the level of devotion to
their universities and sport. All college athletes, even non revenue
generating athletes, devote their entire lives to their sports. In fact, these
athletes devote so much of their time that they cannot even spare the
time to get a job. In combination with that, many athletes are not even
on scholarship. What this means is these kids have no source of income
despite having 60 to 80 thousand dollars in costs of attendance. The
NCAA and universities delude themselves into believing that this is
acceptable because athletes receive compensation in the form of
education; in the past this may have been true, however, it is clear
universities no longer care about the education their athletes receive.
It is because, at many institutions, athletes do not receive a
completed education in return for their athletic contributions, and are

only marginally students, they deserve payment. Universities do not

care about the education their athletes receive, made worse by the fact
that some athletes are not even prepared for college curriculum. In a
report from CNN, 10 percent of the college athletes scored below a 400
on the reading section of the SAT. The SAT exists to test a persons
readiness for the college curriculum; scoring below a 400 on that section
labels a person illiterate at the college level. Forcing these young men
and women into high level courses they are clearly not prepared for is
not only unfair, it is cruel. Even at the premier institutions, such as the
University of North Carolina, college athletes are being taken advantage
of. However, in the case of UNC, athletes are not even educated. In
2014, it was discovered that many previously failing and ineligible
students instantly got the grades to become eligible again. The
university did this by having students take classes like swahili and other
courses in the African Studies department. Not only is this undermining
the education of the athletes, these fake courses and departments

establish a stigma that important political and cultural courses, like

African Studies, are unimportant and easy to pass without deep thought.
Many college athletes come from poor backgrounds and need a
salary to be able to afford the basic necessities of college life.
Universities spend their millions on lavish stadiums and exorbitant
salaries for the coaches, but due to rules and regulations, cannot even
give the athletes a stipend so they can afford food. After the 2014
college basketball championship, star point guard Shabazz Napier said
in an interview, There are definitely many nights that I go to bed
hungry and I know I am not the only one. While the NCAA caps off its
billion dollar month, the athletes who generate 100% of that revenue are
realizing, despite being on the national stage and winning the
championship, that they will still go hungry at night. What is worse is
that they will go to bed hungry while their coaches are pulling down
millions. During football season on saturdays, Michigan Stadium is the
4th largest city by population in the state during a home game. The
University has the money to run that Stadium and pay the coach, Jim

Harbaugh, nearly 11 million dollars. With football, even non

scholarship athletes, kids are risking permanent brain damage brought
on by concussions. Some of these kids, like at other universities are
suffering financially, and yet, despite risking their lives and education,
receive no compensation whether it comes from healthcare or even a
basic salary.
The current state of College sports is unacceptable. Universities
and the NCAA are making billions while the athletes are literally
starving. I understand that the Universities cannot afford to pay each
man and woman millions, however, I am not asking for millions. If the
university of Michigan cut the salary of coach Harbaugh in half, the
university could afford to pay each athlete over 60 thousand dollars a
year or an equal amount to one years tuition. College athletes are not
students and we need to adjust the system to compensate these young
men and women for their work as employees.