Athletes work hard to show off their skills and to climb toward the dreams they’ve had their entire lives. For some, these dreams entail playing their respective sport professionally.
Professional athletes receive paychecks that have quite a few digits.
So why aren’t college athletes paid? Is a paycheck for their hard work just something for them to look forward to if they are able to enter their sport’s professional association?
Despite whether the athletes are able to secure a victory on the court or field, the real winners in college sports are the sponsors, coaches, broadcasters and the National Collegiate Athletic Association: these people and entities make millions and billions of dollars off each game.
But why are student-athletes not paid when their work brings in so much money?
Some may argue that they aren’t paid because they receive scholarships and room and board. However, is that enough?
Five sports economists across the United States were asked questions concerning this topic. Their answers were similar, but each provided a different rationale.
David Berri, professor of economics at Southern Utah University, said that any university making that much money has more than enough to spread it to its players.
Rodney Fort, a sports economist and sports management professor at the University of Michigan said, “Yeah, … (they should be paid). The money is already there.”
Duke University’s athletic program hauled in a revenue of $80 million during its most recent fiscal year, while the NCAA made $989 million.
Duke constructed a state-of-the-art sports facility and pays its head men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski $10 million per year.
Stefen Szymanski, a sports economist from the University of Michigan, said coaches should not worry about a world where college athletes get paid.
If such a world were to become a reality, the college coaches would demand more from their universities, and probably get what they wanted.
Those against paying college athletes often bring up how much the athletes receive already.
Although they cannot be lured with a direct payment, athletes are often offered secondary sources of “income” that are worth just as much.
These include scholarships and investments in facilities or equipment that athletes can use.
President Barack Obama sat down in March with Huffington Post’s Sam Stein to express his perspective on the issue.
He said he feels the current system does not adequately protect college athletes who earn enormous sums of money for the schools for which they compete. However, he did not suggest it was time to begin paying college athletes or that they should have the right to unionize.
This, President Obama said, may lead to bidding on athletes, which would ruin the sense of college sports.
In the end, college athletes are paid in more than enough ways for their work on the fields and courts.
