FREE ESSAY ON STUDENT ATHLETES DESERVE MORE THAN SCHOLARSHIPS

STUDENT ATHLETES DESERVE MORE THAN SCHOLARSHIPS

Student Athletes Deserve More than Scholarships:
A Look into the Finances of Major College Sports Programs
Student-athletes at major Division I-A colleges and universities do more than attend
classes, practices, and compete against other teams. They generate revenue.
Intercollegiate sports have developed into a highly specialized, multi-million dollar
entertainment industry that rides on the shoulders of student-athletes. This industry has
in turn resulted in substantial rewards for big time athletic programs and the NCAA.
According to an NCAA survey conducted in 1998, sixty-seven percent of Division I-A
football programs showed an average profit of $3.9 million with many of the largest
programs far exceeding that figure (Netzley). Add in revenue from other sports and the
NCAA took in $267 million in 1997-1998 (NCAA). 
Universities do not hide the importance they place on successful sports programs. In
1997, Steve Spurrier, head football coach at the University of Florida, signed a six-year
contract that averaged $2 million per year. In addition to his $2 million annual salary,
Spurrier was given two new cars, a generous clothing allowance and 24 prime tickets for
each Gators home game. The deal also included incentives that would take effect when
specific goals set forth in the contract are achieved (Martinez). He can earn $99,000 for
winning another national championship. He can earn the equivalent of one month of his
base salary for getting to the SEC championship game, two months equivalent for any bowl
game, two-and-a-half months for an Alliance bowl game, and lastly, $50,000 for winning a
third national championship (Martinez). Jeremy Foley, University of Florida Athletic
Director, said after the signing, "Obviously, people are going to talk about the amount
of money he's making, but he adds tremendous value to this university" (Martinez). 
While universities are eager to compensate coaches for the exploits of their players they
are steadfast in their abidance of the NCAA Manual. Article 12 of the NCAA bylaws
provides that "a student-athlete loses amateur status along with the right to participate
in intercollegiate athletics when he is found to have received funds, awards, or other
impermissible benefits established under NCAA legislation" (NCAA). These prohibitions on
payment include direct compensation for athletic participation and receipt of financial
aid above the cost of tuition, fees, room, board, and books (NCAA).
While student-athletes directly contribute millions of dollars in revenue to institutions
they receive nothing but the bare minimum cost to keep them in school. Most of these
young men and women come from lower-middle class and lower-class families that are unable
to send them spending money during the year or pay for a plane ticket home for the
holidays (Martinez). The NCAA forbids student-athletes from working for wages during the
school year (NCAA). If parents are unable to send their son or daughter money for
anything not covered by their scholarship they are penniless. 
The solution to the money problem is simple: pay them. I am not talking about millions or
even thousands of dollars. Give each student-athlete the same amount of pay based on the
total revenue dollars their respective sport generates nationwide. The wage would be the
same for every athlete based on division within the same sport. For example, Division
I-A, the largest and most competitive division in college athletics, might pay each
football player $2500 per season. Every football player in that division would receive
the same amount regardless of on field contribution. Having every school abide by equal
pay would eliminate larger, more profitable schools from offering bigger paydays to
recruits as incentive to attend their institution over another. This would keep
recruiting fair across the country for every school. 
Student-athletes endure countless hours of practice and athletic competition to earn
pride, respect, and most importantly, money for their respective schools. Unfortunately,
these athletes are taken out of the equation when it comes time to distribute the revenue
generated by their athletic programs. Of the $267 million in revenue made by the NCAA in
1998, over 85 percent, or $228 million, were returned in dollars to the athletic programs
yet none of this money goes to the athletes themselves (NCAA). The time has come for
these students to be compensated.
Paying players would do more than allow the underprivileged students to participate in
basic college activities like dating or ordering a pizza with friends. It would alleviate
many other problems as well. Gambling and corruption on campuses is threatening the
integrity of college athletics. Illegal dealings with agents, as in the highly publicized
case of South Carolina based agent William "Tank" Black, charged with fraud, money
laundering, and providing illegal inducements to college athletes, has increased as well
(Blum). Marcus Camby, now of the Toronto Raptors, admits to accepting thousands of
dollars in gifts while playing college basketball at Massachusetts from sport agents
hoping to win him as a client (Tarver). Paying a stipend to athletes will lessen the
control bookies and agents can place on players by reducing their need for money.
Opponents of the pay for play concept site college tuition as payment enough and repeat
the cliche "you can't put a price tag on a college education." I think you can. At most
major colleges the average for a resident student is between $12,000 to $14,000 per year
(Tarver). When university athletic departments are benefiting from these players, to the
tune of millions of dollars, and the student-athletes are receiving only an education
that they may or may not want, it just isn't enough. A scholarship is nice, but it
doesn't pay the bills for many of these players. 
If colleges and universities made money solely from ticket sales as a means of
perpetuating sports programs, there would be no argument over whether college athletes
should be paid. The thievery occurs when colleges negotiate billion dollar television and
multi-million dollar endorsement contracts annually. Those contracts and endorsements are
the acts of businesses looking to make money, not non-profit institutions. Colleges and
universities are in the business of making money whether they admit to it or not, and
they use student-athletes to do it. Paying them would not only be fair, but beneficial to
both the student-athletes and the schools they represent.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Blum, Deborah. "Learning the Agents' Game: New Rules set to Protect Athletes Still in
School."
USA Today 28 September 2000: C3
Martinez, Mark. "Show Them the Money!" Student.Com. 26 Sept. 1997. 15 Nov. 2000