Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

            A University of California in Los Angeles football player once said, “I am a UCLA prostitute. I sell my body to them. They pay me to perform for them. When my teammates and I perform well, the school makes lots of money…regardless of how much money the school makes, we get the same, just our scholarship.” (Coakley 2009) That quote was from 2004. The money that collegiate sports make in 2014, makes 2004 money look like quarters found in the sofa. According to University of North Carolina faculty affiliate Dr. Boyce Watkins, “ad revenue from March Madness has crossed the 1 billion dollar mark,” (Watkins 2013). For those who are not aware, March Madness is the moniker for the NCAA D1 national championship, one of the biggest sporting events in the world. How big? According to Boyce, the National Football League took in $976 million; the NBA took in $537; the MLB took in $354 million, which is not to mention all of the t-shirts and other paraphernalia that were sold throughout the year. (Watkins 2013). The difference? The biggest earner was an amateur sport.

            Big time college sports are the perfect business model. You have a revenue source that will never fade, and a work force that essentially works for free. That same work force is also held responsible for maintaining another workload—from the same institution. However, when one workload has millions and millions of dollars at stake, where should you allegiance of time and effort reside? However popular, intercollegiate sports contain a major flaw—the hypocrisy of “student-athlete, while at the same time demanding that one comes before the other. If athletes were to see themselves as investments, why would any of them do anything other than what was destined to turn them profit? That is what the corporations are doing. That is what the cable companies are doing. That is what their schools are doing.

            I have paid attention to college sports for my entire existence, and have read every argument you can make when it comes to dollar bills and athletics. There is no answer that will cover every base; each road heads in a different direction. Do we pay them the money they deserve? That would void their amateur status. So why don’t they just go pro? Well, there are laws saying they can’t. We cannot avoid the fact the money is coming at these athletes, and they do not want to dodge it. To many times have athletes been given “illegal benefits” or “luxury recruiting,” not to mention the exploitation of their names for profit—all to which they get nothing, yet reap every consequence if found benefiting from themselves. What we have to realize is that we set athletes up to fail, and expect to them succeed. We place high expectation on their performance, while neglecting the status of their well-being. We require a full time commitment to the field, and we require a full time commitment to the classroom. Ultimately, we expect the poise of professionals, from the likes of amateurs.