In the last decade, the arguments surrounding college students and payment for the services that they offer to these institutions have intensified. The college athletes spend much of their better years trying to earn revenues for their respective colleges and yet they receive no monetary compensations. Students who become injured find that they may lose their scholarships and in turn lose their right to an education. Having trained excessively for these sports over the years, college athletes should be paid as college sports has become a lucrative business for higher education institutions.
In CNN’s “Crossfire” Van Jones and Newt Gingrich confirms the views that students bring in millions of dollars for these colleges and yet these children do not receive financial rewards for the services they provide (Jones & Gingrich on “Crossfire,” 2014). In addition, the debate also reflected on the views of former NBA star, Kareem Abdul Jabbar who gave his personal views on the fact that these college students give valuable time and energy to making these colleges and their administrators very rich. For the most part, debate on “Crossfire” reflects the views that I have had for years on the subject.
Nonetheless, Christine Brennan quoted statistics that suggested that college sports is not a lucrative business as she would want the society to believe that college sports is not a lucrative business only 23 of the 208 colleges that participate in these money-making ventures actually benefit financial (Brennan on “Crossfire,” 2014). The very idea is sounds ridiculous as coaches make over 700,000 dollars annually from the sports and yet these sports organizations and their governing bodies would want the public to believe the players are amateurs and should not be paid professionals for similar jobs that they do every years.
The video helped to reinforce my belief that many colleges that engage in the marketing and promotion of college sports see education as the driving force in these institutions. Students have been conditioned to focus on the game and not so much on education. My perception has not changed much as I believe that college students go through similar training programs as the professional athletes, millions of dollars have been made from these games and yet the players are the only ones who do not enjoy the financial benefits of the sports. Of course, persons like Gingrich would argue that Law Title 9 drives fear in the college administrators as they are afraid of the legal ramifications of having to pay college athletes similar amounts to the professional athletes. But, the truth is that these students can be paid and the monies be placed in trust funds for these athletes.
In concluding, the popular contrasting belief is that students should not receive financial rewards for the services that they render as college sports players. But the harsh reality is that college football and basketball generates almost as much monies at the professional leagues. Scholarships to prestigious institutions should not be the only rewards for these games as the students deserve far more than a scholarship that is immediately revoke when the player becomes injured. The medical bills fall on the players families and the colleges continue to “roll in their beds of dollars.” The idea is unjust and immoral and should be removed from the very thoughts of these coaches, managers and school administrators. The harsh truth is that the system is unfair and hypocritical as college students deserve to be paid for their services.
Works Cited
Jones, V., & Gingrich, N., (2014) Crossfire: Should College Athlete be Paid? CNN, YouTube,
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch/v=a8Q-L5yr0Lw, 24 Mar 2016
