The National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA, oversees all college athletic sports in the USA. This has made it a large company and currently put it at the front of a very large debate regarding whether or not the NCAA should pay athletes.
In 2017, the NCAA profited over $1.1 billion, making it a very large company. However, the NCAA still claims that it is a non-profit organization and simply regulates college athletics. $1.1 billion dollars does not sound like there is no profit in it to me.
Of this money, college athletes see zero per cent , as it is illegal for the athletes to make profit from the sports they play during their time in college.
In fact, if they are found to be receiving money from outside sources, they can be heavily penalized.
This happened to former USC running back Reggie Bush. Reggie Bush had won the Heisman trophy, which is the most prestigious trophy in college football, but was found to have been receiving improper benefits from playing.
These benefits consisted of money, hotel-stays and free dinners. But Reggie Bush was also on the verge of making millions in the NFL and the money that he brought in for the NCAA and USC was way more than he ever received.
As the NCAA profits so much from its athletes, I believe they should begin to pay college athletes at least a base minimum for their hours that are put in, and perhaps consider setting up a fund for college athletes that get seriously injured.
The NCAA argues that its athletes are “students first” and therefore should not be paid. But most of the athletic schedules force them to miss classes — such as the Division 1 Football Championship which is hosted on a Monday night — usually far from the schools the athletes attend.
The March Madness Tournament takes place over more than a week, making athletes skip classes to participate in the tournament. So, even though the athletes are “students first,” their athletic schedules require them to miss a fair bit of class.
On top of missing class, athletes often miss most of their study free-time, as the NCAA is a very high level of athletics, which requires around 43 hours of practice or training per week. This is more hours than the average work week in America.
The main argument as to why I believe athletes should be paid, is due to the injury risk.
These athletes are playing at a high level of competition, for no compensation and only a slight chance of going pro. Out of all the men’s and women’s NCAA sports, only baseball players have above a two per cent rate of turning pro.
This means that NCAA athletes are risking their bodies to bring money in for the NCAA and their schools, for a miniscule chance of going to a higher level and no paid compensation in return.
In fact, if players were to get injured, the NCAA allows schools to pull their scholarships, putting people that would’ve typically not gone to such expensive schools in a position where they are forced to drop out.
As the NCAA profits so much from its athletes, I believe they should begin to pay college athletes at least a base minimum for their hours that are put in, and perhaps consider setting up a fund for college athletes that get seriously injured.
The athletes currently keep people in the NCAA employed, but the NCAA refuses to employ them.