Millions of Americans are watching March Madness. Advertisers make millions, and so do schools and the NCAA, but not the players. Just this weekend, President Barack Obama said it's time for the NCAA to rethink the way it protects and punishes athletes.
"The students need to be taken better care of because they are generating a lot of revenue. It doesn't matter whether they get cut, it doesn't matter whether they get hurt. You are now entering into a bargain and responsible for them," said President Obama in an interview with the Huffington Post.
Oliver Luck is the number two at the National Collegiate Athletic Association, headquartered in Indianapolis. And, yes, Luck is also Colts Quarterback Andrew Luck's father.
"Certainly the President
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"I do believe a student-athlete does have a name, image and likeness. It is really who you are. Just because you accept a scholarship doesn`t necessarily mean you wave that right to a name, image and likeliness. The real question is what is that name and image and likeness worth?" said Luck.
Luck says the NCAA is considering guaranteed athletic scholarships, so any player who gets hurt won't suddenly have to pay for college. The Power Five conferences (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC) have already taken the measure suggested by President Barack Obama.
However, Oliver Luck says the NCAA does not like the idea of paying an athlete to play.
"We think having a class of paid professional athletics within the campus environment would be detrimental to the whole concept of intercollegiate athletics and amateurism," said Oliver Luck.
Luck says lawsuits against the NCAA will shape future policy.
"Is it appropriate to provide some sort of licensing payment for the use of that name of that name, image and likeness? The answer is we don’t know at this point. There are several lawsuits out which we hope we will get resolved relatively soon. There is a good bit of discussion taking place around that issue. It is all what is this new definition of intercollegiate model of amateur athletics," said
I remember for years Michael Wilborn was against paying college student athletes. Mr. Wilborn always said on “Pardon the Interruption”, free room and board, free meals, and tuition is enough compensation. He did his research on how much money the NCAA draws from different networks, from CBS/Tuner Sports March Madness made $10.8 billion exact between 2011 through 2024. Break it down by years that is a total of $11 billion dollars for three weekends in one month. That stat turns Michael Wilborn statement from not paying student athletes to pay the students athletes
College Varsity Athletes Should be Paid In this paper, I argue that college varsity athletes should be paid for playing sports that bring in revenue. In particular, College football and basketball because they bring in the majority of the revenue for the schools. The revenue accomplished by college sports programs continues to increase, due to the growth in interest of the NCAA basketball tournament and the college football playoffs (Berry III, Page 270). Throughout the past few years, one of the main topics debated in college sports is whether or not the athletes should be paid.
Why collegiate athletes should get paid. Collegiate athletes should get paid. This has been a problem many people are bringing up for discussion. Some do not believe collegiate athletes should get paid because it takes away from the “purity” of the sport or because it wouldn’t be quite “fair” and we would then have to pay high school athletes.
College Athletes Compensation How would you feel if you were to perform and work as hard as you could but have all of the money that results from your hard work go to someone else, and you get none of it? Division I college athletes not being compensated for their efforts is a major problem. Universities and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) profit around $6 billion annually off of college athletes; meanwhile these athletes do not see any of this money and may even go to bed hungry. These student athletes put their bodies and health on the line when they step out for their sports and often have to pay a lifetime of medical bills, and do not get any help with this. When trying to provide for themselves, students are
“College athletes don’t have to worry about student loans, paying for textbooks, the cost of on-campus living, and meal plans” (McCauley). These student athletes are still going to college, hence the name college athletes. They are not professionals, and this is not the big leagues. A scholarship can take care of a big portion of the cost to go to college. Even if it doesn’t cover the whole cost, they are still paying a lot less than a regular student going to college.
Imagine doing hard labor every day without getting paid. Imagine not being able to recover fully from a traumatic injury and being overcome with medical bills. This happened to many athletes, but one that stands out is Inky Johnson. Inky Johnson was a star football player for Tennessee. He was guaranteed to be in the top thirty of the NFL draft pick in 2006.
It includes only those funds that end up in the NCAA 's bank account.” The FCAA being the organization that would collect and distribute the capital. This research paper described why college athletes should be paid. They make personal sacrifices, and take risks in order to produce revenue for their schools.
College sports is one of the best-known entertainments around the world. But for the athletes, they are students first then athletes second. For college student-athletes, there are a variety of scholarships and grants to help pay for college or college debt. However, some critics say that student-athletes should be paid a salary like pro athletes would, with help from scholarships or grants. The authors of, College Athletes are being Educated, not Exploited, Val Ackerman and Larry Scott, argue that student-athletes are already paid by free education and other necessities.
If the NCAA was changed, or even abolished, the universities of today would most likely fix the issue of poor college athletes, whether they meant to or not. Universities are typically unabashed to admit that they are indeed running a businesses. They want elite teams that will not only earn the school a large income, but bring them to bowl games and championships. Colleges would have little to no issue with giving student-athletes the benefits of employees if the realm of collegiate sports became a free market. In fact, such a reform guarantees a competitive market to insure that college-players
The Injustice of the NCAA The NCAA is making an extremely large profit on the amateur athletic performance of student athletes, without them seeing a penny. The NCAA earns around 1.5-2.0 billion dollars on average every year (compared to the NFL at 1.0-2.0 billion dollars as well). They are additionally qualifying themselves as a non-profit organization, therefore not having to pay taxes on any of the money they receive. College athletes should be able to receive an allowance, besides the scholarships they receive, because many students struggle to get through the week, paying for food, clothing, and other essential items. Student athletes, as stated in bylaw 15.01.2 of the NCAA handbook, are not allowed to take any handout or financial help
" This quote proves that the students are bringing in lots of money and the school has plenty to give. College athletes should be paid because they contribute to the school revenues. When it comes to getting fans in the arena it all happens because of the stars coming out of the locker room. Student athletes can be looked at as advertisement because they persuade people to come watch their skills.
Compensating them may affect the true sportsmanship of the games. That is why a considerable amount of the company’s revenue goes to the executives. (“Edelman”). There are other ways an athlete may receive credit for their work. If the NCAA modifies their terrible contract that restricts the athletes from any monetary compensation, it will open the door to new beginnings.
One of the biggest issues with NCAA sports is should college athletes be able to unionize and play. According to their website, The NCAA is an organization that represents over 1,100 colleges and universities from the Division 1, Division 2, and Division 3 Level (ncaa.org). In addition, The NCAA doled out more than $2.7 billion in athletic scholarships along with other resources, student-athletes can utilize (ncaa.org). Although the NCAA generates mass revenue, only the top programs are usually profitable while most schools operate at the institution cost (Mitchell & Edelman, 2013). I believe college athletes should not be unionized or paid to play college sports.
The fight for payment of college athletes has not been quick one as more and more issues keep popping up. The NCAA has never allowed payment of its athletes, but small steps towards the overall goal has questioned the NCAA’s past. Its’ decisions has stayed constant since its founding in 1906. The first issue in this decision would not occur until 1952 when the NCAA ruled to give The University of Kentucky the ‘death penalty’ for paying their athletes. This ‘death penalty’ is a one year program ban from participation, the harshest penalty the NCAA can give.
A growing debate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association is whether or not student athletes should be paid. The controversy began in 2011 after three hundred coaches and athletes signed a petition to pay college-level athletes, and since then other athletes have made several more arguments. The NCAA has rightfully denied all of the requests, saying they include too much. To pay student athletes could be hugely expensive for colleges, especially because they would not only pay for each athlete’s degree and equipment, but also provide a salary and give bonuses revenue for tournaments. Moreover, college athletes should not be paid because there is not enough money, it takes away a student’s focus from schoolwork, and not every athlete is guaranteed a professional career after graduating; however it is argued that it they are already paid in a way.