

Paying college athletes could improve a team’s level of success by attracting better players.
#SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID PRO#
Talented student-athletes who don’t plan on going pro might join the college ranks if it meant they would receive a stipend or some amount of money to play.
#SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID PROFESSIONAL#
In fact, close to 98% of college athletes won’t go on to professional sports like the NFL or NBA. Not every college student will become a professional athlete. They could also focus on putting in the hard work it takes to move from college sports into professional sports on a softball, basketball, or football team. If every college student was not required to generate income to cover their expenses, they could focus more on athletics and academics. Scholarships may offer room and board, or even tuition, but not all student-athletes meet the eligibility for athletic scholarships. If those amateur athletes knew they could turn their hard work into a paycheck through collegiate sports, they would stay with the college program longer and thus earn their degree before moving into professional sports. While the goal of attending college is to earn a degree, some of those students also have the talent to become professional athletes. Why shouldn’t they get some amount of money or financial compensation for their efforts? Here are some of the pros or reasons why college athletes should be paid.Ī large number of students participate in athletics on the high school level. After all, athletes train, practice, and put their bodies on the line. The argument for paying college athletes has plenty of merits. Should College Athletes Be Paid: The Pros

In his brief, Justice Neil Gorsuch said that NCAA violated the Sherman Act when they limited education-related financial compensation. The unanimous decision upheld a lower court’s ruling that struck down the NCAA’s rules capping student-athlete benefits. Alston, the US Supreme Court found that the NCAA’s prohibition of student-athletes from receiving financial compensation violates federal antitrust laws. College athletes are also permitted to hire agents, who can negotiate on their behalf. So, college football and basketball players can now earn profits via sponsorships and endorsement deals.

The act makes it illegal to prevent college athletes from receiving financial compensation for the use of their Name, Image, or Likeness (NIL). These include legislation and court decisions in New York as well as California.Ĭalifornia Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Fair Play Act into law in 2019. While these policies continue to evolve, here’s a quick overview of things that have informed the debate on paying college athletes. That’s because the NCAA’s Division I Council suspended its amateurism rules around NIL (name, image, or likeness) monetization.

The phrase “no pay for play” has been turned on its head in many ways over the last few years. How Did We Get Here? A Comprehensive History Let’s first lay out the history, then discuss some pros and cons, in order to properly consider the various opinions people hold. Paying college athletes could alter the nature of athletic scholarships, eligibility requirements, endorsement deals, and intercollegiate athletics in general. athletics debate, there’s the question of how the money would work. In this piece we’re exploring: should college athletes be paid? How would this affect athletic programs? Does the concept denigrate the concept of academics?īeyond the academics vs. If each college student were paid, they would become employees, changing the nature of their relationship with the school and its athletic department. In addition to the billions of dollars at play here, college athletics involve nearly half a million student-athletes and over 20,000 teams. ESPN pays the College Football Playoff $470 million annually through the 2025-2026 season. Taking a closer look at the money in college athletics, the NCAA Division 1 basketball tournament has a contract with Turner Broadcasting and CBS for nearly $9 billion over eight years. In professional sports minimum contracts are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars while top players earn millions annually. But the questions connected to compensating athletes are wide-ranging and complex.Ĭollegiate sports generated $14 billion in revenue for 2019 alone, so financially compensating student-athletes is a natural discussion. As governed by National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), college athletics are amateur sports. People have been asking if college athletes deserve to be paid for years. Should college athletes be paid is a question that evokes mixed opinions across the board.
