College Sports Argument Essay

            Have you ever watched a college football or basketball game, and seen the huge stadiums or arenas packed with thousands of fans? Each of those games generates hundreds of thousands of dollars, and almost none of it goes to the players who play the game itself. The NCAA has deemed them amateurs, and therefore they don’t receive any payment. These athletes base most of their time around the sport they play, especially the biggest sport football and basketball in which they play dozens of games, and aren’t rewarded financially. This is different then being on the swim team or another extracurricular sport, where there aren’t too many practices or meets/games, and the athletes can focus mainly on their academics. For the players, this is their focus and academics usually take a lower priority since less time is left for them. Since they don’t receive any of the money they generate in the first place, college athletes are, in a way, exploited by the NCAA and they should be paid at least a minimum wage and receive other benefits.

            In college, most students get a job outside of school to help cover expenses, and for college athletes in top sports this is almost the same thing, except for the fact that they aren’t paid for it. Athletes shouldn’t spend this much time doing the sport and not receive any compensation to pay for expenses. How could they possibly find the time to obtain money a different way between spending almost 60 hours per week practicing and playing the sport and focusing on academics? Some of the athletes’ basic needs aren’t covered as shown in this quote from Shabazz Napier, a star point guard for the University of Connecticut basketball team. “There are […] nights that I go to bed and I’m starving,” he said, the year he and his team won the hugely popular ‘March Madness’ college basketball tournament. In Upfront Magazine issue 15251292, it is stated that “the average full-scholarship athlete accumulates $3,200 in debt for each year they’re in school, because meal plans and other incidentals often aren’t fully covered. Even though athletes receive some benefits, they must receive the best benefits, such as top health insurance that covers almost all expenses, since they can succumb to serious injuries that can affect their careers and cost a fortune, even to the players who don’t plan on having a sports career. Colleges need to start taking responsibility for these athletes that dedicate so much time to them. They need to start being paid, and though the fact that a federal judge decided that college basketball and football players must be paid if they are shown on TV is a start, they need more. Their living expenses need to be covered, and they need to start earning something for the “job” they do. The ones profiting the most are the adults who don’t take part in the games, such as people of the NCAA and the coaches.

            The NCAA has been using the “amateur” status for decades, and it’s slowly developed into a way to exploit the athletes by not letting them profit from their own fame and success. The sports generate billions of dollars, “800 million alone from the ‘March Madness’ basketball tournament” (Upfront Magazine, Issue 15251292, Page 15). The NCAA forbids student athletes to profit

 from their own likenesses or names, showing how the amateur status is a cover for exploitation and a way for the NCAA to profit as much as possible from these sports without having to spend on the athletes themselves. According to www.indystar.com, “The highest-paid public employee in 40 states is a college football or basketball coach,” showing just how much money coaches and other NCAA and college executives are paid. The amateur label needs to be removed, and NCAA rules must be changed, as the only ones not profiting are the players, and the NCAA is exploiting them in every way possible.

            College sports are a very heated and debated topic right now, but there is clear evidence that the athletes aren’t profiting enough, and that coaches and NCAA executives are profiting too much. Evidence shows that the NCAA is using the players to obtain huge sums of money and preventing the players from profiting themselves from their own image. Although some changes are starting to be made, many reforms need to happen, starting with payment and benefits for the athletes. It’s important for change to be made so that a balance can be established in college sports, with all the people involved profiting fairly, and I think these reforms should be made because it’s unfair that students don’t profit from their job. Changes are happening, and college sports are being changed for good, and for the best.