Is pay for college athletes fair?
Credit where it's due – I snagged the article from thesportseconomist.
The topic is whether or not college athletes should be paid. The article, written by John Wilner at the Mercury News, reports a reasonable estimate of the amount of revenue that is "generated" by Cal's running back Marshawn Lynch.
Lynch is no average player – he is on a lot of pundits' short lists for the Heisman Trophy, an award given to the best college football player each year. The article points out that the scholarship Lynch receives as compensation for his services is worth in the neighborhood of $20,000, while Lynch brings in roughly $800,000 of revenue to the University. By the metric, Lynch is vastly underpaid.
Of course the source of this underpayment is the fact that the NCAA prohitibits colleges to pay college athletes – effectively capping their compensation at the value of the scholarship they receive. If Lynch were able to sell his services in a unrestricted market, there is no doubt he would earn much more money.
Do you expect athletes to be "paid" anytime soon? Three things to consider first.
1. The rhetoric on idealism, traditionalism, and amateurism. Is this just rhetoric? Or do people really like amateurism. Is college football even "amateur"?
2. Universities compete to field winning football programs. Univerities can improve their chances of winning by recruiting more talented players, more talented coaches, and by enhancing facilities, just to name a few. Since direct monetary compensation for athletes is prohibited, this will increase the intensity of competition on other margins. Fortunately for the folks who are coaches and athletic diretors, there is no cap on the compensation of coaches and athletic directors. In a world with pay for athletes, might coaches and administrators get a smaller fraction of the pie? Would these folks be in favor of paying players if it reduces their compensation? Who is on the front line of making the decisions about pay for athletes?
3. At big-time Division I programs, the football program turns a surplus (profit). Some of this surplus (which of course is larger because they do not have to pay players) is spread around to other athletic programs within the university that do not generate a surplus. For instance, women's soccer or men's golf – these programs are subsidized by the football program. If football players were paid, would this limit the funds available for these so called "non-revenue sports" (title IX considerations aside)? Will the women's soccer coach be in favor of paying footall players if it ultimately cuts in to the soccer budget?
–CT
September 14th, 2006 at 7:40 pm
College athletes should not be paid. These athletes are amateurs and their purpose for going to college is for an education. Playing a college sport is not thier profession but more of a hobby or interest. Also, paying college students would eventually cause the price for professional sports players to rise to an even higher and more ridiculous amount.
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:30 pm
I belive that college athletes should not be paid a salary. The reason for college is to obtain a higher education. Regardless of the fact that a college student can excel greatly in a particular sport, it is not a reason to pay that person to play it. I feel they are getting paid enough by not having to pay for tuition and/or room and board and other fees. The individual is choosing to play. This is not a career. It is just a game.
November 8th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
In my opinion, athletes should be able to receive a little salary because they can’t work. I feel like the only reason why athletes play sports is because so, many of them know they have a salary to help them out with school expenses. I believe that if athletes would not receive a salary, free books, and free tuition they would not play sports. Athletes would have to get a job and would not have time for practice or games. I don’t play any sports, but I enjoy going to football and basketball games. I would not like going to a school with absolutely no sports.The salary should be very reasonable because athletes should not be overpaid.