Can you imagine going to work for forty hours a week and not getting paid but making a lot of money for your employer? College athletes do it every year across America. Advocates for these athletes have started to question if this is fair or not. States like California have passed a bill that would allow athletes to be compensated by endorsements and sponsorships, which violate the current NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) regulations. This debate has caused a great deal of questions and concerns to be looked at. One major issue is the concern of how to keep it equitable amongst the sexes and different colleges.
According to forbes.com, the NCAA earned $1 billion in 2018. When the discussion on whether or not athletes should be paid, many factors come into play. What would this look like? Opposers to athletes getting paid argue that these athletes are already getting paid through their scholarships. What is not looked at is the extent and amount of these scholarships.
Not every scholarship athlete is getting 100% of their tuition, books, meals, and housing paid for. Some solutions include allowing athletes to collect money based on their ability to get sponsorships and endorsements, but this elite athlete is the minority. What if you are not one of the top athletes in your sport? Then you do not get paid. What if you are not an athlete who plays one of the bigger money making sports like basketball or football? Do you not get paid? The initial thought of paying athletes for their talents outside of their scholarship sounds good until you start thinking of all the issues that come up with allowing that. First being, where will this money all come from and how will it be distributed equally amongst all deserving athletes. It is easy to decide yes athletes should be able to financially benefit from their own talents but with that comes a very large grey area.
As stated by the ncaa.org website, there are 347 Division 1 colleges in America. Only a small number of these colleges actually make money off their athletes, so will the pay be based off what college you go to or will they find a way to make it equitable for all college athletes. Most colleges do not even make enough money yearly to fully support their own athletic department, so again where would this extra money to pay players come from? Not only is there a concern about the equality of pay for athletic abilities and the smaller less popular colleges, but also the issue of fairness to both men and women athletes. This is where discussion of Title IX violations comes into play.
As previously stated in my last blog, it was on June 23, 1972, when a civil rights law named Title IX was put into effect. Title IX states that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” Title IX was developed to ensure equal opportunities for both male and female athletes. If states continue to follow in the footsteps of California and pass bills that say that athletes will be able to get paid for things like sponsorships and endorsements, how will the NCAA keep from violating Title IX regulations? If there are more opportunities given to the most athletic and talented male athletes, could a less popular, talented female athlete have a claim against Title IX regulations? The thought is yes, they could.
Being a Division 1 college “scholarship” athlete, I have a first hand interest in the debate of whether or not to pay college athletes. Before really thinking about this issue, I would have wholeheartedly agreed that athletes should be paid for their time and commitment to their sport. Now I have come to realize there is not an easy solution to be found that would be equal for all athletes. A solution that I feel would be a compromise for all involved would be first to ensure that all Division 1 scholarship worthy athletes have access to a true, full ride scholarship, no matter the sport. If an athlete is talented enough to receive an athletic scholarship and makes the commitment to “work” for a college, then they should not have to pay for any of their college tuition, books, meals or housing. That at least puts all the Division 1 athletes on a level playing field as far as what their scholarship will pay for. As far as the opportunities for extra pay coming from endorsements and sponsorships, I support the NCAA fears that say how would they monitor that or even begin to make it equal amongst women and men athletes. Currently it is difficult enough for the NCAA to “police” violations of athletes accepting any money from outside sources, that if it was now allowed to a certain degree, the NCAA would have its hands full. I believe that if athletes were given the opportunity to financially be rewarded for their talents, it would have negative effects on the culture and integrity of college athletics as we know it today.
Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Get Paid? 