SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID?

Entry #1

APA Citation:
Parent, C. (2004). Forward progress? An analysis of whether student-athletes should be paid.
Virginia Sports and Entertainment Law Journal​, 2, 226-256.

Summary:
In ​Forward progress? An Analysis of Whether Student-Athletes Should be Paid​, Christopher
Parent explains the main reasonings why the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is
so against paying players, and introducing any type of pay-for-play law. The NCAA says that it
would like to keep college athletics with the “integrity of amateurism” and incorporating money
into it would jeopardize that. Parent is saying that this is hypocritical being that everything is so
highly marketed, within college football especially. He discusses different initiatives in Nebraska
and California to bring this law into light and their issues with it.

Evaluation:
Christopher M. Parent is an attorney in Denver who specializes in Commercial Litigation, Sports
Law, and Intellectual Property Law. His background and education makes him a credible source
because he is well-informed in sports law and issues related to college athletics. Even though the
author of this source isn’t very well-known, his analysis will still help me develop my essay
because of his knowledge of background information about college athletics.

Significant Quotes:
● “At the same time I was struggling to put food in my own refrigerator, on the USC
campus they’re selling my jersey, making money off of it. I couldn’t afford to eat, but at
the same time, they’re coming to watch me.”
● “College should not be the only means of launching a career in professional football or
basketball, especially for athletes who are unprepared for college.”
SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID? 3

Entry #2

APA Citation:
Mueller, K. (2004). No control over their rights of publicity: college athletes left sitting the
bench. ​Depaul Journal of Sports Law​, 2.

Summary:
In ​No Control Over Their Rights of Publicity: College Athletes Left Sitting the Bench​, Kristine
Mueller focuses on the publicity aspect of college athletics. She explains how there is little case
law on the issue of college athletes’ right of publicity, and that they “have virtually no control
over the commercial use of their identities.” She says that because of the lack of this law, they
essentially sign their publicity rights away to the universities because they, as an entity, control
their endorsements and such because the student has no say in these discussions.

Evaluation:
Kristine Mueller has a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Her article is published in
the university's Journal of Sports Law. This is a scholarly article written by an attorney exploring
the case law of student-athletes’ publicity rights. She discusses to different court cases to back up
her argument which will be helpful to me in my essay because they can be used as examples and
will be good to reference for clarity and evidence.

Significant Quotes:
● “Ultimately, the student-athletes sign over their rights of publicity, in a sense, to the
universities.”
● “Student-athletes have virtually no control over the commercial use of their identities.”
SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID? 4

Entry #3

APA Citation:
Ornstein, J. (1996). Broken Promises and Broken Dreams: Should We Hold College Athletic
Programs Accountable for Breaching Representations Made in Recruiting
Student-Athletes. ​Seton Hall Journal of Sport Law​, 6, 641-668.

Summary:
In, ​Broken Promises and Broken Dreams: Should We Hold College Athletic Programs
Accountable for Breaching Representations Made in Recruiting Student-Athletes​, James
Kennedy Ornstein explains the issues in the college recruitment and treatment of student athletes.
He begins his case by discussing a certain student, Bryan Fortay, and his situation where the
university broke promises that they were supposed to keep. He also makes an effort to answer
the question of whether student-athletes are employees of a university where he says that it’s
mainly a contractual relationship.

Evaluation:
This piece isn’t directly related to my topic of the payment of college athletes, but I think that it
is still valuable to my argument because it explains more of the back-end and beginning of the
entire process. It all starts with the recruitment of athletes while they’re in high school, so I think
that it’s necessary to understand the beginning before talking about the issues while they’re in
college.

Significant Quotes:
● “He was each young superstar who became nothing more than a commodity who was
long forgotten when his value to the institution declined”
● “Big-time college recruiters should not be permitted to make open-ended promises for the
mere sake of enticing high school athletes to attend their schools.”
SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID? 5

Entry #4

APA Citation:
Carden, A. (2018, July). ​College athletes are worth millions. They should be paid like it.
Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2018/07/26/college-athletes-are-worth-millions-t
hey-should-be-paid-like-it/#70c43a7a452e

Summary:
In Art Caden’s article in ​Forbes​, he argues that there is nothing wrong with college sports like
football and basketball being “big business.” But, he thinks that it is wrong that these athletes are
being seen as professionals yet not being paid as professionals. He explains that one student
skipped media day to go to class, and was getting criticised for doing so. He wants students to
still be able to put their schooling first, but also be paid like they are real athletes.

Evaluation:
Art Caden is a contributor to ​Forbes​. He is an Associate Professor of Economics at Samford
University’s Brock School of Business, and he is a Senior Fellow with the American Institute for
Economic Research. Since Caden teaches economics, he is a good source of knowledge to argue
that student-athletes should be paid. His opinion brings in a large part of this argument, being
that these students need to always have the opportunity to focus on their school, while putting
their extracurricular of sports on the backburner.

Significant Quotes:
● “The big money sports--football and men's basketball-- are big business, and there's
nothing inherently wrong with that. There is something wrong with the fact that the
players aren't paid what they're worth.”
● “Our Heisman hopeful skipped media day to go to class" will probably be part of
Stanford's recruiting pitch someday. I'm stunned, though, that his decision to skip media
day so he can go to class is called a "bad precedent.”
SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID? 6

Entry #5

APA Citation:
Washington, J. (2017, April). ​Big-time college athletes should be paid with big-time educations.
Retrieved from
https://theundefeated.com/features/big-time-college-athletes-should-be-paid-with-big-tim
e-educations/

Summary:
In Washington’s piece in ​The Undefeated​, he acknowledges, and even agrees, to the argument
that college athletes should get some sort of monetary compensation. However, his point differs
because he explains that student athletes biggest concern should not be the sport or money, it
should be their actual education. Juggling athletics and school and learning how to handle it and
time-manage should be what the athletes are focused on, because most of the time their actual
educations are paid for. As he quotes Leonard Moore, they should be getting an education, not
just sitting in class.

Evaluation:
Jesse Washington is a well-known journalist who has worked at ​Business Week​ magazine, the
Hartford Courant​, ​The New York Times​, and more. He worked at AP as Entertainment Editor,
but he left at the end of 2015 to work for ESPN’s ​The Undefeated​. ​This source will be helpful in
my essay because it is an opposing argument, showcasing the other side of why paying athletes
should not be the priority. I can use this to help explain the complexity of the issue and the
multiple sides of it.

Significant Quotes:
● “The biggest crime in college sports isn’t that the system is rigged against paying college
athletes, it’s that money-worshipping American culture is set up against educating them.”
● “Many have compellingly argued for years that, morally and legally, the players deserve
to pocket some of that windfall. They do. But our Money Over Everything society is
minimizing or ignoring what’s currently within players’ grasp, which should last far
longer than a six-figure revenue-sharing check.”
● “Rather than an unfair burden, Howard sees the demands placed on college athletes as a
down payment on a successful future.”
SHOULD COLLEGE ATHLETES BE PAID? 7

Entry #6

APA Citation:
Brown, M. (2017, March). ​Should student-athletes get paid? Their classmates don’t think so​.
Retreived from ​https://lendedu.com/blog/student-athletes-get-paid-classmates-dont-think/

Summary:
LendEDU conducted a survey where 7,552 college students were asked, “Should college athletes
get paid for their talents and contributions to their university?” The survey found that 53% of
students said no, 31% said yes, and 16% said they were indifferent. They also found that, “Male
undergraduates were much more in favor of paying student-athletes than were female college
students.”

Evaluation:
LendEDU “is a website that helps consumers learn about and compare financial products,
including student loans, personal loans, credit cards, insurance products, banking products, and
more,” according to their website. Mike Brown, the author of this article, is a research analyst for
the company. This survey will be useful in my essay because it shows the numerical side of the
argument, and it grounds a lot of the things that my other sources have discussed.

Significant Quotes:
● “Once expenses are paid for, the large majority of schools do not even make money on
their basketball programs. In 2013-2014, only about one third of colleges either made a
profit or broke even. For reference, the two most profitable schools that year were
basketball powerhouses: the University of Louisville made more than $24.2 million in
profit, while the University of Arizona made $17.7 million.”
● “When it comes to this issue, college students can offer a fresh perspective. First, they
have seen this issue become mainstream over the course of their lifetime. Older
generations would be more inclined to maintain the status quo and not pay
student-athletes for their contributions. Interestingly enough, today’s undergraduates are
of the same opinion and favor a continuation of the NCAA’s current policy.”