Paying College Athletes Essay Research Paper

Not only do athletes sign deals with companies, some create their own brands. There have been athletes that have used music for their brands. Dave Lazar asserts, “Music is the language of the soul and Marshall offensive lineman Will Ulmer had to work a little harder to pursue his passion. The redshirt senior is an old-school country music singer and songwriter but has been kept from pursuing a music career since becoming a college football player. Now, as athletes can begin to profit off their name, image and likeness, Ulmer is taking advantage.” (Dave Lazar, NewYorkPost) Profiting off of his music, Will Ulmer displays how athletes can bring creativity to the NIL rules and make money from the things that they enjoy. Another model of an athlete building their personal brand for money compensation is stated by Tony Tsoukalas, “No current Alabama player has a following as big as Jahvon Quinerly. The basketball guard currently has 450,000 followers on Instagram and 38,600 more on Twitter. While he has yet to announce a deal, he’s posted several times about NIL on both accounts and figures to be active in the process moving forward. Quinerly received the majority of his fame from his involvement in Jelly Fam, a collection of former high school basketball players from the New York tri-state area known for their ability to execute the “jelly” finger-roll layup. In the past, the five-star guard has received social media praise from NBA greats including Allen Iverson, Kyrie Irving and John Wall as well as other notable celebrities.” (Tony Tsukalas, alabama.rivals.com)University of Alabama basketball player Jahvon Quinerly is using his individual brand to make money. Finally, if anyone doubts the legitimacy of  NILs, there are regulations  put into place for them. As Gregory Marino remarks, “In the past calendar year, both major political parties have introduced several bills in Congress aiming to create a national NIL framework.”  (Sports Business Journal) 

From this point, college athletes should be paid because coaches and media already bring in a ton of money. According to Statista, in 2019 the NCAA made 863.53 million dollars in television rights and marketing, 177.87 million dollars  in championships and nit tournament, 14.57 million dollars in investment income, 55.4 million dollars  in sales and services, and 3.13 million dollars in other contributions.(Statista)This is a ton of money, and it does not include athletes in on the compensation. If all of this money is made in showcasing the athletes in their respective sports, then why do they not have the opportunity to benefit from it?  When most people pay for a ticket, they are wanting to watch the sporting event because of the entertainment it gives them. The entertaining portion is the athletes playing the sport. According to the US Bureau of Labor Stats, the average pay of college coaches as a whole is  $43,490.(Heather Skyler, Career Trend) This includes all 3 divisions of the NCAA, and it shows how the coaches put in the work and make this much money while the athletes put in the work and do not get compensated.

Also, college athletes should be paid because they would learn valuable lessons from  being paid. First, college athletes will learn how to use money at a young age. “If college athletes got paid for competing in sports, they would learn how to manage their money. Money management is one of the most important things young people can learn. It is a big factor of making a living and succeeding.”(Aj Schulte, The Gazette) College athletes being paid would make the sport more competitive. “The players would have more motivation and determination….This would bring higher motivation levels leading to more intense games.” (Aj Schulte, The Gazette) Also, education of the athletes won't be hurt if they are paid. “Eliminating amateurism likely wouldn't make athletes l more distracted or more likely to sacrifice school for sports. It would simply allow them to be compensated for the sacrifices they're already making."(Patrick Hraby, Chicago Tribune)

Of course, there are people that are skeptical of paying college athletes. They have many reasons why they do not like having college athletes receiving compensation. Some of the things that these people might be skeptical about are the viewership and revenue if college athletes were to be paid, how the law even helps anything, and if the athletes are even considered full time workers. To start,  attendance at sporting events remains unchanged. As Joe Nocera of The New York Times explains, “Of course, the most important consequence of players’ making outside income is that it has had zero effect on the business of college football- or any other sport. As Mr. Schwartz predicted, fans love college football just as much today as they did before players were able to earn money. The popularity of college sports, it turns out, does not depend on “amateurism”.(Joe Nocera, The New York Times) People are indifferent about college athletes getting pay. If this wasn't the case, the ratings and revenue of college sports would go down. In fact, the NCAA generated more than 1.15 billion in revenue in 2021, the year that college athletes were allowed pay. In 2019, when college athletes were not paid, the revenue was about 1.12 billion.(AP News) Next, universities would be less likely to undergo scandals related to compensating athletes illegally. As Scott Davis of Business Insider put it, “To many, the root of this issue is the NCAA's amateurism laws that state college athletes cannot be paid. While the schools, coaches, and brands all make money off of the game, keeping the athletes unpaid results in a black-market race for talented prospects who can further enrich those involved in college basketball.” (Scott Davis, Business Insider) When he is referring to the “issue,” it is the bribery issue that colleges cannot  pay college athletes to play for their school. With paychecks, this wouldn't happen and schools would not suffer the consequences of the bribery issue. Schools would not have postseason bans, scholarship restrictions, large fines, or illegal players. From this point, is the argument that college athletes are playing their sport if it is equivalent to full time work. As Mark J. Drozdowski observes, “Participating in intercollegiate athletics constitutes a full-time job. A 2017 NCAA survey revealed that Division I athletes dedicate an average of 35 hours per week to their sport during the season.”(Mark J. Drozdowski, BestColleges)  According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, a full time job is considered to be over 35 hours per week, while a part time job is considered to be 1 to 34 hours per week.(The Bureau of Labor Statistics) From these statistics, college athletes do their sport equivalent of the hours of a full time job and that is not even considering the amount of time that these athletes are putting into their schoolwork.

In conclusion, there are many aspects of college athletics that show that paying college athletes can have great benefit to both the athlete and the college they represent. Watching college athletics is a hobby of mine and I think it is cool that they are receiving compensation by NIL deals. These athletes in college are more impressive to watch than the professional one because the viewers see the grind that all of the players put in and the passion for their teammates, coaches, and universities that they have.