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David Muth

Professor Loudermilk

English Composition 2

20 January 2019

Compensating College Athletes

Growing up in an athletic family, I have always had a love for sports. I play them as well

as follow professional and college sports closely. The past few years, a large debate started

among sports fans and athletes alike- should college athletes be compensated for their work?

Almost every year a well-known college athlete makes his or her voice known on why they

deserved to be paid. I have had two cousins play division one soccer and football, but both quit. I

remember them telling me, “It just was not worth the time or effort.” Hearing this from my

cousins made me think about paying college athletes; I started to wonder if they would have kept

playing if they were paid. Personally as a high school athlete, I would try much harder to play in

college if I were paid for playing.

Many new leagues are forming to challenge the National College Athletic Association

(NCAA). For example, the Junior Basketball Association allows kids to get paid while playing

basketball until they are eligible to enter the National Basketball Association draft. Slowly, more

athletes are choosing options like this or to play overseas for the sole purpose of getting paid.

The NCAA is losing interest from talented athletes because of their refusal to pay them.

Something is going to have change soon before even more high school graduates play elsewhere

instead of playing for a college or university.

I feel disappointed in the NCAA for not paying their athletes, two of which were

family members of mine. Colleges make millions of dollars from their athletes, but are
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too greedy to give back to the student-athletes that earned them that money. I think

one advantage to paying college athletes is more kids will attend college and stay for a

longer time, instead of playing in different leagues. Also, the NCAA would benefit from it

by being able to use a player’s name and likelihood on apparel or video games. I know

colleges give many of their student-athletes scholarships, but these scholarships are not

very much compared to the revenue the athletes bring into the school. I believe tensions

between universities and athletes would be eased if the athletes were paid. Also, paying

the athletes would ultimately benefit both parties as well as society as a whole.

I am hoping to learn the average amount a major sport’s team makes for the

university. I also want to know effective ways to pay the athlete depending on the sport.

Finally, I need to know a way to determine the maximum amount an athlete could make

in a certain sport to prevent one wealthy university from getting all the athletes. Many of

the answers to these questions could be found in newer articles relating to the business

aspect of sports. Ultimately, I want to prove there are many advantages to paying

college athletes and help generate support to hopefully make it a reality.