Pros and Cons of Paying College Athletes

As we watched in class, there is much debate about whether to pay college athletes or not. Here are some pros and cons of paying college athletes.

If paid, college athletes would be able to receive compensation they rightfully deserve. College athletics pulls in a lot of money for schools to use for things outside of athletics as well. People flock to stadiums to watch their favorite teams comprised of their favorite players. For example, more people would have been willing to attend a Texas A&M game to watch Johnny Manziel rather than his backup or any less talented player. Therefore, players are able to generate large amounts of revenue yet see none of it. It would also give players income to use for themselves. Many players struggle with financial issues with clothing or food in college therefore giving them a source of income would allow them to take care of these issues.

The issues with paying athletes is that there will be some players that spend the money irresponsibly leading to a waste of the college's money. There will also be a pay gap between different athletes and colleges. It would be unfair if a women's soccer player was paid less than a male basketball player, however it would be impractical to pay every athlete the same amount as that would be a lot of money. Also some school wouldn't be able to pay students as much as other schools which would be unfair to those athletes at the smaller school. It would also turn college athletics into a professional game as it would reduce the emphasis on education as they are already receiving money.