No college should be required to pay athletes, and no pay structure needs to be planned. But California was quickly followed by more states. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard White People? But paying athletes would distort the economics of college sports in a way that would hurt the broader community of student-athletes, universities, fans and alumni. Historically, the debates over paying college athletes have only led to more questions, which is why its raged on for more than a century. California was the first state to pass a NIL (name, image, and likeness) law, which takes effect on Jan. 1, 2023. Do you think well-established minor-league systems would be attractive to high-school graduates and college athletes less interested in (or ill-prepared for) higher education? If the bill passes, the law will go into effect on January 1, 2023. "This is an important day for college athletes since they all are now able to take advantage of name, image, and likeness opportunities," NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement. It would only be fair to compensate for this loss of knowledge with a decent revenue. Last October, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina introduced the NIL Scholarship Tax Act, legislation seeking to tax the scholarships of college athletes earning more than $20,000 per year. 19, 2021, Adam Liptak and Alicia Parlapiano, "What the Public Thinks about Major Supreme Court Cases This Term," nytimes.com, June 1, 2021, Business of College Sports, "Tracker: Name, Image and Likeness Legislation by State," businessofcollegesports.com, June 10, 2021, Adam Liptak, "Supreme Court Backs Payments to Student-Athletes," nytimes.com, July 21, 2021, Alan Blinder, "College Players May Make Money Off Their Fame, Powerful N.C.A.A. Schools would not be allowed to pay students and no one could offer compensation for students to attend a particular school. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. A paid student-athlete could be free from financial distress. A decision is expected in June 2021. Ed OBannon, a former professional basketball player, won a lawsuit in 2014 where the NCAA was ordered to pay $44.4 million in attorneys fees and another $1.5 million in costs to lawyers for the plaintiffs in the Ed OBannon class-action antitrust lawsuit against the NCAA. Of the 36,011 college baseball players, only 8,002 are eligible to play professionally each year. Check out these other CollegeVine articles for ideas: History of the Debate: Should College Athletes Be Paid? The first case of note came in the 1950s, when the widow of Fort Lewis football player Ray Dennison took the college all the way to the Colorado Supreme Court in an effort to collect a death benefit after he was killed playing football. I mean the bottom line is, isnt this what they deserve for their labor? Limits on Paying College Athletes, nytimes.com, Dec. 16, 2020, Dennis Dodd, Breaking Down the NCAA's Forthcoming Supreme Court Battle with Its Big Brother Status and Amateurism at Stake, cbssports.com, Feb. 3, 2021, NCAA, 2021 March Madness: Complete Schedule, Dates, ncaa.org (accessed Mar. Everyone Loves to Watch Zion Williamson Play. Last modified on January 21, 2022. Its just not less-popular sports that paying athletes could threatenwomens programs could also find themselves in the crosshairs of budget-conscious administrators. 4. Similarly, if a team improves its win total by five games in a season, alumni donations go up 28%. Tennis players may earn up to $10,000 in prize money yearly while playing college tennis and college football players may earn up to $550 in bowl gifts. She lost the case, but future generations would have more success and have slowly whittled away at arguments against paying athletes. Gabe Feldman, JD, Professor of Sports Law, Director of the Sports Law Program and Associate Provost for NCAA compliance at Tulane University, noted that the last time the NCAA was at the Supreme Court was in 1984 (NCAA vs. the Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma). Fans were asking the question. Some 107,000 spectators have packed the "Big House," paying an average ticket price of $141. The exposure student-athletes bring to their schools can boost applications and donations. As of Mar. In 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom signed a law allowing college athletes in the state to sign endorsement deals with brands. WebList of the Cons of Paying College Athletes 1. Folks in California think so. Explain your answer(s). There are a lot of great reasons why college athletes should be paid, but there are also some compelling reasons why college athletes should not be paidand why not paying athletes is actually good for both the institutions and athletes. Williamson fell backward in a split, grabbing his right knee. Should all athletes be paid? The ruling changed the broadcast regulations for college football. NCAA is a non-profit organization. Everyone around them makes money, but the students responsible for generating revenue receive nothing. This would possibly increase graduation rates, allow fans to see their favorite players mature through college, and ensure coaches are preparing athletes as much as possible for the next level. As of June 10, 2021, 18 states have passed NIL laws; five more states have passed bills that were awaiting the governors signature to become law; 14 states have introduced NIL bills; and one state has a bill passed by the Senate and awaiting a House vote, according to the Business of College Sports. Takeaway: College is expensive. The rest of it gets spread out to the coach, who makes $8 million a year, to the assistant coaches, who make as much as a half-million dollars a year. The Duke star Zion Williamson sprained his right knee when his Nike shoe broke apart in the first minute of a game on Wednesday. - SmartAsset College athletes work hard and make lots of money for their colleges. It does not go to the players, what I call the unpaid workforce. [3], As of Nov. 17, 2020, the University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban was the highest paid NCAA college football coach, making $9.3 million per year. [27], About 25% of Division I athletes reported food poverty in the past year and almost 14% reported being homeless in the past year. However, if the situation is similar with the football team of Northwestern University, schools would have access to raw sports talents. While this is something admirable, If a student doesn't hold a part-time job, where does that money come from (besides their parents)? The rest are termed "equivalency sports," which receive lump sums that are allocated among players according to a coach's determination. The math behind the argument against Williamsons returning is simple. WebCollege athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympic Games and be financially compensated, such as Joseph Schooling, a University of Texas swimmer, who earned a $740,000 bonus for winning Singapores first gold medal ever at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? Other Division I schools had an almost $23 million collective difference between revenue and expenses. WebPeople who believe that college athletes should not be paid often point out that professional athletes in the major sports can make millions of dollars. They are, get over it!. Recommendation: Find College Student Jobs on Salarship. Its hard to ignore the racist undertones when the financial benefit to these institutions is based on the unpaid work of young Black men. [22], The NCAA requires players to have health insurance but does not pay for that insurance and can refuse to pay medical expenses for sports injuries, some of which can have life-long consequences for the players bodies and career opportunities. A former columnist for The Chronicle Reece Johnson is the managing editor for news, issues, and trends. The court fights between college athletes and the NCAA continue todaywhile not exactly about payment, a case regarding whether or not schools can offer athletes tens of thousands of dollars in education benefits such as computers, graduate scholarships, tutoring, study abroad, and internships was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2021. And if theyre unable to play, they will lose their athletic scholarship. People see fit that students get paid for their performance as they are the fundamental piece that drives external revenue to universities. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. But I do find it interesting as to why so many are widely opposed to this idea. Will the coach make these determinations? A handful of big sports programs would pay top dollar for a select few athletes, while almost every other college would get caught up in a bidding war it couldnt afford. 3, 2021), John Thelin, Paying College Athletes, insidehighered.com, Feb. 12, 2018, NCAA, Estimated Probability of Competing in Professional Athletics, ncaa.org, Apr. Sports' considerable time commitment cuts into students' study time. More than 100 Division I coaches earn over $1 million per year. Programs like football and mens basketball would likely benefit greatly, but smaller, unprofitable sports such as gymnastics, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling could find themselves at best cash-strapped and, at the worst, cut altogether. He is a mathematician who graduated from EPFL. None of the largest ones are NFL stadiums. [39]. Tuition shortfalls amount to thousands of dollars per year and leave about 85% of players to live below the poverty line. Not So Much.. Funding the student-athletes would be a massive shift in budget distribution. Part of HuffPost News. Full athletic scholarships are only guaranteed a year at a time, meaning student-athletes are one catastrophic injury away from potentially losing their scholarship. This scenario offers too many thorny questions and too few sufficient answers. White People? Limits corruption from external influences Compensating athletes in college will limit the corruption involving agents, boosters and others. TheNCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association)is a nonprofit organization formed in 1906 that regulates college athletics, including game rules, athlete eligibility, and college tournaments. This isnt something new. Takeaway: Paying student-athletes could potentially give them an incentive to stay in their institution, as schools will probably lock them into a contract. Title IX stipulates that colleges must provide equal opportunities for male and female athletes. Do You Want to Find College Student Jobs? [16], In 2021, the National College Players Association (NCPA) Executive Director Ramogi Huma stated, [m]any of these athletes are Black and from low-income homes the NCAA treats them like disposable university property. Should college athletes be paid? There are a number of great reasons to pay college athletes, many of which will not only improve the lives of student-athletes, but also improve the product on the field and in the arena. That means all of its income should be spent on collegiate sports organizations. [38] These rules can effectively limit players options to playing in college or choosing another profession altogether. Student-athletes bring in millions each year for their schools, but only recently have they begun to profit from the big business of college sports. The NBA requires players to be at least 19 and a year out of high school, while the NFL requires players to be three years out of high school. 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