College Athletes: Should College Players Be Paid?

In the current century, sports have seized to be a concept of fun and games and have consequently become a business. College sports are no exception to this since players need to feel a sense of appreciation for going an extra mile to engaging in sports on top of education. Sports in colleges provide significant source of income for the colleges. The school gets the money from the sale of tickets, sport-related merchandise, and television contract among others. However, the sportsmen receive a scholarship and little more considerations. The prospect of receiving a scholarship is acceptable by the majority. However, a close analysis reveals that this is not enough according to the efforts put by the players in raising the standards of the colleges …show more content…
Studies previously conducted reveal that a significant percentage of college players come from needy families (Taylor, 2011). The implication is that, while offering free education is a good idea, these players will need more money to cater for the other personal expense. It is also estimated that the time the players spend in practice is equivalent to the time spent by other students in jobs at the student center or at the cafeteria and who are compensated for these jobs. In this regard, the players deserve a kind of compensation just as their colleagues. There have, however, been many reasons why college players are not compensated. One of the main reasons given is that student players are amateurs and that compensating them will amount to losing the status of an amateur. Amateurs are described as being non-professional or those who are not in pursuant of gaining. Most people argue that the fact that college players are regarded as amateurs gives college sports their appeal. Under existing rules, colleges cannot recruit players who have engaged in professional competitions, accepted cash from benefactors, or played for money in any league (Devin & Jaren, 2009). Furthermore, college players cannot be compensated for giving lessons or training other in their sport leave alone accepting grants from the U.S. Olympic Committee. The player is not required to …show more content…
They should be supported to pursue their career without any form of discrimination. Considering the concerns for both the players and society where players want to advance their talent and society wants education for them, issues to do with compensation need to be looked after. The problems realized by students leaving college education to engage in professional sports are due to the compensation they receive outside. The recent trend of players leaving early has created yet another problem (Michael, 2016). School boosters and alumni are aware of this problem, and they do not want their schools to lose their best players. Due to this, they engage in measures behind the scenes where they compensate the players or even fix some things for their families. These activities aim at ensuring that the players stick to their team and at the same time realize their objective of earnings. However, if this practice is unearthed, the universities and players risk being put on probation or suspended from engaging in sports (Michael, 2016). The practice of the boosters and alumni is an indication that the universities and colleges would not have to foot the bills alone if guidelines were to be changed to allow for player compensation the alumni and boosters will be more than willing to support the school in realizing their objectives. This