Debate Speech
1. Being a college student-athlete is a full-time job, bouncing between the weight room, the court/field, classes, and film sessions yet they don't get paid. I think college athletes should be paid because the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) brings in billions dollars from these athletes and none of it goes to any athletes while coaches get paid millions. College athletes have to deal with their education, sports and find a way to fund themselves so they can do simple tasks such as buying food since it is extremely difficult for athletes to find a job while dealing with sports and education. Athletes have to miss school to go to sporting events. Paying college athletes would open up many perks for college athletes to finish their education, be able to support their families, limit corruption and give them what they deserve.
5. College athletes should be paid for everything they do because if it wasn't for them colleges would have no main source of revenue. These athletes also have many hardships that they have to go through for sports such as their busy schedules and they have to miss class to prioritize sports. Also since college athletes have no time for jobs they should receive money because they have to work harder than the average person and yet they still don't get paid. Also paying these athletes would be very beneficial to them in many ways such as teaching them how to smartly use their money, it would cause less corruption in college sports, it would cause more players to graduate making the graduation rate increase and much more. Colleges can easily pay college athletes without even putting a big dent in the $11 billion that they gain in revenue. In the end paying college athlete would be a beneficial outcome and would be giving athletes what they deserve as athletes and hard workers.
4. When it comes to paying college athletes there are many perks for it. One perk for college athletes is that they can support their families and themselves by being able to afford a good meal and send money back to their families. According to Huffington Post, many of these college athletes come from urban, low-class families and often leave school early because of the unimaginable pressure to be the main provider for their family at a young age. This shows how most college athletes are not that privileged and they have family looking upon them for financial support and to look after the family. Another pro of paying college athletes is that players may stay longer. This means players would not have to leave early to support their families and they can pursue their education. This would allow them to also be better prepared for being a professional athlete and if they aren't successful or are a bust in the pros they could always fall back on their education to get them a job. An additional perk of paying college athletes is that colleges that are willing to pay for their athletes would attract more talented and better athletes. This would definitely benefit everyone involved. Another perk is that it will limit corruption from external influences such as agents and boosters. It would also decreased the chances of players from point-shaving, scandals involving taking money or even bribes to play for other schools. Not only will it stop corruption, it would also encourage students to be healthy.
According to GreenGarageBlog.org, physical sports, like basketball and football, are not for the weak. They are full of impact that can result to injuries, where many players, especially those who are playing for the major leagues, have been seriously hurt at any point during games and even practices. If this were to happen, their shot at the major leagues will be compromised, so they will be encouraged to be physically fit the most to be able to secure their future. The final pro is that paying college athletes will give them what they deserve. In Business Insider, there was an article that stated, "It is estimated that the University of Louisville has the most valuable players at $1.72 million per year based on the program's $45.6 million in annual revenue. Overall, the average Division I player is worth $170,098 per year with the 351 Division I basketball programs taking in more than $4.5 million in revenue on average each year." These athletes are the reason why schools are gaining huge revenue and if it weren't for these athletes schools would not be able to gain these revenues and would have to find a new source to gain money. This sparks the question why don't college athletes get paid for all their work they do?
3. It is hard for college athletes to get or maintain a job with sports and education. Since sports and education take up most of athletes time they have no time to have a job and get money. Some say that college athletes have their college paid and it is all easy going but does this mean they can throw their education and opportunity to a get a job away just to play sports and receive no pay? According to Forbes Magazine a division 1 football player practices 43.3 hours per week, that is 3.3 more hours than the typical American work week. This shows how much college players are being taken advantage of and how colleges can expect that just because some are getting their education paid for that they can just push college athletes to the limit and get the full use out of them. That doesn't sound like an amateur schedule to me. A college athlete talked about the average day for an athlete saying, "Wake up. (tired), work out, go to class for hours (tired), work out again (even more tired), sleep. Repeat." This shows how college athletes are being ruined by their sports and how they barely have time for education and if they do they are too tired to think \study.
How could they even have the time or effort for a job? School, sports, personal life, and a job would be too much for college athletes to handle. Therefore they should be paid because they are put under difficult conditions and they don't even have to possibility to work and make their own money if they have no time. To add on to their busy schedules, college athletes also have to skip class to go to tournaments and games for sports. NCAA claimed college athletes are students, yet in NCAA tournaments college athletes have to miss classes to play games that bring money in. Now this doesn't seem fair to force college athletes to attend long practices, miss school, and have no time for education. When they get put through all of this how do they make money for themselves if they don't have the time or energy to do so...
2. College athletes are being used through college sports to create more money for the NCAA. According to Forbes Magazine, the NCAA produces nearly $11 billion in annual revenue from college sports, thats more than the NHL and NBA. Not a dollar of that goes to college athletes when they are the reason why the NCAA is making money. Much of the revenues collected don't go back directly into the classroom in fact only $3 million of the $11 billion goes to education (NCAA). You would think that they would put more money for education. Now college athletes don't get paid but the coaches sure do. Coaches get paid millions of dollars to coach but yet the athletes who do most of the work receive nothing. The average salary of a college football coach is $2.05 million. The coach of the University of Michigan football team, Jim Harbaugh, gets paid $9,004,000.
How would you feel if you were playing a sport in college and you were making nothing but yet you are putting in all the physical work and your coach is making millions of dollars? You probably wouldn't be so happy about that. According to Forbes Magazine in 40 out of 50 states, the highest paid public official is the head coach of the college football or the college mens basketball team. This shows how many coaches are being paid in huge amounts Some might argue that colleges do not have enough profits but a study showed that the University of Alabama had $143.3 million in revenue, more than 30 NHL and 25 of 30 NBA teams. Now that sounds like they have enough money to pay their athletes but yet they don't.
