The NCAA shouldn’t pay athletes, neither should colleges

By Jonathan O’Neill

April 19, 2021

College is meant for students to learn, and for student athletes to perfect their craft. Many college athletes are receiving scholarships and are getting both high quality education and an opportunity to improve their skills, for free. Colleges, or the NCAA, having to pay the athletes, could result in colleges sacrificing other important parts of their budget..

Paying student athletes could have very damaging effects on academic performance in the athletes. If their sport is treated like a job, then it will become their only priority. Paying student athletes isn’t necessary because the athletes are already compensated through most of their necessities, such as housing and meals.

The NCAA is a non profit organization, they put most of the money they earn back into their organization to provide the best experience possible for their athletes. If they have to dip into that to pay their athletes, then they will lose funds for the sports.

The recruiting process is one of the most interesting parts of a college sports off-season. If the players are getting paid, then smaller schools wouldn’t be able to recruit 4 or 5 star athletes while the biggest schools with the most money would keep on recruiting the best players and it could ruin the competition of the sport.

If college athletes are getting paid, then where do we draw the line? Will we eventually start talking about paying high schoolers, middle schoolers, or even rec league basketball players?

Professional athletes are at the top of the food chain when it comes to sports which should give them the exclusive privilege to the pay that comes with being the best at their respective sport.

The goal of college is to incentivize education. If kids are growing up to go to college for the payday that comes with being a college athlete, then the future generations won’t be nearly as invested in education and we could be a drop in people graduation college and a potential for more unemployment.

College athletes that are on full scholarships get tens of thousands of dollars in aid through those scholarships. If those scholarships are at top colleges in the country, then those are worth more than a large amount of jobs in this country.

Many of the colleges don’t profit. According to the Bleacher Report, in 2013, only 22 athletic departments were profitable . The NCAA redistributes most of their profits back into the industry to provide the best quality league for the players.

Although the NCAA shouldn’t have to provide a salary to their student athletes, they should remove the rule that prevents the athletes from profiting off of their likeness. Currently, if a student athlete is popular and releases his/her own shoe in his name, he/she would no longer be allowed to associate with the NCAA and would get in trouble with their school and possibly kicked out.

Luckily for the athletes, the NCAA is clearing a path for the athletes to be able to profit off of their likeness so long as their colleges agree to it. If the college they attend agrees to the new rules, then we could see athletes making some form of money in the future without being punished for it.