Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

Bradyn Kube

Mrs. Rogotzke

American Literature and Composition, Hour 3

23 February 2023

College Athletes Deserve to be Paid College athletes everywhere are living every kid's dream. They are playing their favorite sport on one of the biggest stages in the world by playing in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association). The NCAA has been around for over 110 years. New athletes and prospects get recruited and join universities to play sports every year. These student athletes have to balance school and practice on top of having to work as a form of income with how expensive tuition has become. Student athletes produce millions every year for their respective universities without receiving a share of that income. Because of the sacrifices

Because of college athletes, universities are able to sell jerseys and clothing apparel during the different sports seasons. Students, families, and fans all support universities by purchasing merchandise and attending games; this keeps the funding of sports programs intact. The higher ranking that a college sports team receives from the NCAA, the more funding that organization receives and more prospects want to play for their university (Morganfield). Because of these athletes, universities make money as fans come to watch the young men and women showcase their abilities. The fans pay to watch the athletes and support them yet the universities receive all the revenue that their athletes work hard to produce. Many believe that the NCAA uses their student athletes by having them work hard everyday without giving them a share of the revenue they produce (Arnett). “I believe college athletes should be paid because they are being exploited” - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as quoted by (Jackson 5). Students go straight from class to practice. A typical college practice including weight room and recovery time can last anywhere from 2-4 hours. There is not enough time in the day for college students to work hard on their studies when they also have to focus on practice and work (Morganfield

Depending on what sport you play some student athletes play multiple sports in college. Students are sometimes able to take some classes for free which means free credits to go on your college resume. Even though the free credits are nice to have and good to take advantage of, it means more homework and time spent in the classroom (Arnett 1). There is already so much stress on college students if they are just there to do their studies, and then throwing sports and practice into their schedules makes it very difficult for students to succeed. Balancing work, school, and sports is so difficult for students to do and succeed in all 3 (Dellenger 1). Those reasons alone are why many believe that college athletes should be paid. But many strongly think differently about college pay. College athletes are considered amateurs and they choose to play college sports because they enjoy the sport. Professionals get paid to do what they do and amateurs do it for fun (Morganfield 2). Others say that if they were to pay college athletes it would all go to men’s basketball and football. This just isn't true. Yes, most of the money would go to men’s basketball and football because those 2 programs produce the most income. Every sport would give the same percentage to their athletes; it just depends on the amount of money they make. The more revenue they make the higher