You may be wondering how popular are sports?  Well believe it or not, according to topendsports.com, soccer has 3.5 billion fans, baseball has 500 million fans, basketball has 400 million fans etc.  Having said this, you can say sports are one of the most watched things in the world.  Whether it be soccer, baseball, or basketball a sport is usually playing in an average household at least once a day.  This means that people love sports.  They can't get enough of it.  No matter if it is professional or college level the fans live for the thrill of a Hail Mary touchdown pass or grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning to win the game.  According to a survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, forty five percent of Americans follow college sports.  Therefore, the college game is just as or even more popular than professional sports leagues such as the NFL, National Football League, or MLB, Major League Baseball.  Being so popular allows the NCAA, National College Athletic Association, to generate a lot of revenue, in 2015 they recorded a total of 720 million dollars generated from college sports and is projected to gradually increase each year.  Generating such a large amount of money brings up the question that people having been asking for years, should college athletes be paid a salary?

For years, college athletes have been fighting the NCAA saying that they deserved to be paid a salary.  The reason why the word salary is placed in this this statement is because college athletes are already paid in different forms.  According to the Daily Local News reporter, Kieran McCauley college athletes are already paid by being granted scholarships and having the opportunity to receive a free education.  This article is very useful because the Daily Local News reports all the latest news in Chester County.  To relate to this topic, an American philosopher John Dewey once said, "Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."  With that being said, college athletes are receiving the best form of payment there is, but to them it is not enough.  Majority of college athletes who think they deserve more than a free ride for their service to the school want a large amount of money in return.  Some athletes believe they deserve a salary of 100,000 dollars and more for their services to the school.  Although the NCAA and majority of its followers believe that college athletes are already given enough for their time and effort there are some people that believe that they should be paid the salary they want.

College athletes are the biggest supporters for getting paid and one of the few believers in the idea that the NCAA should pay them.  A good friend of mine, Yohance Thomas, is a member of the University of South Carolina track team.  The USC track team is very competitive practicing five days out of the week and has a meet almost every Saturday.  With having so much required practice time and meets Yohance told me he puts in about thirty hours a week toward track and field.  The rest of his time is dedicated toward his studies.  With practicing and studying so often he has very little free time.  Working so frequently makes him believe that he is working a job with the amount of hours he puts in.  Since Yohance puts in the time and effort of a full time employee he believes that he should receive something.  When I asked what he meant by something he responded by saying, "I think college athletes should receive a stipend, not necessarily a salary."  The reason Yohance believes college athletes deserve this stipend is because they aren't the same as regular students.  When I said how are college athletes different than regular students he replied by saying, "Athletes have more drive than regular students.  We put much more time into training and being better than regular students and that can translate into academics, but in the ends it's all up to the individual."  Therefore, Yohance thinks college athletes are not on the same level as non-athletes.  Not being on the same level as regular students means they should be allowed to be treated differently.  What he means by being treated differently is receiving something in return for their services.  One person who has a similar opinion to Yohance is Kareem Abdul Jabar.

On Newt Gingrich and Van Jones's show, CNN Cross Fire, they discussed whether or not college athletes should be paid.  To guest star on their show they had former NBA star Kareem Abdul Jabar and sports analysis for USA Today Christine Brennan.  Kareem is very pro toward the idea of paying college athletes and says, "We need to end the myth of the student athlete.  There is so much money being made.  The people creating the wealth don't get paid."  On top of college athletes generating the revenue and not getting a cut Kareem also believes they should get paid because if they get hurt the school doesn't pay their medical expenses.  They need to cover it themselves and a lot of the time it can build a huge debt on the person.  The points Yohance and Kareem make are very good, but they say the same facts over and over again.  With that being said, it brings up a case that college athletes should not be paid.

Before conducting my research I was against college athletes being paid and now I am even more against it because of all the evidence I found.  In my opinion there is no reason that college athletes need money.  You aren't supposed to have a lot of money in college because you are attending school to make more money after.  Another reason why I am against college athletes being paid a salary is because they are getting to go to school for free most of the time.  This is more than enough of a payment for their service.  Although some people such as Yohance and Kareem believe that college athletes should be paid majority of the people think they should not be paid.  I ran a poll on my Facebook page saying, "Hi everyone! I am writing a research paper for english and I would love if you guys can answer yes or no to this simple question, "Should college athletes be paid?" Thank you for your time!"  The results of this poll were no surprise seventy one percent of the people who participated in the poll believe college athletes should not be paid.  Unlike people supporting college athlete's being paid there is much more evidence on why they should not be paid.

Something that makes the majority of people believe college athletes should not be paid a salary is because getting to go to college for free is enough of a payment already.  Kieran McCauley of the Daily Local News wrote an article titled College Athletes Shouldn't Be Paid.  His article is about why athletes shouldn't be paid, but they should be compensated.  McCauley claims that athletes are already compensated in many different ways.  One of the main claims he has is that they get to go to college for free.  "Essentially they receive a free education and in return they represent the school in a certain sport. College athletes don't have to worry about student loans, paying for textbooks, the cost of on-campus living, and meal plans."  Although college athletes are not being paid a salary in reality they are being paid much more.  All of these things athletes receive for free at college majority of students struggle to pay it.  McCauley makes a good point when he says, "According to Institute For College Access & Success, in the state of Pennsylvania 71 percent of students leave a public four-year institution or private non-profit four-year institution in debt. The average debt is $32,528. That is an enormous burden for kids who may, or may not have a job awaiting them upon graduation."  Having said this, regular college students are struggling to make it, while athletes are living the life not worrying about having to pay off a ridiculous amount of loans.  To McCauley free college tuition is a big reason why college athletes shouldn't be paid and Kevin Hansen agrees.  

Hansen is a writer for the Michigan Point of View and believes that education is the most important thing athletes should be worrying about. "Further, paid college athletes are more likely to fall into academic apathy. Why should an athlete care about school when he or she is getting paid to shoot a basketball? Writing paychecks for athletes implies that they are at college to perform on the playing field and prepare for the pros -- not to learn in the classroom. This message is a disservice to the athlete, who must be encouraged to persevere in academics despite the time demands of a sport ... "  What Hansen is saying is college education should be the main focus of college athletes.  College athletes should cherish their education more and not worry about being paid a salary.  On top of not paying college athletes because they already receive free college tuition, Hansen also believes they should not be paid because it would cause a financial strain on colleges.

Believe it or not colleges don't make a lot of money on athletics.  Based on research done by Hansen he discovered a very interesting poll that proves his point.  "An NCAA survey reports that, without this institutional support, only 35 percent of Division I-A athletic programs and fewer than 10 percent of I-AA programs were profitable in 2001. According to the same NCAA survey, the average 2001 financial positions for I-A and I-AA athletic programs, minus institutional support, were losses of $600,000 and $3.4 million, respectively."  This survey shows that majority of colleges aren't even making money to have the ability to pay college athletes.  Paying college athletes would leave them even more in debt.  Hansen uses this survey to say this, "Athlete salaries would cause greater financial strain for the many major colleges whose athletic programs lose money. To turn a profit, most major athletic programs require the input of money from the school itself ... Many athletic departments already spend millions on scholarships, which are appropriate remuneration for student athletes. The payment of athletes will needlessly draw more institutional funds away from appropriate areas of spending."  What Hansen is saying is don't do it!  It will only leave the universities more in debt.  The university is using all of the money they make off sports back into sports.  Hansen is not the only one who believes that paying college athletes would drain schools of more money.

Christine Brennan, a sports columnist for USA Today, completely agrees with Hansen.  Brennan was on the cross fire talking with Abdul-Jabar talking about whether or not college athletes should be paid.  She is against them paid and one of her main reasons why is because it will put more colleges in debt.  Brennan believe this because, "23-228 division one schools in 2012 actually made money.  Football is bringing in a lot of money, but the schools are also spending a lot of money."  What Brennan is saying is that colleges may make a large amount of money, but in retrospect they aren't.  The reason they aren't bringing in a lot of money is because they have to spend a lot of money to keep every single athletic program money.  This means that they are investing the money back into sports so the athletes are getting the money that they are asking for, but in a different form.  Another point she makes which is similar to the school losing money is having to pay every single athlete.

Although not every college sport brings a large profit you would have to pay every single athlete.  Brennan is a firm believer that you would have to do this because, "There is something known as Title 9.  Mandates proportional equal treatment under the law, no discrimination.  When you are giving federal funds.  If you didn't do this colleges would be sued."  This is very important because it now brings in law to the equation.  Many colleges shy away from the today not only because they already lose money on athletics, but because they don't want to deal with the legal measures of paying athletes.  Something that can also potentially pop up from paying college athletes is that they aren't mature enough to handle the money.

Just like Brennan said paying college athletes is opening a door to legal issues.  Not only with the pay itself, but with how they act with the money.  According to npr.org there has been scientific research that shows humans brains don't fully develop and mature until the age of 25.  With that being said if college athletes were to get paid they wouldn't use the money responsible.  Someone who has solid evidence for this is a blog writer for swimswam.com named Davis Malone.  Malone says in his article, Shouts From the Stands: Why the NCAA Shouldn't Pay Athletes, "In 2009, Sports Illustrated published an article about professional athletes and their spending problems. Their findings are astonishing and ultimately led to ESPN creating a documentary a few years later for their 30 for 30 documentary series titled "Broke". Sports Illustrated concluded that within two years of retirement 78% of former NFL players are broke or under financial distress. As for the NBA, within five years of retirement their former players were broke 60% of the time (Torre)."  This statement shows that grown men or women who make money play sports can't even handle the fortune.  They spend their money in ridiculous ways and end up suffering because of it.  Although there is no specific evidence for how college students spend there the professional athletes give a good glimpse of how they spend their money. Malone also believes that college athletes should not be paid because they are choosing to play no one is forcing them to.

College athletes know what they are getting themselves into when they sign up to play college sports.  With that being said they shouldn't demand a salary if they know they already know they aren't going to be paid.  No one is forcing them to play, it is done out of their own will.  Malone greatly supports this standpoint because he says in his blog, "When an athlete signs the line on National Letter of Intent (NLI) to play a sport at a NCAA sponsored college they know what they are signing up for. If they have a problem with it they don't have to sign a NLI. It is very clear to an athlete that they previously should not have and should not going forward receive any type of gift or money for their athletic performance if they want to be eligible to compete in NCAA events."  With that being said he believes they just shouldn't go to college if they want money because their main goal should be academics.  

Malone is not alone with this idea.  Bill Maxwell, a writer for the Tampa Bay Times, wrote an article about how he once supporter college athletes being paid, but now he doesn't in no way shape or form.  One reason he feels college athletes should not be paid is very similar to Malone saying it's because they don't have to play if they don't want to.  Maxwell says is his article one of the reasons why he changed his mind is because, "Most notably, in a friend-of-the-court brief, the American Council on Education, comprised of 1,800 college presidents, was unequivocal in its opposition: "Student-athletes participate for their own benefit; they do not render services for compensation. They are not employees and therefore not subject to the National Labor Relations Act."  This is a very interesting piece of information he uses in his article and gives evidence that college athletes shouldn't be paid to play because they voluntarily do it.  Since college athletes voluntarily play, aren't responsible with money, colleges are left in even more debt than before, and they already receive so many scholarships and extras that "generic" students get it is very clear college athletes should not be paid.

One of the most convincing arguments that proves college athletes should not be paid is because they aren't mature enough.  NCAA executive Oliver Luck proved all of the sources that say they are not mature enough to be true because he said, "Coaches are adults" according to sbnation.com.  On top of being mature enough it is proven from all the other countless sources.  Another major reason that continues to pop up when researching whether or not they should be paid is because the scholarships they get.  Lou Holtz, former University of South Carolina coach, believes that the academics should be there main focus.  "If you pay them other sports lose scholarships and the rest of the money goes back to the university.  You should go to college and get an education."  Holtz made this statement in an interview with fox news and he made the supporter of paying college athletes look like a fool.  With that being said there is more evidence against college athletes being paid, and it should stay that way.

