Sanderson And John Siegfried's Article: The Case For Paying College Athletes

In their article “The Case for Paying College Athletes”, authors Allen Sanderson and John Siegfried examine the current circumstance of college sports, how it came to be, and why and how they think it will eventually change. The status quo of college sports in America is, of course, one in which athletic departments and universities are conferred untold riches off of the efforts of their unpaid labor. Athletic Departments are able to justify this inequitable status quo by maintaining that their athletes are rewarded with something much more valuable than mere wage compensation: a college education. Fortunately for the aforementioned unpaid labor, the authors make it clear that they believe that the NCAA’s archaic modus operandi will not continue to function for much longer. An argument can be even be made that the NCAA’s modus operandi in regards to player compensation has already become a relic of the past in the aftermath of the O’Bannon ruling. The issue of student-athlete compensation is far from a settled matter in the court of public opinion and therefore it is critical for proponents of either side to lay out their argument in a reasoned and comprehensive manner. The argument …show more content…
By the title of the article I could see how one could assume that Sanderson and Siegfried’s article is just a slanted think piece, but it is actually much more than that. While the authors are undoubtedly ardent supporters of paying student-athletes the article that they wrote is impartial enough that one could read the article without feeling manipulated. Overall, the author’s argument in favor of paying student-athletes is so poignant because they have such a thorough understanding of both the history of the NCAA and American college athletes and also and understanding of why it chooses to operate as it