To Be Paid or Not to Be: Student Athlete Compensation

To Be Paid or Not to Be: Student Athlete Compensation

Gabe W.

Have you ever watched college athletics, either on the television or in person? Have you considered the thought that these athletes are not paid and if you have do you believe they should? After all, these athletes in some cases are used as the face of their university or the NCAA division and sport they play in. In recent news the idea of whether collegiate athletes should or should not be paid has been a topic of discussion. This topic has been debated and argued by many and has been brought as far as to the supreme court justices.

What is student athlete compensation?

To begin with, what is a student athlete? The term student athlete was first used by the NCAA to refer to college athletes. To be considered as a student athlete, one must be a college student enrolled at a university, currently taking courses, and participating in a form of collegiate athletics. Compensation in the context of it being used for student athletes, is a reward for an individual as a result of the beneficial services or actions that person provided.

Taking this into account, student athlete compensation is the money that may be paid to college athletes for playing/participating in a sport to represent the individual's school. Student athlete compensation applies mainly to college football and basketball athletes but in some cases it could be applied to other sports if necessary. This is because college (more specifically men’s) football and basketball generate the largest quantities annually.

Why should college athletes be compensated?

According to ncaa.org the NCAA athletics program as a whole accumulates around 6.1 billion dollars annually. Of this money many wonder why none is paid to the athletes themselves. The athletes that play on money generating teams are the reason that these teams are capable of actually generating money. Not any of the schools seen playing sports today could make any profit if there were not any athletes to play for them. Men’s football and basketball are two of the largest income generating sports that are played at many universities. In playing these sports the athletes must develop strict schedules to practice their sport, work-out, and study for classes. With these schedules the athletes give up much of their personal freedom to do as they wish when they want to. Also the schools the students belong to and the NCAA have the rights to the names, images, and likenesses of these athletes which can generate large sums of money for the university but also can be the source of publicity for the university and likely unwanted publicity for the athlete.

Every action that these students make can be seen and judged by the public. A third point is, every time an athlete steps onto the field or court their health and safety is potentially threatened while playing in a sport to represent their school. The injuries that some of these athletes may face are capable of putting an end to these athletes possible money making careers. Each one of these reasons poses a strong arguable reason for why student athletes should be paid.

Why shouldn’t college athletes be compensated?

While many believe that student athletes should be paid, others believe that it is better if they aren’t. The topic of student athlete compensation brings up the question of whether this follows the laws set in place about amateurism. Amateurism is a term used to define a set of principles made by the NCAA that are used to maintain a quality education environment where education is the student’s number one priority. All student athletes must be a qualified student athletes to participate in athletic programs.

What are some specific events involving student athlete compensation?

In 1984 the U.S. Supreme Court decided the NCAA couldn’t restrict the number of televised games it allows. The University of Georgia and the University of Oklahoma challenged those rules as an illegal restraint on trade.

In 1999 the NCAA had to pay a $54.5 million dollar settlement as a result of capping its assistant coach pay at $16,000 each year. The court decided this was a violation to antitrust laws.

In 2008 former Stanford football player, Jason White filed a lawsuit on the NCAA. in this lawsuit

White

accused

the

NCAA of keeping Scholarships beneath the cost of attendance.

In

a

settlement

the

NCAA formed a $10 million dollar fund to reimburse former athletes. The NCAA made an additional $218 million dollars available to pay for benefits given to college athletes in school between the 2007-2013 school years.

Amateurism policies do not allow:    

 

Professional sports contracts salary from athletics acceptance of prize money athletic participation with professionals and/or professional teams representation by an agent late enrollment due to organized sports competition

If student athletes began to be paid, then they should or might no-longer follow the amateurism policies. It is the fact that student athletes are not paid that qualifies them as being amateurs. It may also be argued that the scholarships provided for their college education and the exposure to potential careers with professional sports teams outweighs the argument of if they should be paid. The athletes that play collegiate sports on a scholarship already receive a quality, free education from their university. What more is there to ask for?

What are the current laws in place on this issue?

Current laws in place on this issue state that student athletes may be compensated, but only to a certain extent. U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken decided that the NCAA could supply the compensation, which would be given to athletes as a trust fund with a minimum of $5,000 a year.

Works Cited: "Amateurism." NCAA.org. N.p., 25 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"Leveling The Playing Field: Student Athletes Or Employee Athletes?"Forbes. Forbes Maga zine, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"NCAA Sports: To Pay, or Not to Pay Student Athletes - The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram." The Portland Press Herald Maine Sunday Telegram NCAA Sports To Pay

or Not to Pay Student Athletes Comments. N.p., 22 Aug. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"Revenue." NCAA.org. N.p., 22 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

"What to Know: Student-athlete Compensation." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

In 2013 a former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon created a lawsuit against the NCAA for making rules that deny players the right to compensation when their images are used commercially, such as, in video games and telecasts. U.S. district judge Claudia Wilken blocked the NCAA from making these rules.

In 2015 a demand was made for athletes in large sports to be paid, the NCAA allowed for the five biggest conferences to pay stipends to fund attendance costs not otherwise covered by scholarships to the athletes. Also the National Labor Relations Board denied a plan by Northwestern University football players to form their own union.