Sports as entertainment has always been a lucrative business. Millions tune in each week to watch professional athletes duke it out in their respective sports, rooting for their favorite team. Advertisements, merchandise, and ticket sales all pool together to create huge profits for both the players and leagues alike.
However, there is another popular facet of competitive sports that seems to only pay off for the organization and not the players. This is the current nature of collegiate sports, specifically the NCAA. There has always been controversy whether or not division I athletes should get paid in their respective sports, and I honestly think there is no reason why players don’t get compensated, even just little, for the work they put on the field in for their schools.
College sports has always had the reputation of being a “minor league” of sorts for many viewers. These are also the people that argue that college athletes should not get paid, usually pointing out that an athlete’s tuition is being paid in full while they play for their school’s team. Many say players should just be satisfied by the facilities and gear given to them.
While getting a world class education next to their expert training great for these athletes, it is their performance on the field that matters more towards them. Just the same way someone who is passionate about music would spend most of their energy and time on practicing their instrument, most of these athlete’s worlds live and die on the field. If an athlete is injured or can’t play for the season, most of their academic benefits would cease to exist leaving them with nothing at all. These athletes need something to fall back on if their college sports career needs to take a break.
The college sports industry generates almost eleven billion dollars of revenue each year. Most of these profits then go to coaches, managers, and directors. Players however, don’t see a single penny even when they are the ones risking their well being by playing. Their names and images are even used to market products and games, but not a single athlete see’s some kind of royalty payments.
The NCAA says that if it starts to pay their players that it would destroy the “balanced” playing field they have created for their sport leagues. This makes no sense, as player’s services are already being used for free. Instead of finding other ways to show equality in the sports, the NCAA seems to just choose a method that lets them reap the most benefits for themselves.
Fans need to realize that collegiate sports are just as profitable as professional leagues, and that it is not simply a stage for amateurs to play on. The NCAA keeps making weak excuses to further proliferate the idea that collegiate sports are somewhat of a “practice” league, when they are making billions behind the scenes. They can’t seem to admit the fact that they are a business trying to run at maximum efficiency, which ultimately harm the players in the long run that are actually generating the money for them. I’m not asking the NCAA to give players six figure salaries, but to at least compensate the athletes for their actions on the field.
