The huge amount of money colleges are making on their sports teams has led some to question whether student-athletes should get paid for their efforts on the court.

The NCAA basketball tournaments, or "March Madness," have become a huge business. According to Chris Smith from Forbes.com, “The NCAA made an annual profit of 1 billion just from a deal with CBS”. But annually the NCAA makes 6 billion dollars. But with all this money being made the players get nothing.

“Fans who oppose paying athletes frequently refer to the ‘free education’ student-athletes receive and, indeed, there is some value to what they learn on campus. However, that education is conditioned on their health and success and always comes second to athletics.If a student-athlete is hurt or unsuccessful, the coaches and administrators suddenly discard the noble ideals of ‘education’ and a player is left with nothing. Moreover, no one mentions the lifetime of health care bills that await some student-athletes in contact sports. How can a ‘free education’ compensate them for debilitating injuries caused during their time on campus? said Bill Frederick, a Board Member of the Sports Fans Coalition. He explained that college players should get paid just in case they get hurt because free education doesn’t help them if they get hurt.

"Rather than push college athletics further and further from academics, we need to bring them closer," said NCAA president Mike Emmert. Players get paid with a scholarship, which basically means that their effort is earned by being able to stay at the college and being able to afford it. But even with the scholarship money, is it worth being in the court and risking season and career ending injuries. A group of former players has filed an antitrust lawsuit alleging that student athletes are entitled to some of the money the NCAA makes off of using their names and likenesses on merchandise such as jerseys and video games?

According to Ramogi Huma, Founder of the National College Players Association, explained to US news “A joint study between the National College Players Association and Drexel University shows that the NCAA will strip football and men's basketball players of $6 billion of their fair market value between 2011-2015.”

Bobby Rush, a democratic representative from Illinois, explained why college players should get money for playing and what they do for the NCAA. “Without them—on the field or on the court, performing and entertaining millions of college sports fans—the billions of dollars that collegiate athletics generates simply would not exist. Without them, we wouldn't have millions of fans buying tickets for games and subscribing to expensive cable and satellite sports television packages, corporate sponsors purchasing luxury suits and boxes in college arenas and stadiums, or consumers paying top dollar for sports paraphernalia, jerseys and video games bearing the likenesses and autographs of their favorite college players.”

There are also some people who believe student athletes shouldn't get paid. Joseph Crea is a gym teacher at NYC ischool, a public school in New York City. He's a big fan of college ball. “Players in college should not get paid,” Crea said. “If college players did get paid then future students that want to go to the college will have to pay higher tuition because no one would be paying colleges back their money so they would have to take it out of the future students... It all pays off once they go to the league or play internationally, and if they get hurt they can just buy insurance.”

Richard Burton, a Professor of Sport Management at Syracuse, says that NCAA athletes get paid with education(EXPLAIN). He said, “NCAA Division I athletes still receive expert coaching (that could lead to a professional career as an athlete or as a coach), on-campus housing, frequent meals (if not elaborate training tables), non-uniform clothing, free medical consultation, free access to state-of-the-art training facilities and free professional development (media/public relations, life skills, networking, etc.). That all has to count for something, right?”


Peter Moore, the Director of Athletic communications at Syracuse said “I’m not in favor of college players receiving salaries.” Even though student athletes risk injuries, Moore said, “the value of an education is significant – not to mention the other benefits many student-athletes receive. If an individual is concerned about ‘risky injuries,’ they are free to look into insurance possibilities.”

Many people have said that college players should be paid because of how much the NCAA makes and how they're risking getting hurt. But on the flip side, the argument can be made that the opportunity to both receive an education and get the exposure to win a major professional contract more than compensates NCAA athletes for their efforts.
Should College players get paid?