Payment of College Athletes

The current system that we have set in place basically encourages kids, ready or not, to progress to the next level. The questions of amount and tenure have also been broached. If a school begins paying its athletes then they are considered by law to be employees of that organization. The schooling is paid for because of prior talent that was displayed in high school, and many feel the athlete should be paid for playing in the in the next level of sports. With the payment of college football and basketball players, assuming they would receive the bulk of the revenue, this would limit a schools ability to subsidize other sports at that school. This area actually can be broken down into two categories. This would change amateur sports as we know them, but at the same time offer payment to athletes that are going to exit school early as it is and create an effective minor league system too many of our favorite American pastimes. Revenue for other sports, particularly women’s athletics, may not be sufficient to continue the program. This concern lies in the success of other collegiate sports. As the money generated by NCAA sports continues to fill the pockets of its profit oriented directors, the simmering debate over whether athletes should be compensated for the revenue they produce has risen to a new high. Of course the athletes at the non-paying colleges will not stay at the school for long and the new system will work itself out. These advocates say that only a few college athletic programs actually turn a profit throughout the year. By having athlete-employees this creates issues of disability payments, insurance, vacation, and many other work related payment issues. The scholar athlete's schooling is paid for but that can only do so much.