College Athletes should be Paid

While listening to a sports radio talk show host discuss the idea of college athletes getting paid, I ask my dad,  “Why should they get paid Dad?.” He says,”They bring millions of dollars into the college institutions, and billions to the NCAA!”  

Zion Williamson, an NCAA College basketball star attending Duke University was one of the most sought-after recruits of the 2018 class. On February 20th less than one minute into a Duke basketball game against North Carolina, Williamson blew out his Nike basketball shoe and went down. He didn’t return for 5 games including that one.

This injury could have been a career ending one for Zion.  He should have been getting some money all along, so that he could be planning financially for his future?  If this injury ended his career, how would he support his family that relies on him?

An article by Collegexpress states that, the college athletes back profit off of a large company to wear equipment.  The article explained, “college student-athletes are not only a part of a sports team; they are a part of the college or university’s advertising team”.  This is known as the Flutie effect. The students are doing the advertising job for the the school in appealing to potential students. For this reason, athletes should be reimbursed in some way, because they are required to wear a certain product or brand name. Maybe if Zion Williamson were wearing a brand of his choice, the injury would not have happened.

In a New York Times article “Judge Opens the Door to More Compensation for College Athletes”,  a former college basketball player Ed O’Bannon is working hard to have college athletes voices heard that they should be paid. He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA.  He argued that student athletes should be compensated for the use of their images. Knowing what it is like to be an athlete and what it takes and how much work it is to be an athlete.  According to the article, in a new ruling schools will compensate students for “education-related expenses” but continued to support the NCAA’s claim that “students should not become professionals while playing for school teams.”  

Highly physical sports can cause injuries that could end an individual’s career. The risk of getting hurt is reason enough for players to earn money for going out and competing for their schools.  College athletes should get paid for their sports involvement because they often spend over 40 hours a week practicing, as well as going to class and doing homework. It is impossible for them to find time to work a part time job for spending money.

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