Colleges can’t afford to pay athletes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By: Elijah DeVivo

Staff Writer

College sports are not only entertaining for those on the sidelines observing, it is also a fun way for students to get involved and bond together in a team setting. The question of whether or not college athletes should be paid has been raised time and time again and is still widely debated. Should college athletes be paid? The answer is simply: no.

There are many reasons why college athletes should not be paid, but the most important reason why athletes shouldn’t be paid is the college’s budget. Colleges for the most part cannot afford to fund college athletes.

Universities already spend millions (and sometimes tens of millions) on building stadiums for sports. On top of that, it then costs even more for colleges to maintain and keep them up and running.

Another thing that comes into question is where we would get the funds in order to pay college athletes? The college would have to cut funding from other things, and budget out the athlete’s pay. And while yes, there is money being made from the sports games, it doesn’t seem enough to cover athletes pay completely.

Most colleges don’t charge students to watch the games, and so most of the money made from sports events are from the parking, non-student attendants, and concessions. Another question that comes into mind is how fair it is to pay college athletes. Many college athletes get scholarships because they are athletes. Isn’t this payment enough? Keep in mind that the average cost of tuition in the United States for a year is a little over ten-thousand dollars.

The average scholarship for college athletes is nearly eighteen thousand dollars! That’s eight thousand dollars more than the tuition cost. If a college athlete is making money off the scholarship then why would we pay them even more? Hypothetically speaking, isn’t eight thousand dollars extra enough payment?

Shifting away from the main issue with paying college athletes, another issue is why it’s even relevant to pay them. College sports is simply just for entertainment. It is not something of crucial importance, a college won’t cease to function if it didn’t have a sports team(s). You may ask “well entertainers such as musicians, professional sports, etc. get paid then why can’t college athletes get paid”.

College sports is a form of entertainment, but what separates professional athletes with college athletes? The answer is in the name: professional athletes are professionals and college students are not professionals.

Besides scholarships being payment enough for being a college athletes, the experience is also a payment in itself. Playing as a college athlete is something you can put on a resume or even in your college cover letter and therefore may help you in getting a job or into a school you want to go to in the future. Think of it as an internship. Yes, a lot of internships aren’t paid, but they are worth it because the experience looks good on paper.

College athletes should not be paid on the grounds of logic. It is not logical nor fair to be paying non-professional college athletes if it means cutting other things out of the college budget and giving them even more bonuses than they already receive.