College Athletes

Schools, however, should not be allowed to pay more to their athletes than other schools. Their grueling schedule of practices, weight training, and games leaves them unable to participate in the job market. (Anderson) Schools often fire coaches unless they have great records disregarding the graduation rate of their student-athletes. $38 million dollars was paid to Notre Dame by NBC for the exclusive rights to broadcast its football games for five seasons, and a major TV network will pay $117 million dollars a year to broadcast a major bowl game (Polo). There are huge amounts of revenue being brought into the universities by athletes. This leaves them no money for anything extra-curricular, a luxury that many other students enjoy. What happens to the kid from the small town recruited to a large university on a full ride for athletics? Some say his school is paid for and that is enough, but where is he going to get the money to go home for the holidays or even take a girl out once and awhile. These schools are benefiting from their athletic programs, more so than the athletes. The University of Michigan, for example, averages 14 million dollars in ticket sales alone. The NCAA has admitted that the scholarships athletes are given are around $2,000 short of what’s necessary to get by on per year.

Universities care more about a winning record than the athletes on their teams. Since colleges and universities make a fortune from their athletics, it is only fair to give them some sort of compensation.