Paying College Athletes Pros and Cons List

The debate of paying college athletes has been in the headlines for a while. Still, no final resolution has been made as to whether or not it is even morally correct to pay college athletes. There has been so much back and forth over the subject that it can be hard for even the general public to decide which side to firmly stand on. Let’s break down the pros and cons of paying college athletes and decide which position we truly stand behind.

Pros of Paying College Athletes

1. A commonly heard point across the board of this debate is where the money should go. Many believe it is more righteous and deserving that the money from television networks running the college sport games should go back into the school as a whole and not to individual players. This money would be disbursed evenly throughout the school providing lower tuition rates and improving programs school wide. And quite frankly, the players have scholarships to fund their education and it is simply unfair that they receive double the benefits simply by participating in a sport.

2. While those students who are not participating in college sports have free time to obtain employment to pay for these added expenses, college athletes simply do not have this luxury. Between classes, college athletes have demanding practice schedules, exercises, and various sports related responsibilities that take up a large portion of any free time may find around their academics. Also, for those college athletes that come from low income families simply cannot rely on their families for financial assistance when they don’t have time to find their own jobs.

Cons of Paying College Athletes

1. The flip side of this argument, it is just not that simple. The scholarships that college athletes do obtain, when they can, are hardly sufficient enough to cover the various expenses involved in a college education. The tuition, books, food, room and board, travel and all the odds and ends of furnishing a higher education are simply too expensive to be covered under most scholarships.

2. Paying college athletes opens the world up to a brand new slate of lawsuits as it is virtually impossible to have an across the board pay scale. Females will be suing because their pay is lower than a male athlete. Those athletes that are scoring more points and gaining more game time will be arguing for higher wages than their team mates. Paying college athletes opens the door to multiple problems that will ultimately drive the attention of the athletes from their studies to their game possible setting them up for future failure when the game is over.

Summary

Ultimately, the decision of paying college athletes is a difficult one to resolve. Initially, college sports were created to improve sportsmanship of any players that make it into the big leagues and as a cross over to carry on good sportsmanship in the real world. When college athletes work hard and score big it draws a great amount of attention to the school they currently attend, drawing in a crowd of future applicants and tuition payments. Should they be deemed as free advertising, a simple fine print of the contract they signed upon enrollment? Or should they be compensated for the hard work and team spirit they provide for the college lucky enough to have them?