Should College Athletes Be Paid?

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

discuss

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

No, but they should be given a small allowance a week since they can't really hold a job during football season. I'm talking like maybe $30 a week or so as long as the season lasts.

[the max 0]

Why not?

 

They make their schools obscene amounts of money and paying them while they're still in school might convince a small (note, small) percentage to stay in school and get a degree.

[Guest PlatinumBoy]

They already get paid--scolarships, and even if they don't get one, it helps them in their school. For example, Ivy's don't give out scolarships, but a star football player with a 1300 and a 3.5 would have a tough time getting in Cornell normally--but if he is going to be their quarterback, he's in.

[the max 0]

Scholarships don't pay them. Scholarships allow them to live at the school and cover costs.

 

Paying athletes (especially football and basketball because of the immense popularity and crappy graduation rates) seems like a no-brainer, imo.

[bobobrazil1984 0]

No.

 

Well, maybe a small amount, like Mad Dog said. the added benefit is it helps weed out the money hungry guys from the ones that love the game. Theoretically. College sports are like any other organization in colleges, except they are more popular.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I wouldn't pay them. Like a poster stated, they get scholarships. I would LOVE to get a scholarship and live on campus, but instead I work for my education. I would much rather the former option. As for athletes staying to finish their education, let's face it. Many of these guys are just humoring us by attending classes in the first place. The collegiate football/basketball programs have little to do with academia, and it sickens me that they get a free ride while the rest of us need to work our way through.

[Guest Brian]

I went to school and still hang out with the guys on the UW basketball team, and knowing them, I'd say no. It's not just that these guys are getting to go to school free of cost, but they have access often to educations that others in their same position don't. They have tutoring free. Often, these guys don't have to go to classes. I love these guys, I grew up with these guys, but they get a pretty good life and a chance to develop their skills more.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

I wouldn't pay them. Like a poster stated, they get scholarships. I would LOVE to get a scholarship and live on campus, but instead I work for my education. I would much rather the former option. As for athletes staying to finish their education, let's face it. Many of these guys are just humoring us by attending classes in the first place. The collegiate football/basketball programs have little to do with academia, and it sickens me that they get a free ride while the rest of us need to work our way through.

maybe if the athletes were paid then the schools could use scholarships on actual students

[teke184 0]

Yes and no...

 

They shouldn't be paid per-hour wages because that would take many small programs completely out of sports.

 

However, they should be eligible for profit-sharing if a program does well enough to make money, such as a well-run football program which goes to a BCS bowl and gets $15 million.

 

They should also be eligible to take some forms of jobs or MINOR compensation in order to head off many of the NCAA bullshit calls, such as suspending a student for going to a free seminar on credit management or accepting a gift of sports tickets from a teammate.

 

(Both of the above are real examples. The first was a case in which a HS teammate of mine and another player at Vanderbilt were suspended for 2 games each for attending a presentation on credit management, which was seen as an athlete perk. The second was a case in which an Arizona basketball player was suspended for several games because they accepted tickets to an NBA game from teammate Adam Walton, whose father works for the NBA.)

[ant_7000 0]

I say yes, because it would get rid of these silly NCAA violations when it comes to perks. A guy could get suspendended by the NCAA if he recieved a free sandwich from the local deli or get free clothing they didn't ask for. Plus, not all of the players on the team are going to get scholarships. The school and advertisers makes millions off these athletes, they should give some money to the athletes but it should be an equal pay rate for the whole team.

[Guest MikeSC]

Having actually SEEN their scholarship paperwork --- they do get paid. Their scholarships have a tendency to be for several thousand dollars MORE than their tuition, books, and rooming fees.

-=Mike

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

They shouldn't get a dime. That's what the pros are for. If they're that good, great. Turn pro.

[Secret Agent 0]

I don't see why they shouldn't get paid if they are making the school 15 million off one BCS game. Maybe they could save it as a graduation present though.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Because it's a GAME. An organized game set up by the school. They're extracurricular activities, not a job. Playing ball in the pros is a job however. Amateurs shouldn't get paid like that. The corruption would be ten times as astounding as it is now, and regular students would take it in the ass on tuition costs, and everything else.

[Guest BDC]

Well, given that there have been players at UK that have come to college and gotten new SUVs, hell with that. I've seen exactly what Mike's talking about.

[lomasmoney 0]

If my math is correct, if a team goes to a BCS Bowl all four years and rakes in 13 million dollars each game, that is 52 million dollars. Divide that 52 million dollars by the 100 guys or so that are on the football team and you come up with $520,000 per player is what they bring in to the school over four seasons, not counting merchandise which is bought for the most part because of the player's number on the back of the Jersey. The Average Cost to go to the University of Michigan is around 24,000 a year which over four years does not even total $100,000. So basically the school is giving you a lot with the free education, but when you realize that the school is still profiting $400,000 off of each player in theory, the kids deserve to get some form of monthly allowance. However, if they don't go to class and do not become eligible they should lose that allotment of money.

[CanadianChris 0]

The BCS bowl money is split more or less equally amongst all teams in the participant's conference. An individual team, even the participant, will only see about 8-12% of that money.

[lomasmoney 0]

Really I thought almost all went to the school in the game

[Guest PlatinumBoy]

Well, given that there have been players at UK that have come to college and gotten new SUVs, hell with that. I've seen exactly what Mike's talking about.

I've seen what Mike was talking about in HIGH SCHOOL, let alone college. Some guy I know used to play basketball, was great at football but hated it and wanted to quit and focus on basketball. He was a receiver and after a game, he got a TD, and magically 100 bucks appeared in his locker. From then on, every TD he made, 100 bucks. So he stayed with football (duh). Also, if you are a huge Basketball or Football stud visiting a D-1 school, you can get anything from liquor, to a stripper, to a "groupie" ready to have sex with you--sometimes even 1,000 bucks or so from what I hear if you really want it.

[Dr. Tyler; Captain America 0]

Yeah, I'm paying 15k a year for my education. They're getting it for free. I've got no problem with them not getting paid.

[jimmy no nose 0]

College sports are basically an audition for the pros where the best are going to make their millions, and the others probably get more than they should anyway. They'll often get special consideration in classes that make them look like they've done better than they would have otherwise, so they can get a better job than they likely would have afterwards.

[ant_7000 0]

Not everybody on the team has scholarship thou, you have to put that into consideration as well.

[Precious Roy 0]

It's not as simple as saying that they get a scholarship and that's all they're due. Lots of kids get scholarships, I had a partial scholarship at school, and I was still allowed to do whatever I wanted in terms of an off-campus job. College athletes don't get that freedom, and even a full scholarship only covers tuition and maybe housing and campus food plans and shit like that, it doesn't cover all the other expenses that living on your own can present. On campus jobs are usually a part of scholarships for athletes, the type of jobs that give 10-20 hours a week at 6-7 dollars an hour. A lot of athletes don't show for those jobs or take advantage of them, but that's one thing.

 

I think college athletes can obviously get by like any other college students, they can get their education and housing paid for and get modest stipends for food and other expenses and that should be enough to get by for most kids.

 

But then you get into the issue of the massive ammount of cash that major colleges bring in as a result of college sports, TV deals, advertising, merchandising, and that changes everything. The players are exploited, but they also know what they're getting into, because it's that very system of exploitation that brings them to the dance so to speak. It's all about greed, on every side. The real money goes into the pockets of everyone but the players, much of it goes into the colleges, of course, but it also lines the pockets of administration that does nothing more than organize and facilitate these giant pyramid schemes, and the corporate interests involved benefit greatly.

 

Really, if there is ever going to be any real reform of college sports it needs to start at the top. There needs to be a total break down and shake down of the system. Paying athletes is not a solution to any problem, it's a gag order, a facilitation. You want to clean up college sports you start at the top and work your way down, but that will never happen because it's a dirty business that makes a lot of money for a lot of people, and the athletes involved are hardly the innocent victims some people make them out to be.

[Guest PlatinumBoy]

Not everybody on the team has scholarship thou, you have to put that into consideration as well.

As I said above, even if they don't get a scolarship, it still helps them get into the school. Two kids with 1250's, 4.0's, activities--and a school that doesn't give scolarships. One kid will go on to be the captain of the basketball team, the other kid doesn't play sports--which one will they take?

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

No. My points have already been made by other posters...

[Black Lushus 0]

what's the difference between an athlete learning what he wants to do in the future and a, say, computer tech learning what HE wants to do in the future? Sure it's sports, but that's what they want do after college, just like the computer tech wants to get onto an IT team after college...the scholarship arguement is somewhat moot because if a person works hard enough they can get non-sports scholarships to pay for schooling as well...I don't have a problem with them getting a weekly allowance of some sort DURING the season, since they can't work, as said earlier...computer tech guy CAN work and if he did what he needed to do in high school, scholarships should be taking care of most, if not all of his schooling...now sure, after the season, make em get jobs, but it doesn't hurt during the season to give them SOMETHING...

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

Also let's add internships into this discussion. You're extremely lucky to even see a dime from any kind of internship you'll do in college.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

annnnnnnd, if college sports really ARE an audition for the pros as was mentioned up above, this makes games more like internships, and they STILL shouldn't get paid.

[Guest PlatinumBoy]

what's the difference between an athlete learning what he wants to do in the future and a, say, computer tech learning what HE wants to do in the future? Sure it's sports, but that's what they want do after college, just like the computer tech wants to get onto an IT team after college...the scholarship arguement is somewhat moot because if a person works hard enough they can get non-sports scholarships to pay for schooling as well...I don't have a problem with them getting a weekly allowance of some sort DURING the season, since they can't work, as said earlier...computer tech guy CAN work and if he did what he needed to do in high school, scholarships should be taking care of most, if not all of his schooling...now sure, after the season, make em get jobs, but it doesn't hurt during the season to give them SOMETHING...

Other people can get scolarships or grants--but it's much, much easier in general to get a full ride off of sports. It's the difference between a 18,000 scolarship every year, which leaves you with no worries, or a 3,000 scolarship you got for writing an essay that leaves you with a total of 69,000 to go...