In the article, “College Athletes: To Pay or Not to Pay?” (BTW, btwuser, 2019) I learned that it has been an ongoing debate on whether or not college athletes should be paid or not. There are many people who argue that they should be paid because being a college athlete is a full-time job and not something that just anyone can do. Another argument that was consistently brought up was that college athletes generate money and publicity for the colleges that they play for. Bonuses were also mentioned and many believe it is fair to the players that they receive incentives for success just like the coaches would. Arguments that came from the opposing side stated that although players do bring viewership, they aren’t required to be paid because athletes get to attend college for free and on scholarships. They don’t have to pay tuition and food among other things are provided for them. They also believe that if college athletes were to get paid, they would prioritize their extracurricular sports over their education.
Personally, I am on the side of the athletes and those who believe that college athletes have every right to receive payment. I feel that athletes put in too much work and create too much money to not receive any of it. They should have money to buy things that the school cannot provide for them such as gas and essentials for their families. Most of the athletes’ goals are to be able to provide for their families anyways and some simply cannot wait to make it to the pros. Finally, the odds of making it past the collegiate level is extremely low so for most athletes to put in the work and not make it seems like a waste of time, therefore I believe that college athletes deserve to get paid.
Do you feel that college athletes should be paid or should they remain unpaid?
Dear Xavier,
I am impressed by your post “Payment for College Athletes” because you mention how people consider being a college athlete as a “full time job” which I would have to agree with. I feel like even in high school it gets a little difficult to balance school and sports out and you have to be spending probably the whole week at school with coaches more than our parents.
One sentence you wrote that stands out for me is: “Most of the athletes’ goals are to be able to provide for their families anyways and some simply cannot wait to make it to the pros.” I agree with you that many athletes are looking more towards being able to provide for their families as well as themselves. This would make a good reason as to why I believe that athletes should get paid as well.
Thanks for your amazing writing. I look forward to seeing what you write next, because your topic was interesting as well as your choice of words!
Jose