Analysis: Why College Athletes Should Not Be Paid

College Athletes Shouldn’t Be Paid The argument of whether or not athletes should be paid has been circling the sports world from the recent past up to now. Ever since the introduction of media to the sports world, many athletes are fighting to get compensation for playing college sports because of the way that the media are using their likeness. From video games to commercials to team merchandise, college athletes’ likeness is constantly used to improve sales and make profit. Some players ignore it and focus on playing the sport while others argue that it is unfair to not get paid. Many look at college as more of an opportunity to play the sport that they enjoy, but more importantly obtain and education that will help them further on in life. A major lawsuit involving …show more content…
O’Bannon, who played on the 1995 UCLA championship team in Division I Basketball, claimed that the NCAA was violating his right of publicity and therefore sued them. O’Bannon is clearly on the side of compensating college athletes. On the contrary of O’Bannon’s case, many argue against compensating college athletes for a multitude of reasons. College athletes should not be compensated to play sports because they are already given many luxuries, they would not play for the passion of the sport, but instead for the money, and students would begin to shift their focus towards making money rather than their academics. College athletes are often placed on a pedestal compared to their peers. In many cases they are placed in the best dorm and many often attend school for free due to scholarships. “It is an agreement that is not set up to pay them in ways that is fair in relation to the money the schools make from their participation” (Jackson). College athletes agree to play for an