Competing for Proper Profits

Aaron Jamal Williams

Dr. Yon

ENC 1101-062

11/28/12

Competing for Proper Profits

College athletics is a prominent component of American society. It is widely watched and studied by many people across the globe. Some people argue that the amount of money spent on college athletics is not justified. While it is true that college athletes sometimes get a lump sum of money, it is also true that they bring revenue into the school. They also bring morale to the school's environment. Athletes should be funded properly, considering they play a huge role in the school's make up. Therefore, college athletes deserve a stipend to compensate for the work that they do on the field.

To begin, college athletes are heavily commercialized and used to obtain sponsors. Florida State University, Penn State University, and the University of Michigan are three examples of schools signing sponsorship agreements, worth over $2 million each, with the shoe and apparel company Nike (Ellis). Colleges use their athletes as ways to market and provide an overall increase in revenue. Therefore, athletes should be paid back. Companies, such as, Nike, also sells merchandise of players and receive huge profit, while the player comes out with nothing. College athletes should gain their fair share. It is puzzling that the NCAA, many coaches, and administrators are allowed to earn large amounts of money, but student-athletes are limited to an athletic scholarship. Also, college athletes sometimes increase the revenue of the team's coach. For example, some coaches receive endorsement money from companies that will require the team to wear its product. The NCAA also gets money from TV contracts that could be used to help the athletes.

Further, the life of a college athlete is grueling. Playing a sport is like having a job. From waking up for early practices, to missing class for games, college athletes have a lot of responsibilities. Their late nights and early mornings can wear them down over the course of a school year. They also have workouts throughout the day that add to the stress on their bodies. They have to accomplish the task of studying for their classes while studying film for their next game. They have to incorporate a large amount of information at one time. College athletes have to do a great amount of balancing; sometimes more than the average college student. They deserve to be funded in a way that accommodates for the work that they do.

Not every athlete has the ability to pay for college, so stipends would subsidize these problems. In terms of college athlete funding, there are some athletes who are previously grounded financially and have the resources to go to college with or without an athletic scholarship; they are previously financially stable