Over the past 10 to 15 year's one of the biggest debates has become a pressing issue discussed by millions who are involved in college sports. Many people voice their own opinion with little background knowledge and no deep research. The highly controversial question is whether or not college athletes should be paid as free market players for their performance on their respectful college sports teams. This debate seems simple however it's extremely complicated and could affect our entire country as a whole.  These college athletes already receive so much in scholarships, compensation, and our economy would not be able to support paying them; we also can't forget why so many people love college sports ... .. the beauty of the game. College athletes just can't and don't deserve to be paid as free market players. 

One reason college athletes should not be paid because they are given a free education. For scholarship athletes tuition, room, board, meal plan, books, and they receive a monthly stipend. College athletes get to avoid the number problem for failure after college which is college debt. In the article by Brian Frederick "Should NCAA Athletes Be Paid?" US News. U.S.News & World Report he discusses how college athletes have a chance to earn a pro- contract and they shouldn't be relying on it they should be using their talent as a great athlete to enhance their educational experience. The students should be using college sports not letting the sports use them. Education should come first as a young adult and a college student and nothing is more valuable than a free education. In the scholarly article "Some College Athletes Will Now Get Paid -- A Little." By Sean Gregory he points out that with everything being paid for expenses wise. Athletes also receive a monthly stipend but with all necessities being paid for that stipend should be going straight to the bank. So really college athletes who don't earn a pro contract should be done college with a free education, no college debt, and some money saved in the bank; set for a promising and successful future. 

Another reason why college athletes do not deserve to be paid is we have no way on telling how much to pay them or even who would pay them. Even if everyone thought that college athletes deserve to be paid. The problem of who, how, how much, and when just makes it seem close to impossible. According to article "Should College Student-Athletes Be Paid?." Per U.S. News written by Mitchell Horace, and Marc Edelman the only two college sports that generate enough revenue to pay their athletes is D-1 basketball and D-1 football. This would create a major problem between divisions and other sports. Certain players would also make a lot more endorsement money than others. For example Texas A&M University sensation Johnny Manziel (quarterback for their d-1 football team) generated millions for the university in jersey sales and ticket sales that they had enough money to build a brand new state of the art football stadium and athletic facility. Players of that caliber would make millions and millions of dollars as a college athlete but there wouldn't be that many. But there are thousands of college athletes who put in the same time and dedication that just don't get the spotlight. That's where you would have to figure out how to the pay the players equally or make them free market players. 

Another problem that is faced is the divisions. Will division II and division III sports be paid the same amount as Division I sports? Those divisions have a very small crowd and generate little to no revenue for their respected Universities. But those players also put in the same amount of hard work and time on and off the field, court, etc. This would be a whole debate on its own and most likely cause tension between all the divisions. 

Another question to ask is who would pay these hardworking athletes. A large amount of people say the NCAA has too much money and power and takes advantage of all college athletes. In this scholarly article "The Shame of the NCAA." Written by Dave Zirin gives an example of how just off of the NCAA's March Madness NCAA college basketball tournament they make millions of dollars along with television broadcasters. Off of one tournament the NCAA gets enough money to pay sponsors, universities and television broadcasters millions. So should the NCAA have to pay the athletes with the hundreds of million dollars they get from the player's hard work and time? 

In this Washington Post article "College Sports Can Bring in Big Money. Should Athletes Get Some of It?" the author Fred Bowen shows a court case from North Western University where the college athletes were deemed employees of the university and they were to be paid appropriately. However in another article "How to Save the NCAA from Itself." By Allen Sack a former basketball player tried a lawsuit against the NCAA for not paying athletes using the CAP act but he failed to win. So this brings up another question of what if the universities were to pay their college athletes? You might be thinking this is possible and is pretty simple. However this would have many negative effects on a lot of different people. 

For example if it was mandatory for Universities to pay their college athletes how they felt suitable then they would have to make large budget cuts in order to keep competitive. If one university was to have more money to pay their athletes than another that university or college would be able to dominate the sports world because the talent will follow the money. Colleges would have to make budget cuts in order to stay competitive which would lead to other sports being cut, coaches being fired, employees losing their jobs and many more cuts that would just negatively affect all the universities as a whole. The article "New Benefits for Athletes Trigger Talk of Cutbacks in College Sports." By Brad Wolverton discusses these negative repercussions more in depth. He tells us how a lot of coaches and staff would be out of jobs and athletes would be without a sport to compete in on a collegiate level.  In a different scholarly article "Should College Athletes Be Paid to Play?"  by Kenneth J. Cooper it states that private schools would never have to pay their players as a part of the contract. If college athletes were to be paid private schools would most likely lose all talent because the talent would circulate to the major public universities that would be willing to pay the most.  

There is just so many questions to be asked about paying college athletes. Paying college athletes would too difficult to regulate where everyone would be happy. It could hurt our economy and put many people out of jobs and we would lose lots of less popular sports from budget cuts. This is a huge reason why college athletes just cannot be paid. 

Back to the NCAA being portrayed as the villain in this debate. Many individuals and groups out there believe the NCAA is taking advantage of their college athletes. The NCAA makes almost one billion dollars a year. Yes that's right almost ONE BILLION not million. All this money is why the NCAA is looked at in such a poor manner. They say the NCAA uses these incredibly talented individuals' skills and just kick back while they make millions off of them. But if everyone looked at the NCAA the correct way they would not see a villain. The NCAA gives college athletes a major stage in front of the country if not the entire world to preform and show of their skills for their respectable sport.  These athletes get around four years to showcase their talent and convince the professional level teams to draft them. Without the NCAA earning a professional contract would be nearly impossible for many. College athletes and the NCAA both need each other in order to both be successful. 

People also argue that the NCAA makes an absurd amount of money from their television and advertising agreements. Many people believe that money should go to paying college athletes. But why should the NCAA give of their money for doing their job of marketing these athletes and their games.  When the NCAA started they didn't know so many people were going to crave and love college athletics. Also if the NCAA didn't televise these games it would make it once again even harder to earn a pro contract and a future in there desired sport. Without the NCAA there might not be any college sports. 

Another reason why college athletes don't deserve to be paid is the love and beauty of college sports. There is a reason why college sports are more popular than professional.  They are completely different. College sports have much more meaning. Those young men are playing for passion and love not money.  They are putting everything they have on the line for their University and college town which they love. They are also playing for that kid they had as a kid to play in the "Big Leagues". Professionals play as an occupation, money, after a while you see many individuals lose the passion they might of carried as a college athlete. The drama in college sports is over contracts and money. Compared to the drama in college sports of the small team out of Iowa upsetting a powerhouse ACC team during March Madness where they put everything they had on the line out there and become a Cinderella team beloved by the whole nation. Paying these college athletes would take this beauty out of the game. If they were to be paid you would start seeing classic cases where athletes think they aren't receiving enough money and start having troubles on the field or court and end up leaving to chase more money. College sports is a place where players play to win and be the best they can. This is what makes college athletics so beloved all around the country. Paying college athletes would cause a loss of player appreciation and more importantly fan appreciation.  

There are alternate ways that could even increase competiveness and pay athletes at the same time. "Pay To Play." Current Events scholarly article discusses that when championships are won that university receives millions of dollars and they could take that money and pay their induvial athletes a percentage as a prize. So have the players play harder to compete for their money would be a great alternative way that's simple and easy yet could calm down some drama surrounding the debate.

 In another article "If Colleges Can't Pay Athletes, Maybe Fans Can, Group Says. (Cover story)." Per New York Times by Ben Strauss brings up another alternative way where fans can pay the athletes.  They would donate the money to the player via online for that player to come play at that fans favorite university. It would also be another form of recruiting for alumni who would like to be involved. These alternate ways are long shots indeed but these ideas are what we need to be thinking about rather than paying college athletes as free market players. We must find a middle ground that isn't as radical as letting college athletes operate as free market players. 

Along with losing the beauty and passion of the game for college sports there be a huge difference in recruiting if college athletes were to be paid. High School recruits would not look at colleges based on education or program success. There wouldn't be any home visits from the head coach and personal talks. Universities would just flash there money and students would pick who ever pays more. Recruits wouldn't pick the university that best fits him anymore. Paying college athletes would ruin almost every dynamic of college athletics. 

There are just so many negative affects to paying college athletes. Losing multiple athletic programs, possibly destroying our economy, putting many people into unemployment due to budget cuts along with losing the beauty of the game is just not worth paying these college athletes. But even if there weren't so many negative affects to begin with college athletes already receive so much.  A free education cannot be matched in value along with free housing, meal, and athletic services. Plus receiving a stipend that should be saved for life after college since they don't have any expenses. College athletes need to use their talent and passion not love their talent and passion use them. 
