Essay: Why College Athletes Should Be Paid

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College players receive an athletic scholarship which pays for the education, but nothing else. The majority of football and basketball players can not afford food, and some can’t even afford college. Getting a full scholarship is undoubtedly a very valuable opportunity for the players to have a fantastic education, but many division one student athletes go for sports rather than education. Once the athlete is on campus, the students receive one meal a day that is included from the NCAA but that is it. Division One basketball, and football athletes, should be paid. The National Collegiate Athletic Association can afford to give all Division One athletes money. The NCAA agreed with CBS to televise March Madness for a price of 10.8 billion dollar deal over 14 years (CBS.com). The NCAA receives $700,000 every 30 seconds in advertising during March Madness. The NCAA made 1.15 billion dollars just off of March Madness. They made all of this because of the players. Without the basketball players, none of this would be happening. The player make the money, so they should be the ones that get paid. College football has generated the NCAA and the schools a substantial amount of money. Not only does the NCAA and Universities make this money, but also gambling websites such as ESPN. ESPN generated 7.3 billion dollars from people gambling on there website. Last season, Ohio State University made 40 million dollars because they won the BCS championship (statisticbrain.com). While the players worked very hard, they get paid nothing. Without the hard work and dedication from the football players, the NCAA wouldn’t exist. Division One basketball could see a massive change soon. …show more content…
High school basketball recruits who have very little to no money, are starting to play overseas to make money. Emmanuel Mudiay, a rookie point guard who was drafted by the Denver Nuggets, decided to decline all the scholarships from colleges and play oversea. Mudiay received a one year, 1.2 million dollar contract with Guangdong Tigers which is a team in China. He also received a shoe deal from Under Armor as soon as he signed his contract to play overseas. But it 's not just playing overseas that will become popular, but back when the NBA was founded to 2008, some players didn’t go to college. Forty-one players went to the NBA straight out of college (sbnation.com)There have been some unbelievable players, and some busts. But some of the great players are: LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Dwight Howard, Tracey Mcgrady, and Moses Malone are all players who came straight out of high school into the draft. Five of the six players are arguably hall of fame worthy and potentially all of them are. All six of these NBA legend’s have one thing in common, they didn’t go to college because they needed money. People can say that they thought that they were good enough, but it ultimately had to do with making money. The NBA is turning into money first, then wins because basketball careers don’t last long. The average year for an NBA player playing in the NBA is 4.8 years. (rsvlts.com) The worst thing that could happen to any athlete is a career ending or serious injury. And some of the injuries can be life threatening. The National Football League is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. There is an average of 5 injured players a week on every team (footballinsiders.com). In the NFL, players careers last for an average of 3.3 years the NFL claims that the average career is about 6 years (for players who make a club 's opening day roster in their rookie season) (Statista.com) Football is undoubtedly one of the most dangerous sports in the world. Many players have died shortly after their careers from concussions, and other injuries relating to the head. 13% NFL players on injured reserve and are out for the season (ESPN.com) The money they expect to make won’t come because having a career that hardly lasts 3-6 years will provide them with enough money to live on. Football players need to get paid as soon as they reach college so they can have enough money to live on and support themselves. College makes more money than the professionals and doesn’t give the

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