Should College Athletes Be Paid?

Intro:

One of the biggest and most controversial topics in sports is whether or not collegiate athletes should be paid more than what they currently receive. Alex Shoemaker and Chris Brooklier debate and discuss this very issue:

Alex:

The issue of paying college athletes is a very important issue to me, and one that I have a strong opinion on. While I can see both sides of the argument, there really is one realistic option: you cannot pay collegiate athletes.

Some would make the case that they are already in a sense being “paid” as they receive free tuition, books, athletic gear, tutoring and more. I wouldn’t go that far, but I do believe that they should not receive anymore than they already do. The second they receive spending money they lose their amateur status, which goes against everything the NCAA stands for. College athletes receive a free education as well as the aforementioned amenities and do not deserve a penny more. What do you think Chris? Prove me wrong.

Chris:

If you need the one reason why college athletes should be paid it's that the NCAA and individual schools are making an incredible amount of money off athletes and their likeness for free. Last year the NCAA's revenue was $757 million dollars. How much of that was distributed to the athletes: zero dollars. When most people think of scholarships, they believe it covers and encompasses all of the expenses the scholarship receiver needs. This in fact is wildly far away from the truth. Sure athletes are given free tuition and a chunk of housing but there are so many things they need to thrive such as food, car charges, entertainment, clothes, etc. All of this is uncovered and people usually get a job when they are in need of money.

However with the rigorous schedule that these athletes hold they don't have the time to obtain a job. Athletics is their job. For years, college athletes spend more time in practice and the season, not just in the fall. During the winter there is weight lifting, during the spring there is practicing and during the summer there are workouts that the majority of the team attends. Tell me when these kids get some off time. This will be Oregon Quarterback Darron Thomas' 4th year on campus, but he's been to his hometown of Houston, Texas three times since he started college. Now this is just a damn shame and he should either be paid for his services or have the time needed for his services cut.

BAM!

Alex:

Chris, those were all very good points. As I stated earlier, I can see the points of why college athletes should be paid. Nobody believes that they would be able to hold a job whilst in college because football is their job. But In my opinion, what they already receive is more than enough.

In an essay Jay Paterno: Pay Student-Athletes? They’re Already Getting a Great Deal  written by Jay Paterno (son of Joe Paterno), assistant coach for Penn State, he agrees with me by saying "There is the problem. No one sells the student-athletes on the idea that they are getting paid more than $80 an hour for a part-time job. No one tells the student-athlete to go talk to other students on campus who work 30 or 40 hours some weeks and will still owe tens of thousands of dollars when they graduate."

Other students face the same economic difficulties yet they don't receive even close to the same amount of financial support. Athletes receive educations from some of the finest institutions in the country while they also receive free publicity and national recognition as they prepare for their future careers.

Do people think athletes are struggling to get food? No. They can easily manage their money to the point where they don't run into financial troubles. Any extra money would likely go towards entertainment purposes. And with professors being booted and whole programs getting cut, I won't have any sympathy for an athlete not getting extra spending money.

Chris:

The U of O has gotten a lot of publicity for their marvelous idea to use a varying number of jerseys. While these jerseys do give the school more attention, it is more about who's wearing those jerseys. Let me continue to use the example of Darron Thomas. He is a great player and due to that fact and the cool jerseys he wears I bought his jersey. However, none of that money went to Darron Thomas, it all went to the school. Schools are getting an inordinate amount of publicity from these athletes at no cost. However an important issue on this is whether all college athletes should be paid, are being paid the same amount or just the main sports of football and basketball. Alex what is your take on this subject?

Alex:

Chris, you hit one the one solid argument for why I could see athletes getting paid. The fact that revenues for memorabilia based on a player's likeness with them receiving none of the profits isn't right.

But there is a flaw with this point. For instance, you did not buy a "Darron Thomas" jersey. You bought a University of Oregon #1 jersey. This is a major distinction and loophole. Nowhere is his name on the uniform, and therefor Oregon is not profiting from Darron Thomas. It's the same way that the NCAA Football franchise is able to produce their games without playing the players.

And for the argument that the players who are being profited from deserve the money, they likely aren't the ones who need it. LaMichael James will certainly make his fair share of money playing on Sundays, while a 5th string player won't make a dime in either.

This brings me to my next question, how do you suggest struggling universities come up with the hundreds of thousands of dollars to "pay" their thousands of athletes? And does a reserve volleyball player deserve the same amount as the starting quarterback? Your thoughts?

Chris:

Like many college students I love playing video games and one of my favorite games is NCAA Football. All 70 players from 120 teams in the FBS are used for their likeness to improve the realism of the game. In all, 8400 players are being used for their likeness so the game will be more widely enjoyed. However, the makers of the game don't give any names to these players they are replicating. They just give their number and position, so for Darron Thomas "QB 1".

The game has all the pertinent information for Darron: From Aldine, Texas 6'3 205, Black, fast but because they don't give put his name on there, they deem it to be alright. Madden is almost the exact same game as NCAA Football, with the distinguishing factor being that the players are given their actual names and they are paid for their presence in the game.

Well Sam Keller, the former Nebraska quarterback, wanted to make a stand against this. In 2009, he sued EA Sports, the makers of the NCAA Football and Basketball games and the NCAA on the grounds that the "video-game maker wrongly uses the names and likenesses of athletes and the NCAA sanctions the practice" Keller sues EA Sports over images

On the topic of how struggling universities should come up with the funds to pay their college athletes I would tell them to look at the NCAA's 757 million dollar revenue and tell them to spread the wealth a little. Does a reserve volleyball player deserve the same amount as the starting quarterback? Yes I believe so, all athletes should be treated under the same rules and Volleyball players aren't lacking in the athleticism. All athletes are under the same shield of their respective schools and the NCAA, and they should stand with one another.

Alex I know you play video games even though you aren't very good at them. What are your comments about college athletics video games?

Alex:

Chris, I do love the NCAA Football games and have purchased each one since former Oregon Duck Joey Harrington was on the 2003 cover. While the video game probably is bending legalities to use the players information, I am not going to stop playing them.

My last argument is that paying college athletes is that paying college athletes will kill lower-tier programs.

It's difficult enough for the Western Kentucky's of the football landscape to compete with the Alabama's, but programs with bigger budgets can now legally "buy" their players.

I'll let you have the last word: explain to me how this won't create even more disparity in college athletics.

Chris:

The payment of college athletics won't create even more disparity one bit. All the rules will be the same, colleges will recruit players and the best players will choose their favorite college. The landscape will stay the same and the players won't choose to play with a team just because they will provide them with money; they will choose a team because they think it will be the best place for them to succeed in their lives.

Game. Set. Match. Brooklier

One and Done rule: Is it fair?

ALEX: College basketball is fading away due to the issue of the “one-and-done”. In a perfect world, the rule should state that a player must either enter the draft directly after high school or be two years removed. But this will likely never happen.

The NBA is more than happy with the current system. The rule amendment was made generate hype before a player reached the league. Players coming straight from high school (excluding LeBron James) typically garnered little recognition and were unknowns. A perfect example would be John Wall: last season he had the forth most jersey sales. The NBA is greatly benefiting from the one-and-dones.

NCAA basketball is not doing as well however. A steady decline in attendance, television ratings and popularity has occurred over the past few seasons. Besides “March Madness”, most basketball fans don’t bother to closely follow the game. Traditional powerhouses North Carolina, Kansas and UCLA have failed in the post season because of needing to rebuild year in and year out. In order to save the sport’s popularity, the one and done must be amended.

It seems counterintuitive, but the letting in of would be star players is hurting the strength of the powerhouse programs. Many would argue against this claiming schools like Kentucky reload and succeed every year. And while this is true, few programs are as good at reloading as Kentucky. With teams replacing large portions of their roster each offseason, schools like Butler, George Mason and the likes have been able to sneak their way into the title game.

As much as people love a Cinderella story, fans want to see premiere programs play on the national stage. The NBA is stealing away college basketball fans with the expansion of the league, while college basketball is dwindling away. Allowing players to either play right out of high school or be required to play a minimum of two years, college basketball would see a quick rise in popularity. But unfortunately, this will probably never happen.

Chris: Like my colleague outlines in his piece, the one and done rule should be changed to make players declare straight out of high school or wait two years in college until they are allowed to declare for the draft.

A big reason for this stance is the less recognized academic side of this issue. Derrick Rose didn't even do his own schoolwork in high school so why would he in college; why would the lightbulb switch. Case in point, he had someone else take his SAT to get into Memphis. Rose was a 5 star recruit and likely would have come straight out of high school if it wasn't for the one and done rule. Was it really necessary for him to go to college if he knew he was going to the NBA after one year. And it's not Rose's fault, any regular person would do the same thing. I'm in college and if I knew that one year from now I would be making millions of dollars what would be the purpose of going to an class if I could get 'help' from the University I was 'studying' at. College athletes are supposed to be “Student Athletes” with the word student in the front. But is it really that way? We value the athlete part much more than the student part.

In the one year Kevin Love was at UCLA, he was on the honor roll and maintained a 3.0 GPA. Sounds legit enough but when asked what his favorite class at UCLA was, he answered Sports and Masculinity. Here's a shocker: Sports and Masculinity isn't an actual class at UCLA, he just made it up. Although Love had a good family basis and comes from the upscale Lake Oswego neighborhood in Oregon, he didn't take his academics seriously. If he won't take his academics seriously, why would Derrick Rose, who grew up in the rough south side of Chicago.

Blake Griffin was in the McDonald's All-American Game and went to Oklahoma because of the one and done rule. However, Griffin stayed 2 years at Oklahoma and improved his game until he became the number one pick. If there was no age rule in the NBA, there is a possibility Griffin would have declared for the draft right out of high school and been completely unready for the tough NBA game.

With a talent like Lebron James, who only comes once a generation if that, it would be in his best interest to go straight to the NBA after high school. But for the majority of other players the NBA they aren't ready for the NBA lifestyle. Two years in college would not only mature their games physically but they would also mature mentally and grow up into a productive adult capable of making their own decisions and living the NBA lifestyle.