Why the NCAA Should Pay Football Players
Paying college athletes has been a major debate over the years whether college athletes should be paid or not. While it can be debatable for many sports, many believe that it should most definitely happen in regard to college football.
These student-athletes don’t have any other form of income
The schedule of a college football player is full to the point where it seems there is not room for anything else. Let alone a part time job. The schedule is simply too demanding. In addition to the normal 2-3 hours a day of practice, there was film study that is unique to almost any other sport. Also, there is no off-season and that includes summers. As a result, there is no time to earn money, even your normal summer job. As because of strict NCAA rules, players are oftentimes left with no extra spending money to get the occasional pizza split with his hall mates.
Football is oftentimes the most profitable sport
College football is big money. Small colleges with a horrible football teams can still easily triple the attendance of basketball teams that made the NCAA Tournament. This is magnified by 5000 times in big programs. Football programs oftentimes fund entire athletic programs. And it shows in the coach’s salary. Many big time head coaches will make north of five million dollars.
Even though the players’ names are not on the jerseys, it’s not an accident that it’s only the top players whose numbers are sold. Also, until recently, players likenesses were used for video games. Football is a cash cow that even if the players took the smallest 1% slice of the pie would give them plenty of spending cash.
Keep the betting sharks away
NCAA Betting is a way of life. And, with the popularity of online sports betting, the popularity has skyrocketed. This is good for the sport as it increases viewership especially in games others may not normally watch. But the dark side of NCAA Betting is that it opens the possibility of point shaving scandals. This is where an individual would pay a player money to intentionally do things to affect the betting line. In fact, oftentimes players wouldn’t be paid to throw the game, just alter the final score. For example, a kicker may miss a field goal that would be a difference between covering the spread and not.
And as most online sports betting operations are off shore, they aren’t governed by United States regulation. These increase the chances of this type of activity of occurring. The reason this is much more likely to happen in college sports versus pro is the fact that players do not get paid. If you were to pay players this would eliminate the temptation to shave points. Keeping the integrity of your sport both as you share with those that create your success and let everyone know what happens on the field is on the up and up is worth a few less dollars of profit for this multi-billion dollar machine that is the NCAA.
