College athletes should be paid a small salary because of the large amounts of revenue they bring to their schools. The media is filled with stories of the NCAA and how star athletes sometimes receive money and gifts from colleges. Since the NCAA prohibits athletes from having a job during the school year, these players need a form of income. This makes it difficult for athletes to resist the temptation of accepting compensation for their performances. With little time for a job, they should be allowed a small, but reasonable allowance. Granted there are some cases where an athlete accepts an amount of money that is extreme, but these occurrences would diminish with the institution of a regular allowance.
             Athletes do not have time to work due to strenuous practice schedules. An NCAA Division 1 football or basketball player has a schedule comparable to having a nine-to-five job, plus being a full-time student. It is like someone working a steady job and turning the paycheck back to his employer. There are huge amounts of revenue being brought into the universities by athletes. According to the Intercollegiate Athletics Report of 1999, Boise State made over seven million dollars from their athletic programs. Despite this source of income, athletes may not even be able to afford to buy the team sweatshirt that they are making popular.
             Collegiate sports have become a big business. $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). 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. (Last) Universities pack their stadiums to capacity to maximize the money they take in from each sporting event. Since colleges and universities make a fortune ...