Should College Athletes Be Paid Essay

Words: 400
Pages: 2

People have debated whether or not college athletes should be paid. In the article "Should

College Athletes be Paid," both Joe Nocera and Bob Williams have very different opinions. Even

though the players get paid for all of their hard work, college athletes should not be paid because

they would make too much money, and they have too many perks by joining the team.

Athletes have worked long and hard to give the best performance on game day. They

spend about “50 hours a week on their sport,” (Nocera 22). Because of their hard work, “$600

million is the approximate amount ESPN is paying annually to broadcast college football

playoffs,” (Forbes). The NCAA, sponsors, coaches, assistant coaches and schools gets millions

of dollars that benefits them, especially the schools.
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Rather than giving some of the money to other

programs that need the money, all of the money goes towards the sport. Some athletes have said

“15 percent wouldn’t even be in college without their sport,” (Williams 23). Because of the

million dollar games, “the NCAA and its members earn millions in profit annually,” (Williams

23). With the majority of the money, it “funds programs supporting the academic needs and

the well-being of student-athletes,” (Williams 23).

The most important reason why college athletes should not be paid is because they have

too many benefits. While the art department keeps having budget cuts, football gets to have

charter jets and state-of-the-art arenas. A huge thing is that “athlete scholarships cover the full

the cost of college,” (Williams 23). Many people have to work hard to bring up their ACT and/or

SAT scores and later have to pay back their student loans while the athletes get in for free. On

top of that, “athletes don’t leave school burdened by a mountain of student loan debt,” (Williams