Imagine a system today that denies young adults their right to a fair wage or even the opportunity to profit of their own uniqueness and hard work. Under this system, the minority at the top earns million dollar salaries by exploiting the hard-working majority. Even in the United States, a country that prides itself on justice and opportunity, such a system of tremendous exploitation of a powerless majority by a wealthy minority exists today. Not only does this system exist, it is legal and prevalent across the entire nation. Because of this exploitation, many members of the majority go to bed hungry, do not have enough spending money to get them through the weekend, or even help out their poor families. Instead, the money they deserve and could use to solve these problems is placed in the pockets of the much more powerful and rich majority. Every day, Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players are exploited by the NCAA. These college athletes are denied the chance to receive a fair wage by the NCAA and their only form of compensation is a scholarship that is simply not an accurate valuation of their worth. Even though these college athletes are the reason the NCAA makes billions of dollars in revenue, they never receive their fair share. The NCAA even uses its power to prevent these college athletes from profiting off their own unique talents and name. Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players represent an egregious form of exploitation because they are so valuable but also vastly underpaid. They deserve compensation from the NCAA beyond a scholarship because a scholarship is far too low, they are hard-working employees, create billions of dollars in revenue, and are entitled to profit off their own name, image, and likeness. 

The only form of compensation division one football and men’s basketball players are allowed to accept at all is a scholarship given to them by their university. According to universities, a scholarship that pays for your education in exchange for your participation in either football or basketball at the university is fair compensation. Many of these football and basketball players receive a “full ride” scholarship that pays for all their tuition, room and board, books, and other course-related materials. However, some less high profile players who attend the same practices and play in the same games receive slightly less. Even with the scholarships that cover most or all the fees directly related to receiving an education, many of these athletes come from low-income households and struggle financially while in college. Tyson Hartnett describes how his freshman roommate, a college basketball player, worked a job at the university just so he could have some spending money. These scholarships also fail to take into account the value of the college athlete in relation to how much money they generate to the university and the NCAA. The scholarships only cover the bare essentials required to gain an education. 

While the NCAA continues to argue scholarships are fair compensation for these college athletes, evidence suggests that the NCAA is blatantly lying. According to a study conducted by Drexel University and the National College Players Association, the average value of a college football player is around $120,000, and the average value of a men’s college basketball player is around $265,000 (CNN). The average value takes into account the players’ net worth and the amount of revenue they generate. By comparison, the average scholarship handed to these college athletes is only $23,000 (CNN). Football players are worth nearly five times that value and basketball players are worth ten times that value, but the NCAA severely limits the money given to these young adults.

The cap the NCAA places on compensation through scholarships has a profound impact on the lives of many college athletes. As Tyson Hartnett, a former college athlete, points out, “a scholarship doesn’t equal cash in a player’s pocket. Even with any type of scholarship, college athletes are typically dead broke” (Hartnett). The players are entitled to so much more money than they currently receive, but the NCAA and universities would rather pocket that money and allow college athletes to struggle financially. The NCAA uses the scholarships to deny these athletes a fair payment for representing the university in football or basketball. 

The NCAA and individual universities have the ability to allocate more money towards football and men’s basketball scholarships so these athletes can come closer to earning fair compensation. Revenues and athletic budgets continue to rise as a result of these money producing sports, but the value of scholarships does not increase nearly enough. For example, “Football Subdivision Schools devoted significantly less of their total budgets to scholarships than did other football schools and schools without a football team” (Cudacoff 133). FBS schools include the major universities with largest athletic budgets like the University of Texas and the University of Alabama. Smaller division two schools that lack the funds and recognition of FBS schools still allocate more of their athletic budget towards scholarships than FBS schools. Instead, these major schools decide to invest the money generated by these college athletes elsewhere and, “in almost every case, football and basketball coaches were the highest-paid employees at their institution and in state schools, the highest-paid public employees” (Chudacoff 134). The NCAA and universities somehow justify overpaying coaches while severely underpaying college athletes. In professional sports, a large portion of players earn more money than the coach, but in division one college football and men’s basketball, players never come close to matching their coach’s compensation.

Not only do college athletes deserve greater financial compensation based on their value to the NCAA and their university, they are also entitled to a fair wage as employees. In a billion-dollar industry like major college football and basketball, the people who work hard to create all the wealth are employees, not amateurs or student-athletes. By labelling these college athletes as amateurs or student-athletes, the NCAA justifies not offering them a fair wage. The athletes work very hard at daily practices, compete in competitive games every weekend and sometimes during the week, and are expected to balance the rigors of college academics as well. They deserve fair compensation for being full time employees of the university and they work ward to produce money for their university and the NCAA. In 2010, Turner Broadcasting bought the rights to air the NCAA Tournament for the next fourteen years for nearly $11 billion, and then CBS and Turner sold $1.13 billion in advertisements during the 2015 tournament (Latham). In just 2014, the University of Alabama alone made over $150 million in athletic revenues (Latham). In an industry as profitable and rich as division one college football and men’s basketball, the people most responsible for that wealth, the athletes, are employees and entitled to a fair wage. A scholarship for around $23,000 is definitely not close to a fair wage when individual athletic programs earn millions of dollars and the NCAA is signing TV deals worth billions of dollars. A person that works for a billion-dollar industry, like college athletics, must be considered an employee.

The schedule and pressure caused by athletics is demanding and resembles the life of a full-time employee. The amount of effort college athletes exert and hours they spend serving the university demands a pay raise beyond a scholarship. While trying to maintain a good standing in academics, “the typical Division 1 college football player devotes more than 40 hours per week to his sport, more than the average American work week” (Latham). The amount of time a Division 1 college football player works for the university through his participation in football is greater than an average American worker, but the value of the scholarship is much less than the value of the wage the average American worker receives. A college athlete, “will wake up before classes, get a lift or conditioning session in, go to class until 3 or 4 p.m., go to practice, go to mandatory study hall, and then finish homework or study for a test” (Hartnett). These college athletes devote so much of their time towards working for the university and making money for the NCAA through their participation in athletics. However, they do not receive nearly enough compensation for their hard work. 

These college athletes are indeed employees also because the scholarship they receive from the school represents an economic relationship between the player and the university. In exchange for the athlete’s participation in a certain sport at the university, the university offers money through a scholarship to pay for the basic necessities to receive an education. Recent legal cases have determined that, “the relationship between student-athletes and the NCAA and member-institutions is “commerce,” not otherwise exempt by virtue of being part of higher education.” (Groves 104). The NCAA is business and college athletes are valuable employees. A scholarship and the chance to receive a college education do not make a college athlete exempt from being categorized as an employee. As employees, these college athletes are entitled to receive a fair wage for their time, effort, and production.

While college athletes are denied employee status because they are considered amateurs or “student-athletes”, the coaches of the Division 1 men’s basketball and football are paid significant salaries. If coaches are viewed as employees and paid a reasonable salary, then the people who actually put in all the hard work, the college athletes, are also employees and deserve fair compensation. While the college athletes earned an unfair wage for their service, “The median head football coach among the 126 Football Bowl Subdivision institutions earned $1.9 million in 2013; the comparable head basketball coach’s salary was $1.2 million” (Sanderson 115). The coaches participate in the same business as the college athletes. So, if the coaches are employees, then the college athletes must also be classified as employees. 

Public opinion has also shifted towards reconsidering the legal status of college athletes. College athletes received encouraging news with the announcement of the, “NLRB decision to certify Northwestern football players as “employees”” (Vanderford 829). The NLRB stands for the National Labor Relations Board and this announcement serves as proof for college athletes’ status as employees. Once these college athletes are finally recognized as employees, then they will obtain the right to unionize and finally develop the legal power to challenge the NCAA. A union for college athletes would serve as an effective way to ensure college athletes receive fair wages. The NCAA and universities conspire to place an unfair cap on the wages of college athletes, “which in other businesses would violate Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, a criminal offense” (Sanderson).   

The NCAA and universities make billions of dollars off the hard work of Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players, but continue to deny them their fair share. A scholarship is not an accurate or fair way for college athletes to receive their piece of the revenue. A scholarship is simply too low; college athletes are worth much more money.

While these college athletes were collecting a scholarship that was far too little, “In 2012, the NCAA recorded a record $71 million dollar surplus for the fiscal year. Its total revenue for the year was $872 million, $504 million of which was distributed to its member schools and conferences” (Vanderford 829). Clearly, the college athletes generate a significant amount of money for the NCAA, but they are denied their fair share. The athletes not only contribute on the field, they are also the people who generate revenue through ticket sales, merchandise, advertising, donations, and monster TV deals. Instead of offering the athletes their fair share in this large amount of cash, top NCAA executives are getting around $1 million per year (Hartnett). The NCAA would rather pocket portions of the revenue that belong to those most responsible for it, the college athletes. Even though the University of Alabama, for instance, alone made more in revenue than all NHL teams and most NBA teams, college athletes at Alabama received unfair scholarships while the professional athletes made millions of dollars (Latham). Theses college athletes create the same, if not more, revenue than many professional sport franchises, but they are denied the opportunity to receive their fair share of the revenue.

Through the unfair distribution of the millions of dollars of revenue generated yearly by Division 1 college football and men’s basketball, the NCAA functions as a modern system of exploitation. They deny the workers, college athletes, their fair share of the revenue and instead choose to keep that money for themselves. The NCAA has the resources to pay themselves, coaches, and other university officials significant salaries because of the hard work of college athletes, but they are still unwilling to offer players compensation beyond a scholarship that significantly undervalues college athletes. Based on the money these college athletes generate, they are entitled to a significant raise. The value of a Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players in relation to the amount of revenue they generate far exceeds the value of a scholarship. 

Finally, college athletes deserve to have the opportunity to profit off their own unique name, image, and likeness. Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players work hard to expand their band through their skill on the field or on the hardwood. Therefore, they are entitled to take advantage of their athletic prowess by selling their brand through items like merchandise and autographs. Additionally, they deserve fair compensation when someone else profits of selling their name, image, or likeness. In professional sports, athletes are allowed to profit off themselves, but the NCAA prevents college athletes from doing so, even though college athletes are employees, not amateurs.  However, the NCAA has no problem profiting of the name, image, and likeness of college athletes for their own personal gain.

For video games based on college sports, Electronic Arts was granted the ability to use the unique likeness of the college athletes by the NCAA. Electronic Arts did not require the approval of individual college athletes, they only needed to seek the approval of the NCAA. Even though, “Electronic Arts paid more than $35 million in royalties to the NFL players union for the underlying value of names and images in its pro football series – but neither the NCAA nor its affiliated companies paid former college players a nickel” (Branch 10). The unfair seizure of college athletes’ likenesses by Electronic Arts through the NCAA highlights how much money the NCAA denies college athletes by preventing them from profiting off themselves. College athletes, as employees and adults, deserve the right to control their own name, image, and likeness and profit from it. Even though college video games are no longer produced, “All of this money ultimately derives from the college athletes whose likenesses are shown in the films or video games. But none of the profits go to them” (Branch 10).

Allen R. Sanderson and John J. Siegfried introduce a plausible solution that can help ensure Division 1 men’s basketball and football players receive fair compensation. Instead of offering scholarships, universities compete to pay graduating high schoolers to come play football or basketball at their school. The payment would most likely be a yearly salary that is much greater than the current value of athletic scholarships. The competition among schools will drive prices up and the student athlete can then choose the school that offers him the most money. This pay for play system would replace the outdated and unfair scholarship system.   

Since Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players are worth more than the value of their scholarship, function as employees in a large business, create the majority of revenue for the NCAA and athletic departments, and possess highly valuable names, images, and likenesses, they are entitled to compensation beyond a scholarship. Despite the beliefs of the NCAA that scholarships are an accurate representation of a college athlete’s worth, college athletes are amateurs, they do not deserve a greater share of the revenue, and do not have the right to profit off their own brand, evidence and logic suggest otherwise. College athletics and the NCAA are in desperate need for a major overhaul because Division 1 college football and men’s basketball players deserve a significant raise.
