Current Events > Is there a legitimate argument for not paying college athletes?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Seems most people agree they should get paid

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Those jobs aren't for broke college students trying to earn pocket cash. They're for career professionals who need to put food on the table and pay taxes.

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It's unfair to all of the previous college athletes to start monetizing it now.

Weren't we just complaining about college costing too much? If they're able to reroute the money from somewhere else great. If not, I'd rather not have college sports at all then have to pay extra

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Squall28 posted...

Weren't we just complaining about college costing too much? If they're able to reroute the money from somewhere else great. If not, I'd rather not have college sports at all then have to pay extra

Some people can choose their school because they're an athelete, I don't think they want to lose that

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colleges shouldnt pay athletes. But athletes should be able to monetize their fame however they can.

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Considering how much money colleges make off of their athletes, I don't think there is any good reason not to pay them. I mean I have some issues with college athletics being the cash cow it is in the first place, but the way it's set up now is basically exploitation

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eston posted...

Considering how much money colleges make off of their athletes, I don't think there is any good reason not to pay them. I mean I have some issues with college athletics being the cash cow it is in the first place, but the way it's set up now is basically exploitation

I'd imagine not every sport is lucrative and you can't just pay some atheletes

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Bama about to win the next 10 championships

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KILBOTz posted...

colleges shouldnt pay athletes. But athletes should be able to monetize their fame however they can.

I tend to agree with this, because of this

MedeaLysistrata posted...

I'd imagine not every sport is lucrative and you can't just pay some atheletes

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Squall28 posted...

Weren't we just complaining about college costing too much? If they're able to reroute the money from somewhere else great. If not, I'd rather not have college sports at all then have to pay extra

Couldn't this argument be used against paying professors or janitors? Or more to the point, the coaches who in many states are the highest paid public employees? Why are athletes the only workers on campus not getting paid?

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Yeah its not like they're racking up $400,000 in education debt or anything. Nope. They get nothing as it stands.

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Antifar posted...

Couldn't this argument be used against paying professors or janitors? Or more to the point, the coaches who in many states are the highest paid public employees? Why are athletes the only workers on campus not getting paid?

Because professors and janitors are more essential than athletes. If I have a choice of lower tuition or having a sports team, I pick lower tuition. If tuition stays the same and they can get the money elsewhere, sure. Go ahead and pay them

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Wouldnt colleges then be able to essentially bribe would be athletes of theirs based on potential income? So the bigger, wealthier colleges will be able to easily funnel in all the best talent?

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Prismsblade posted...

Wouldnt colleges then be able to essentially bribe would be athletes of theirs based on potential income? So the bigger, wealthier colleges will be able to easily funnel in all the best talent?

This already happens. The college football playoff is already Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and one other team year after year.

Squall28 posted...

If I have a choice of lower tuition or having a sports team, I pick lower tuition. If tuition stays the same and they can get the money elsewhere, sure. Go ahead and pay them

How do you justify drawing the line at paying the players whose coaches have multi-million dollar salaries and who train in facilities that cost many multiples of that?


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-It depends on how you view college sports. How is it different than an unpaid internship where the company makes money, you acquire skills/training and resume building while working part-time or full-time hours. Its an investment into your future. In some cases it ends up being a waste of time and you go into another field. In some cases its a great opportunity to advance into better positions. How is sports any different?

-A large number of athletes get scholarships anyways and in turn they are required to participate in sports. Its the equivalent of a student getting a scholarship who is expected to bring prestige to the university's name. That's the universities investment. If a student does breaking research for a university lab and brings them fame and money, the student doesn't get production bonuses. So why should the athlete?

-College sports already has a major problem with lack of parity. This will exacerbate that problem as wealthier schools will be able to buy off the best athletes. Competition will suffer. Smaller schools won't be able to compete.

-I do think players should be able to market and make money off of themselves. So if a college player wants to sign autographs or market himself to sell things, I'm all for that. But I'm against colleges paying players a salary. I'm of the opinion that if you don't think its fair that you're not getting paid for your time, then quit. I'm sure they can find plenty of players who are willing to play for full scholarships who won't mind not getting paid. Thats how life works.


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Correct_Facts posted...

It's unfair to all of the previous college athletes to start monetizing it now.

I guess no progress is allowed then

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No, if they bring in millions of dollars in revenue, they should be appropriately rewarded for it.

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Correct_Facts posted...

It's unfair to all of the previous college athletes to start monetizing it now.

I think society should be the same as it was 2000 years ago because changes are unfair to our ancestors.

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MaddenDude-- posted...

I'm of the opinion that if you don't think its fair that you're not getting paid for your time, then quit. I'm sure they can find plenty of players who are willing to play for full scholarships who won't mind not getting paid. Thats how life works.

I, for one, am against the exploitation of workers, and think we should blow up how life works if that's the case.

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hockeybub89 posted...

I, for one, am against the exploitation of workers, and think we should blow up how life works if that's the case.

Except its not exploitation

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They shouldn't be paid directly by the schools, but if the player has enough star power to pull down endorsement deals then they should be allowed to do it.

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MaddenDude-- posted...

-It depends on how you view college sports. How is it different than an unpaid internship where the company makes money, you acquire skills/training and resume building while working part-time or full-time hours. Its an investment into your future. In some cases it ends up being a waste of time and you go into another field. In some cases its a great opportunity to advance into better positions. How is sports any different?

Companies' revenue streams aren't dependent on interns. The profit margins of colleges and consequently the cities they reside in can be heavily influenced by the success of their sports programs, which revolve around student athletes. More games a team wins in a competitive league, the more attention they get, which means more applicants to the school, and more fans visiting the city that you can monetize a tourism industry around.

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If the schools started paying athletes directly, are you supposed to pay every student athlete the same? Most college athletes are not part of a top tier football or basketball team, and their college sport doesn't turn any sort of profit for the school. Especially female sports, is there a single college women's sports program in the nation that turns a profit?

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MaddenDude-- posted...

-It depends on how you view college sports. How is it different than an unpaid internship where the company makes money, you acquire skills/training and resume building while working part-time or full-time hours. Its an investment into your future. In some cases it ends up being a waste of time and you go into another field. In some cases its a great opportunity to advance into better positions. How is sports any different?

It's a separate topic altogether but unpaid internships are absolutely a disgusting practice just as much. In theory it's like "job shadow us and we'll show you how it goes around here so you can get a little experience and understanding of the field" and in practice it's just "give us free labor and be grateful we're even allowing yourself to be associated with us". It's only tolerated because students in certain fields are so desperate that being exploited and taking out more loans to temporarily get through it in the absence of even minimum wage is the best option they have

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AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

If the schools started paying athletes directly, are you supposed to pay every student athlete the same? Most college athletes are not part of a top tier football or basketball team, and their college sport doesn't turn any sort of profit for the school. Especially female sports, is there a single college women's sports program in the nation that turns a profit?

The crux of the argument for paying student athletes is that they bring in a lot of money to the school and don't get paid. If you're in a program that doesn't generate any profit, then of course you wouldn't have the luxury of getting paid.

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Sad_Face posted...

The crux of the argument for paying student athletes is that they bring in a lot of money to the school and don't get paid. If you're in a program that doesn't generate any profit, then of course you wouldn't have the luxury of getting paid.

Only like 20 schools actually make money from their football team


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in the case of college basketball, we're seeing more and more kids out of high school go to the G-league or overseas, they're becoming legit competitors for NCAA which is good cuz fuck em

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If they paid their Student Athletes how would they make any money?

This isnt rocket science. Theyre just shitheads who want to pocket all the cash.

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I just want to say first they absolutely should be paid.

But the people against it will say they are getting paid by going to college at a discount or even free.

the other side will then say something like well they are making millions of dollars of the backs of these college kids. But really, what job/company DOESN'T work like that. Employee or Athlete you're still making pittance in comparison to what you're bringing in.

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Sad_Face posted...

Companies' revenue streams aren't dependent on interns. The profit margins of colleges and consequently the cities they reside in can be heavily influenced by the success of their sports programs, which revolve around student athletes. More games a team wins in a competitive league, the more attention they get, which means more applicants to the school, and more fans visiting the city that you can monetize a tourism industry around.

And thats why they get scholarships while most students don't, even some of the brightest students don't.

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Kuuko posted...

It's a separate topic altogether but unpaid internships are absolutely a disgusting practice just as much. In theory it's like "job shadow us and we'll show you how it goes around here so you can get a little experience and understanding of the field" and in practice it's just "give us free labor and be grateful we're even allowing yourself to be associated with us". It's only tolerated because students in certain fields are so desperate that being exploited and taking out more loans to temporarily get through it in the absence of even minimum wage is the best option they have

I don't think its a big deal in college tbh. Your time is your investment. If you feel like investing it in an internship is worthwhile, then so be it. If you feel like its best for your future to play football, then so be it. No one is forcing them to play, likewise no one is forcing them to intern at a company. You don't have to take more loans to do intern work. You just have to better manage your time.

And in internships you have the opportunity to thrive, to network, build your resume. Theres tons of benefits that can value more than just a salary.

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Correct_Facts posted...

It's unfair to all of the previous college athletes to start monetizing it now.

life isnt fair so your excuse doesnt hold water

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Pay then a salary but disconnect it from the education aspect. Treat them like any other student.

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eston posted...

Considering how much money colleges make off of their athletes, I don't think there is any good reason not to pay them. I mean I have some issues with college athletics being the cash cow it is in the first place, but the way it's set up now is basically exploitation

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Playing football, being upset then you're not getting paid, then not making it to the NFL and becoming a fast food worker is equivalent to interning at a law-firm, not getting paid, not making it to law-school, then becoming a fast food worker. You chose your own career path. You gambled on yourself and lost. You should've chose wiser.

And I'm all for cheaper college tuition. My own personal federal student loans are half a million right now. Thats a separate issue though.

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MedeaLysistrata posted...

I'd imagine not every sport is lucrative and you can't just pay some atheletes

MSU made it very clear that my athletic scholarship was paid for from the money generated from the football and basketball teams. I was a wrestler

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MaddenDude-- posted...

I don't think its a big deal in college tbh. Your time is your investment. If you feel like investing it in an internship is worthwhile, then so be it. If you feel like its best for your future to play football, then so be it. No one is forcing them to play, likewise no one is forcing them to intern at a company. You don't have to take more loans to do intern work. You just have to better manage your time.

And in internships you have the opportunity to thrive, to network, build your resume. Theres tons of benefits that can value more than just a salary.

I'm not sure how your college experiences went but for most of us we still had expenses we needed to cover to survive. Without loans or without your parents paying for everything you need some form of income. You're right that no one is forced into it. It is a choice - it's just one where the demand far exceeds the supply. But that's the same reason minimum wage exists at all. If it didn't exist then employers would be able to more easily exploit workers from receiving a living wage (and it's not even a living wage anymore). A medium-to-large sized organization offering an unpaid internship hardly has an excuse to avoid the sacrifice of the bare minimum $7.25 an hour.

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AngelsNAirwav3s posted...

If the schools started paying athletes directly, are you supposed to pay every student athlete the same? Most college athletes are not part of a top tier football or basketball team, and their college sport doesn't turn any sort of profit for the school. Especially female sports, is there a single college women's sports program in the nation that turns a profit?

How is this different from the coaches they already pay?

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MedeaLysistrata posted...

I'd imagine not every sport is lucrative and you can't just pay some atheletes

I don't see why not, considering that this is how we treat pretty much everyone else


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Kuuko posted...

I'm not sure how your college experiences went but for most of us we still had expenses we needed to cover to survive. Without loans or without your parents paying for everything you need some form of income. You're right that no one is forced into it. It is a choice - it's just one where the demand far exceeds the supply. But that's the same reason minimum wage exists at all. If it didn't exist then employers would be able to more easily exploit workers from receiving a living wage (and it's not even a living wage anymore). A medium-to-large sized organization offering an unpaid internship hardly has an excuse to avoid the sacrifice of the bare minimum $7.25 an hour.

I took loans to cover my expenses. but me doing unpaid internships, unpaid research, unpaid tutoring was on my time investment to build my resume and network.

Like I said, just because loan interest rates are sky high doesn't mean its the entire worlds job to make sure you can afford to pay it. Interest rates need to be a more reasonable level. I get that the people getting these loans have no credit but its the governments investment into the country's future through education.

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MaddenDude-- posted...

Except its not exploitation

If I make you money, then I deserve a share. 60 year old men can play their own damn football if they want to keep all the money

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Honestly, I'd rather they abolish college sports altogether than go one more day not paying the athletes.

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hockeybub89 posted...

If I make you money, then I deserve a share. 60 year old men can play their own damn football if they want to keep all the money

Do you think high school and middle school players should get played as well? Most of those football/basketball games make the school quite a bit of money. So much so that schools will often purchase large new fields/stadiums before buying classroom textbooks.

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WizardPowers posted...

Do you think high school and middle school players should get played as well? Most of those football/basketball games make the school quite a bit of money. So much so that schools will often purchase large new fields/stadiums before buying classroom textbooks.

Absolutely. Pay for services rendered. If there's profit, the workers are owed a share.

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hockeybub89 posted...

If I make you money, then I deserve a share. 60 year old men can play their own damn football if they want to keep all the money

When a student shows up to class, the school gets funding. If a student misses class, the school loses funding. Should all students across america get paid to show up?

You're also proposing to ban all volunteer work, internships, unpaid research, etc.

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Banning unpaid internships/research positions (really the latter is certainly true, the prior just pragmatically true) will likely just disproportionately damage the less privileged. But this is a tangent from the actual topic.

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Squall28 posted...

Because professors and janitors are more essential than athletes. If I have a choice of lower tuition or having a sports team, I pick lower tuition. If tuition stays the same and they can get the money elsewhere, sure. Go ahead and pay them

janitors are the lifeblood of a multi billion dollar industry that requires a talent very few on this planet have?


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