Alex Clifford

Mr. Gardner

Girthy French Fries

1 Nov. 2019

Is a Scholarship Payment Enough?

College athletics is a multi-billion dollar business that handsomely rewards coaches and

builds elaborate facilities but does not give a single penny to the players. While colleges pay for

the education, housing, and many other things for the players, they [the athletes] want more. The

problem is whether or not it would be beneficial or fair for college athletes to be able to earn

money or not. One side of the argument is that college athletes are getting paid enough with free

college and the ability to further their education without having to find alternative ways to pay.

They also believe that if college athletes are paid, then the distinction between pro and amateur

athletes will disappear. On the other hand, many feel that it is unethical for the colleges to earn

so much money off of their players and not monetarily compensate them or at the very least, let

them profit off themselves in any way. Would paying college athletes and/or allowing them to

profit off their image be beneficial?

College players are often referred to as ‘student-athletes’ and according to those who

oppose monetary payment, this is the main argument. In the phrase ‘student-athletes’, the word

student comes first and many claim that the reward is getting a free education and that athletes

should not be preoccupied with money and endorsement deals during their college years. In a

YouTube video by Business Insider they give a quote that says, “[paying college athletes] would

distract in a very significant way from pursuing what they really need to pursue-an education”

(Business Insider). This quote suggests that while at college, student-athletes should focus on

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getting their education because it is an opportunity to work toward a career without incurring

thousands of dollars of student debt, and odds are that only a few athletes go on to play

professionally. Opponents argue for college athletes to focus heavily on gaining knowledge from

their professors and course work. However, the players often forget about this as they become

embroiled in the world of sport; spending countless hours honing their athletic skills and often

putting academics second.

The recruiting process could also be potentially changed due to new legislation in

California. When colleges go to recruit a player they can only offer so much. They work to

highlight their program’s accomplishments in recent years as well as what the college can offer

them academically. In the article, California to Let College Athletes Make Money, Defying

NCAA, this is expounded upon, “the NCAA cautioned that the law would give California

universities an unfair recruiting advantage” (Beam). The law they are talking about was a bill

signed by California’s governor that will allow college athletes to make money off of their image

through endorsements that will go into effect in 2023. When this bill becomes official, colleges

in California will be able to entice players with the promise of a good education, a solid athletic

program, and now the allure of monetary compensation. While this may benefit the athletes that

get recruited to play at a California school, it will hurt the other programs and players

everywhere else in the country. Also paying athletes in some areas of the country will cause

unfair advantages for certain schools, and if you allow every athlete to be paid, there will not be

enough money to keep the programs running. Even though college athletics brings in millions of

dollars they need to use that money on funding the program with new equipment, new facilities,

and help pay for exposure. This is why colleges cannot pay their athletes, they simply do not

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have enough money to go around. Another argument is that players may then become involved

in comparing and complaining about their compensation packages.

The other side argues that college athletes should be able to make money off of their own

image and/or be paid by the college. They explain that college athletes are risking their bodies to

play their sport and with one injury, can lose the ability to play and at the same time lose their

scholarship that pays for their education. In order to counter this problem, the argument of

college athletes being able to make money arose. Many claim that the NCAA is making plenty of

money and should compensate the players that earn it for them. This cartoon is a representation

of what the NCAA allegedly is doing to profit off of their roughly 400,000 college athletes. (See

Figure 1).

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(Fig. 1) Rob, Tornoe. "We Are All in This Together." Sites at Penn State, Pennsylvania State

University, 20 Feb. 2019, sites.psu.edu/gpintocivicissuesblog2019/2019/02/20/civic-

issues-blog-3/. Accessed 22 Oct. 2019. Cartoon.

Proponents for paying college athletes feel that the NCAA is making ridiculous amounts of

money and then claim to be sharing the wealth. They feel that, in fact, the NCAA uses players as

their own workhorses while claiming player accomplishments as their own and not really

looking out for the well being of each athlete. This very principle is expounded upon in the

article by Melody Gutierrez, “California Will Allow College Athletes to Profit from

Endorsements Under Bill Signed by Newsom”. The article written in the Los Angeles times

gives quotes about the reason behind this bill and it says, “I just think the system has been

perverted, and this is fundamentally about rebalancing things” (Gutierrez). Colleges make so

much money that they need to start paying their players or come up with a way for the athletes to

get some return on their investment of time and outcomes during the games. When they are not

practicing or playing in a game they need to be studying for their classes and have no other way

to earn money to pay for college. That is why there are scholarships, but if the student-athletes

need more money for other things or they get hurt they have nothing to fall back on. So, the

argument is made that college athletes should be able to make money for that very reason. In a

song about college athletes by Animation Domination High Def, they say, “playing sports in

college takes up a lot of free time, 400,000 students play and don’t get paid a dime” (Animation

Domination High Def). These lyrics highlight the amount of practice time required in college

athletics, the inability to earn money through work, and the risk of injury and loss of scholarships

as a reason to pay players. Proponents also claim that players would feel more secure and be

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happier, thus giving them a higher motivation to work harder for the betterment of the team and

in turn the school.

Prior to my research on this topic, I believed that every college athlete should be paid by

the college on top of their free education. However, after I learned about both sides of the

argument, I have changed my point of view. I did not change my opinion completely, as I still

think that the players should have some way to make extra money to provide security in case of

injury, but I understand the argument that college is a time to focus on an education and paying

players could create unfair practices and bitter disputes to arise among players.

My solution to this problem is that the NCAA and the colleges within the organization

adopt the Olympic Rule of Amateurism. What this entails is that college athletes will not be paid

by their respective college, but they will be able to use their own image to sign autographs and

take endorsement deals to obtain the extra money they desire and deserve. To limit conflict of

interests, I do not think that players should be able to take an endorsement deal if it is not the

same brand that endorses the college. I do believe in allowing advertisement or other deals that

are not tied directly to the school. This might take a couple of years to set up a system and

convert every college to this way of thinking, but in the long run, I believe that this will be the

most beneficial solution to the players as well as to the schools they attend. Interestingly enough,

the NCAA seems to agree at least in part because they have recently ruled that players can make

money off of their own image and autographs.

Works Cited

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Animation Domination High Def. “ADHD U: College Athletes Song”. YouTube. YouTube, 28

Aug. 2015. Web. 27 Oct. 2019.

Beam, Adam - Associated Press. “California to Let College Athletes Make Money, Defying

NCAA.” AP English Worldstream - English, Associated Press DBA Press Association,

30 Sept. 2019. EBSCOhost,

search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=n5h&AN=AP3eae19f79430452cadf05

c1d28371adb.

Business Insider. “NCAA Sports Bring In $1 Billion A Year — Why Aren’t The Athletes Paid?”

YouTube. YouTube, 24 Mar. 2019. Web. 20 Oct. 2019.

Gutierrez, Melody, Nathan Feno, and Ben Bolch. “California Will Allow College Athletes to

Profit From Endorsements Under Bill Signed by Newsom”. Los Angeles Times. Los

Angeles Times. 30 Sept. 2019. Web. 7 Oct. 2019.

Rob, Tornoe. "We Are All in This Together." Sites at Penn State, Pennsylvania State University,

20 Feb. 2019, sites.psu.edu/gpintocivicissuesblog2019/2019/02/20/civic-issues-blog-3/.

Accessed 22 Oct. 2019. Cartoon.