The first organized sports team was formed at Yale College in 1843 and by the next year, Harvard had a team to compete with them (Branch). “Walter Camp graduated from Yale in 1880” and loved college football so much he dedicated his life to it without pay. He continued to add rules and change the number of players from 15-11.  Since then college sports have grown exponentially in popularity among people all over the world, particularly in the United States. The South Eastern Conference was just announced having the biggest season on record brining in $455.8 million in 2016, distributed between its 14 schools, each will receive $31.2 million (Branch). Often times when student athletes see these large sums of money going to these Universities, some begin looking for their cut. Student athletes should not be granted monetary compensation for their time and efforts on the field. The service they provide to the University on the field, is compensated through scholarships, an NCAA contract and an Education.

The NCAA was established in March of 1906, the original purpose of this organization was to focus on the safety of college football players. Their goal was to encourage safer play and provide a more organized environment, however over the years their service has changed course and is now the largest amateur sports organization in the United States, hosting events all over the world. The organization holds three different divisions ranging from D1, D2, and D3 athletics and oversees 55 different men’s and women’s sports as a whole. Those athletes that choose to play a college sport are agreeing to the terms and conditions set by the NCAA. All athletes playing in the NCAA are considered amateur. This is clearly stated in each player’s contract, which also limits players from transferring without permission of the NCAA. Additionally, all student athletes are held to a strict minimum credit hour, per semester and strict enforcement of random drug screenings for both drugs and body performance enhancers. 

The players who benefit the most from the NCAA are those who are participating on the D1 and D2 league. These athletes are eligible to receive athletic scholarship compensation for service on the school’s sports team. The student athletes are provided with a full four years’ worth of tuition, room, board, and books all from the University. USA Today estimated the worth of a men’s NCAA basketball scholarship to be an estimated $120,000(NCAA). All three divisions are not limited by federal scholarship limitations and are eligible for scholarships and federal Pell Grants. Since the NCAA has been around it has been contributing to its athletes, feasibility to graduate from college and have awarded more than $17 billion in athletic scholarships, from its own athlete’s earnings(NCAA). Furthermore, that means as a student athlete is playing, they are actually generating money for their own sport, making college sports more accessible to high school athletes. Playing college sports could be looked at from the point of view of “paying your dues” to the sport before entering the professional league. For student athletes who take a different direction in life other than sports, they are still entering the “real world” in a better position than the average American. In a study done by CNN Money, the average American in 2015 graduated from college with $35,000 of school loans (Ellis). As long as student athletes graduate, they are put in a good starting point for their career.

While The NCAA has always been a nonprofit organization, its revenues are extremely high. In the year 2011 NCAA reported a revenue of over $870 million in a single year. In the graph produced by the NCAA (Figure 1.1 NCAA) you can see that amount of influence the Television and marketing contracts have on the inflow of money to the NCAA. However, “In Division I sports (football), only 23 out of the 228 programs could cover their costs without subsidies. Interestingly, 16 of the 23 that could cover the costs still got subsidies.” (Goral) This is because of the immense spending done by the universities to build the biggest and best stadiums to attract the top athletes. “What we’re talking about mainly here are student fees, institutional subsidies and sometimes state funds” (Goral). Even with all the money flowing through the college sports industry, the checkbooks of the universities are not growing. In fact they require the help of funding from the NCAA and the Government. With colleges un able to pay for their own athletic expenses, they have no way of supporting the payment of student athletes.

(Figure 1.1 NCAA website)

The NCAA hosts college sporting events all over the United States and as a result the players get the benefit of free travel. The NCAA website states “Student-athletes have the opportunity to travel across the country and around the world for competition” (TIME). All travel fees and expense are taken care of, including hotels and plane tickets. The large schools also offer a “vehicle” for the student athlete to reach the next level of play, by broadcasting games on TV within the region and Internationally via the internet. With the growing number of people with access to TV and Internet, the audience and viewing rights to NCAA sponsored games have grown exponentially. In 1982 CBS agreed to a 3 year $49.9-million-dollar contract with the NCAA to air their games, however the most recent contract was signed in 2010 for a 14-year agreement with CBS and Turner Corp. for more than $10.5 Billion. This enormous increase in the price of contracts really represented how quickly the market has grown for college sports. From media viewing alone the NCAA brought $509.4 million alone, 81.9% of the 2006-7 total revenue of $621.8 million. Creating a huge wage raise for coaches in the past century. With viewing and coverage of college sports at such a high level, students benefit directly from scouting, that can occur from anywhere in the world, making it extremely valuable for the players to get game time.  During headline games “some student-athletes receive national and international exposure during competition” (NCAA). Additionally, in the real world, having the exposure of an athlete on national TV can bring recognition toward the athlete and the school. This coverage in itself “can open doors for the few who will complete professionally and for the majority who will go pro in something other than sports” (NCAA.) All relating back to benefiting the athlete towards his or her goals during and post education as they provide a service on the field.

While the schools are directly benefitting off the work of its thousands of student athletes, these students are correctly compensated through multiple benefits. Athletes are often given free athletic and training apparel from their school to advertise their name.  D1 and D2 student athletes are eligible for athletic scholarships which in most cases results in a free education. This includes Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Oregon and Alabama to mention a few of the top academic schools. Because these top ranked academic schools want to brand themselves with a top athletic program, athletes are able to attend schools they otherwise academically may not have been competitive. Along with receiving free room and board, many schools pay for the books and unlimited meal plans of their athletes. While this might not sound like it adds up completely, it is important to understand that college athletes are not the professionals and play for the love of the game rather than for money. 

The opportunities that come along with a contract to play college sports extends much farther than many pay checks could. Another study was done by time money magazine calculating if a college athlete were to attend a top ranking school and received a $100,000 pay check instead of a scholarship the money would not go as far. After multiple income and state taxes student athletes would only be credited with enough money for tuition and board. This would exclude the necessary money for food and books (Time). While a pay check may seem nice, realistically it may not go as far as some student athlete may believe. To pay all athletes instead of giving them a scholarship, pay check would not be equivalent to their current scholarships they receive currently. Additionally this would prove practically impossible, because of how many student athletes currently play under the NCAA’s organization and the fact that there are only two sports considers “revenue sports” by the NCAA. (Goral) These sports include Football and Basketball. With only two real big revenue sports and most universities losing money each year to athletics, make it very challenging to identify a way to put a monetary value on each individuals’ worth. 

Another thing to consider when thinking about paying athletes is the academic side of school. If athletes are blinded by the paychecks of their sport, they are less likely to engage themselves in the classroom. Howard L. Nixon II a professor at the University of Towson, speaks about how “Big Time Universities” have lost their academic focus and have turned to sports. This new focus for Universities is in hopes of growing an expanding the colleges “name brand credibility to attract more people. These big schools which focus dominantly on Men’s Basketball and Division 1 Football are locked in what Nixon calls “the intercollegiate golden triangle,” which consist of Presidents being lured through competitive social media with rival colleges, neighboring schools building bigger and better stadiums, and the construction of new athletic facilities to attract top recruits. University Presidents push for all of these because by winning big games you attract fans and capture lifelong alumni fans to donate and support.

As a professor at Towson, Nixson has first had in the classroom at a D1 school. In the recent years he has noticed a major shift towards athletics being held before academics. He writes about his experiences interacting with coaches who expect student athletes, to be excused from missing classes due to travel and sports priorities, but would often be laughed at when he asked coaches if a student athlete could miss practice to work on an assignment (Nixon). The importance of athletics from a coaches stand point is the fact that it is their job to uphold the team,but the main message behind Nixons books is that athletes are in school to study and the university needs to grasp its hold on the academic importance, rather than the brand name of a well-liked sports team.

Many athletes recently have been urged to take action against the NCAA for taking advantage of what they call “free labor”. that March Madness brought in more than a Billion dollars in the single month. The coaches and executives are making million, but the labor is making no money, without healthcare and if they are injured and cannot play anymore, they are often dropped from their scholarship and face high medical bills and no further free education (CNN). Recently there have been so many allegations against the NCAA have come up with “the task of mounting a public relations campaign to deflect attention away from the fact the athletes whose labor on the field provided for other people to have jobs and medical benefits were being denied those same considerations” (Staurowsky 24). One particularly large court cases to date against the NCAA is Berger v. NCAA. Former Penn State athletes believed under the Fair Labor Standards Act, they were entitled to a minimum wage while engaging in athletic activities.

In regards to Berger v. NCAA, the seventh court ruled that sports in the NCAA were to be considered “extracurricular” or "interscholastic athletic” activities and were not applicable to the Fair Labor Standards Act(Branch). Saley Jenkins wrote an article called “Are college athletes the same as prisoners? These judges seem to think so.” (Jenkins) after the results of the case were released, and equivocated to unpaid prisoners to unpaid student athletes. In hine sight prisoners are in jail, and have legally lost their write to compensation, while players of the NCAA sign their rights off to being an armature, which consist of not being paid.  The NCAA has had a perfect track record in court, to date the NCAA has never lost an allegation against them. The Student athletes are required to sign a contact before playing, and while it may be unfortunate that the college sports market is dominated by the NCAA, they function as a non-profit organization. Their goal is to give athletes a chance to broadcast their skills and which are valuable for entertainment in our society. However, in doing so the worth of a scholarship is immense.

In today’s media society it’s not uncommon to hear of college athletes accepting benefits under the table. For years there have been hundreds of college athletes who were caught accepting bribes, free airfare, hotels and lumps sums of money on behalf of small businesses and the colleges. Along with this, some players were reportedly selling signed jerseys and memorabilia to fans. While it could be tempting to make money on the side, if you are a big star, it is an important lesson that the NCAA is trying to teach to all of their athletes going into the professional world. Athletes must learn how to follow rules in a contract because no matter what field someone studies in there will be rules and contracts surrounding all fields of work, that workers must abide by.

The experience of being a student athlete teaches many valuable lessons. Those who participate follow strict schedules and nutrition plans to stay in shape. Athletes are granted access to top sports equipment for training exercise. This way of life, shaped around routine will help prepare an individual for the working life. Additionally, the experiences they have on and off the field, wins and loses give student athletes an opportunity to learn and grow. Being able to learn to fail and then work as a team is a very good life skill that will transition well into the work place. In fact, one employer stated he puts student athletes resumes at the top because it shows work ethic and dedication (Goral).

The value a student athlete gains from participating in a collegiate sport, has an immense impact on their life. Their daily routines and strict schedules get prepare them to be very time effective and use up their entire day effectively. By competing, each player is exposed to numerous scouting opportunities and name exposure. Both gaining networking benefits towards a career in athletic professions and other professions. By completing college, athletes position themselves in a strategic advantage by not concurring as much total debt from school. While some suggest that in today’s media age, it is time to look into paying athletes for their media exposure it is not applicable considering that most school are not profiting off of their sports teams and the ones that do, don’t always incur a profit. When considering where all the money from the NCAA goes, as it is a non-profit, it is important to remember that they pay over $70 billion towards helping student athletes obtain a college degree.
