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Case Study: Why Student Athletes Should Be Paid

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As college sport revenues continue to grow, the question of whether or not to pay student athletes has become a highly debated issue. The National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCCA for short, is a membership-driven organization designed to protect the well being of student athletes and provide them with skills to succeed on and off the field. The NCAA sounds like a blessing to student-athletes. However when the college sport industry is said to be generating over $11 billion in annual revenues, and refusing to share any of these profits with student-athletes who prompt these profits, is that really in the best interest of the student-athlete? The NCAA has attempted to explain their ban on the payment of student-athletes with several …show more content…

You might be thinking what exactly qualifies as annual revenue. Annual revenue can come from ticket sales, the sale of broadcast rights, sponsorship rights, and a number of other sources. 50 colleges reported that they had annual revenues of over $50 million. Though less 5 colleges reported to have had annual revenues of an outstanding $100 million. This seems like a lot of money to not be sharing with student-athletes. The money goes to NCAA executives, athletic directors and coaches in the form of salaries. A somewhat scary fact is that in 40 out of the 50 U.S. states the highest paid public employee is the state university’s head football or basketball coach. The head of the NCAA is receiving close to $2 million a year. As Marc Edelman notes, the average salary of a head football coach at the 44 NCAA Bowl Championship schools is $2.1 million dollars. An even more outstanding and absurd salary is that of Nick Saban. Saban is the head football coach of the University of Alabama. He recently signed a contract for $7 million per year. Why do these absurd salaries matter? They matter because according to a 2011 report “The Price of Big Poverty in Big Time College Sport”, 85% of college athletes on scholarship live below the poverty line. Marvin Williams, a current NBA player on the Charlotte Hornets, is a great example of why the NCAA needs to change its views on paying student-athletes. Williams played for UNC Chapel Hill in 2005. After just one season of college basketball he was off to the NBA. This sounds great, but the problem was that Williams did not want to leave college. Williams said “If college athletes were compensated, I don't think I would have left college”. He only left because his family was “very poor” and knew he could make a lot of money in the NBA. Williams regards leaving college as a “business decision” for his family. Williams

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