Imagine this: you get a scholarship to play for a college sports team. This team is you job, you train all day, you practice, and you play. But you find yourself coming home without money for gas, snacks, and your other needs because this “job” that you're putting in at least 40 hours a week, isn’t earning you a paycheck. There's been a huge debate on paying college athletes. Many believe that they should be paid because they put in all the effort, spend all their time, and earn all the money the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is receiving. On the other hand, others believe they shouldn’t be paid because they already received scholarship money to play, and that it would cost to much to pay all the athletes. I believe that college athletes should be paid because also said by Ramogi Huma, the Founder of the National College Players Association, “A Fair Day's Pay for a Fair Day’s Work.”

To start off, college athletes deserve a fair pay for all of the work that they are putting in. College athletes are putting in at least 40 hours a week practicing, going to the gym, and playing (according to an NCAA study). Combined with their school work they don’t have much time left to get an actual job to receive some income. For "full" scholarship athletes, the NCAA admits that the scholarship limit leaves them with $3,000 to $5,000 for out of pocket expenses. This includes the athletes with money for gas, snacks, clothing, etc. The NCAA disagrees with the idea of paying the college athletes because they believe the athletes are paid with free education which saves family's lots of money. Paying all the college athletes would also be very, very expensive. These statements are very true but from another perspective, players are putting in so much time every week and can lose their scholarship if they're injured. Not only do they put in the time, they bring in lots of money for the NCAA.

Although the NCAA is a multi billion dollar industry currently worth 11 billion dollars, bringing in millions of dollars each year, the athletes aren’t receiving any chunk of the profit. If they were to pay all the college sports players, they would lose lots and lots of that money and have less money to brand items. But in all honesty, the only reason the NCAA is worth that amount is all because of the athletes. They are the ones who get fans to come to games, they are the ones making the plays and most importantly, they are the ones who should be getting paid: not the NCAA. With how much money the NCAA has, paying college athletes 3,000-5,000 dollars a year shouldn’t be much of a problem. From putting countless hours and raking in lots of money for the NCAA, there's still another reason why the athletes should be paid.

Furthermore, said by Bobby Rush, Democratic Representative of Illinois, “Without Athletes, the Big Money in College Sports Disappears.”

People argue that athletes aren't bringing in all the money, lots of money is made by branding clothing and other souvenirs. I would disagree with this statement because all of the clothing being sold is athlete related. The shirts have athletes names of teams on the, bobble heads of players! In addition to this, all the star players cause lot’s of fans to come to the games. As more people want to come the more expensive tickets get. That is another way the NCAA brings in money; from selling tickets. But, if there were no athletes there would be no people going to watch and no tickets would be sold. As a final point, all the money being made in the NCAA organization, would disappear without the athletes.

In the end, college athletes should paid. They are putting in countless hours of work, bringing in all the money for the NCAA, and without them there wouldn’t even be a NCAA organization. Although athletes with scholarships are being paid with free education, they should still receive a chunk of the profit that the NCAA is receiving. As a final point, I believe that college athletes should be paid!