Should college athletes get paid?

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  • They should be paid.

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  • Hell no, I still owe $12,000 on my student loan.

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R

racerx11

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College sport create huge revenues for the colleges. Most of the athletes recieve scholarships, but is this enough. The players are not allowed to work. Alot of these kids come from poor families and have next to no money. If the college athlete was compensated for there services, you might have higher gradulation rates and hear less about theft and and booster scams. If the players were to recieve, say $125 a week, they could afford to buy there own clothes and shoes and junk, and wouldn't have to steal from their dorm mate.


What do you think, should college athletes be paid, or are they being paid enough with Scholarships?


I for one feel that it is only 4 years of there life and would kill for the opertunity to have a 4 year scholarship. These guys have a free pass and they blow it over a pair of Dungaries.
 
In the beginning, college athletics was conceived as competition between college students. Somewhere down the line, this has been perverted into athletes posing as college students. They already get a free ride through college, where too many of them never even graduate, attend class, or write their own term papers. I say they get enough compensation.
 
No, they should not be paid.

And, I would like to see athletic scholarships reduced, or eliminated all together. Get back to fair competition --- not the one with the most money, wins.
 
Originally posted by paul
Hell know. ;)
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i am offended by the way you are making fun of the english language, i am leaving and going to florida
 
If people think that college atheletes not being able to work is such an atrocity, I wonder how they feel about medical interns ? Med students actually go to class, they're in school for more than four yrs, they actually do their own school work, and they also are practical slaves to the hospitals, working 48 straight with small catnaps and make barely enough money to feed themselves. I don't hear anyone standing up for them ....

SCREW the college atheletes. They should be there getting an education that alot of people would love to get but can't afford. Sports should be secondary. Again, this is SIMPLY MY OPINION.
 
Well said PenskeGirl!

And where would they get the money to pay the athletes? From raising tuition rates for the students actually there to get an education? Heck no!
 
In the big schools who compete for national titles and television coverage the athletes are already being paid. 99% of them sure as hell aren't there to attend classes.

It's the system's dirty little secret.
 
why the heck would college football players be paid. Most of them are already getting scholarships to play. I wish I knew how to throw a football well enough to get my college paid for.
 
Originally posted by PenskeGirl
If people think that college atheletes not being able to work is such an atrocity, I wonder how they feel about medical interns ? Med students actually go to class, they're in school for more than four yrs, they actually do their own school work, and they also are practical slaves to the hospitals, working 48 straight with small catnaps and make barely enough money to feed themselves. I don't hear anyone standing up for them ....

SCREW the college atheletes. They should be there getting an education that alot of people would love to get but can't afford. Sports should be secondary. Again, this is SIMPLY MY OPINION.
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Sorry this may be cold, but the truth is: When 50,000-100,000 people pay to come watch you work, buy hot dogs and beer, and pay for parking, then things will change. You certainly don't have to agree with it, but that is the truth.
 
Originally posted by Alaska
In the big schools who compete for national titles and television coverage the athletes are already being paid.  99% of them sure as hell aren't there to attend classes.

It's the system's dirty little secret.
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Being as close to a program as I am, I can tell you with certainy this is completely false. For every player not attending class, I can name 50 who are.

Also why do you even care if they attend? They are afterall making money for your school. If you were part of a tem making thousands of dollars every week, wouldn't you want a part of the pie? I know I would.
 
Originally posted by rpmallen
why the heck would college football players be paid. Most of them are already getting scholarships to play. I wish I knew how to throw a football well enough to get my college paid for.
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Many don't have money, they get scholarships, but that doesn't neccesarily cover all costs you need to live. Also the NCAA has rules against these guys working. There are many different ways to fix this, one way is to give these guys say 100 bucks a week to buy food, clothes, whatever else. Or even 50. Just something to help them out.

Like I said in another post, you may not like it, but when people pay over $100 a week to watch you in your class, the universities are not going to change. They realize where their money comes from. And football pays for all the other sports generally. Because of the football team, the intramural women's bowling team can go out and play. Sports bring alot to the universities and teach alot to the participants.
 
No one is devaluing the contributions major sports make to a college campus, and eventually to the community. I think the rub comes in (or at least it did for me) when I walk across a campus I am paying money to be on, broke hungry and exhausted, and have to tolerate a bunch of hulking Neaderthals who make it painfully obvious that they have no mastery of the English language and its rules of grammar. Academically, they have no business in a college classroom, yet there they are for free.

I'd rather see it return to a system where each university fields the best team they can make up OF STUDENTS without recruiting athletes who can't read just to win a football game.
 
Originally posted by TN-Ward-Fan
No one is devaluing the contributions major sports make to a college campus, and eventually to the community.  I think the rub comes in (or at least it did for me) when I walk across a campus I am paying money to be on, broke hungry and exhausted, and have to tolerate a bunch of hulking Neaderthals who make it painfully obvious that they have no mastery of the English language and its rules of grammar.  Academically, they have no business in a college classroom, yet there they are for free.  

I'd rather see it return to a system where each university fields the best team they can make up OF STUDENTS without recruiting athletes who can't read just to win a football game.
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I understand part of what your saying, but again why do the schools bring players in? Money. More people come to the games and spend money if you have a successful program/team. But many players are students. You'll find more athelete's getting 4.0's then you will find dropping out. Also many players don't graduate because they go pro early. That also distorts graduation rates. Why do these students leave early? Again money, their not making it in school because they have no cash. If these guy and gals received small amount of cash they could continue in school without that worry. Also remember that less then 1% of Division one college players on scholarship make it to the pros. Many of these kids took a scholarship to play a sport they love and get a free education. I'm jealous. I played high school basketball. If only I was a foot taller! I am going to college and I'm not on any scholarship, I understand what its like. However I also realize why its the way it is. I generally am against paying atheletes to play college ball. However changing the rules for athlete's working was not one of the options in the poll. Also there are requirements to play college b
 
Originally posted by TN-Ward-Fan
No one is devaluing the contributions major sports make to a college campus, and eventually to the community.  I think the rub comes in (or at least it did for me) when I walk across a campus I am paying money to be on, broke hungry and exhausted, and have to tolerate a bunch of hulking Neaderthals who make it painfully obvious that they have no mastery of the English language and its rules of grammar.  Academically, they have no business in a college classroom, yet there they are for free.  

I'd rather see it return to a system where each university fields the best team they can make up OF STUDENTS without recruiting athletes who can't read just to win a football game.
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I understand part of what your saying, but again why do the schools bring players in? Money. More people come to the games and spend money if you have a successful program/team. But many players are students. You'll find more athelete's getting 4.0's then you will find dropping out. Also many players don't graduate because they go pro early. That also distorts graduation rates. Why do these students leave early? Again money, their not making it in school because they have no cash. If these guy and gals received small amount of cash they could continue in school without that worry. Also remember that less then 1% of Division one college players on scholarship make it to the pros. Many of these kids took a scholarship to play a sport they love and get a free education. I'm jealous. I played high school basketball. If only I was a foot taller! I am going to college and I'm not on any scholarship, I understand what its like. However I also realize why its the way it is. I generally am against paying atheletes to play college ball. However changing the rules for athlete's working was not one of the options in the poll. Also there are requirements to play college ball. I believe the ACT is still at 19. Kids who don't receive these scores can't play ball, they have to attend school first to get their grades up. Thats were you see many JUCO players coming from. They went to junior college, got their grades up and are now eligible. 19 might not be a great score, but its obviously better than guys who can't read. And again if there somehow are some people that can't read (certainly none here in Minny anyhow) they are doing nothing but helping your tuition. What do you think your tuition would be without athletics? It would be higher. They are not hurting other students one bit.

This is a good thread. Enjoy talking about it, and being as close as I am to the University of Minnesota's athletic program, it is also something I'm passionate about. In disagreeing, I hope I haven't stepped on anyone's toes :)
 
A fair argument, but I still don't buy all of it. I saw a televised game recently, where the Scholar Athlete of the Game was celebrated. Out of both teams, all those players, the Scholar Of The Game had a 3.0...in General Studies. Pathetic.
 
Doh my masterpiece has been lost :( So much for the book response I had.

First off: This topic is one I'm very passionate about, therefore if I step on anyone's toes I apologize.

1.) I believe the ACT required to participate in Division 1 athletics still is a 19. Athlete's who play sports have to have some smarts, although it can be debated if they show it at times.

2.) I generally am against paying atheletes to play. I encourage changing work rules for atheletes. However that wasn't an option on the poll :)

3.) Graduation rates are distorted because many atheletes leave school early. Some make millions in the pros and may or may not return to finish their degree. Others leave early hoping to make the minimum in the pros because they can't afford to live in their current situation. One of our football players left last year for this reason. Tellis Redmon was our starting runningback. Sadly he didn't make the pros, and last I heard was considering going overseas to play. Otherwise return to school and be a paying student like the rest of us. Remember less than 1% of these guys and gals make it to the pros.

4.) I wish I didn't have to pay to go. But does anyone want to pay a couple hundred bucks to watch me do accounting?

5.) Your school has to recruit. A strong program/team makes much money for the universities. Generally winning puts many more butts in the stands. Just because kids are recruited doesn't mean they go not to get an education. Also many kids pick universities on their acedemics. Universities like Vanderbilt as an example have very strong graduation rats for atheletes.

6.) I get very upset when people post such things that "99%" of atheletes don't go to class" or whatever. The truth is its the other way around. And some of the hardest working kids in college are atheletes. Whether they are football players or female divers. They not only go to class, they are at practice hours a day. Then have meets or games which may be at home or in another state, and they are still expected to pass their classes and keep their GPA's up just like the rest of us. And remember kids get their scholarships pulled all the time to give to another kid with more promise. Theres alot of pressure on these kids.

7.) Sure there are problems, and sure some atheletes don't deserve what they got. However I could say that for just about any group of student in college. The only kids I go to school with who really burn me, are rich kids who whine about everyone else.
 
Originally posted by TN-Ward-Fan
A fair argument, but I still don't buy all of it.  I saw a televised game recently, where the Scholar Athlete of the Game was celebrated.  Out of both teams, all those players, the Scholar Of The Game had a 3.0...in General Studies.  Pathetic.
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1. sorry I didn't realize my book was posted so disregard my last one.

2. You also make excellent points.

3. What is wrong with a 3.0 in general studies? Or are you just saying that shouldn't be the top score?
 
My toes have thick skin. :)

Rebuttal:

1) I won't pretend to be naive enough to believe that test scores, as well as whose butt is actually in the seat during the test, can't be manipulated.

2) I have no problem with them working while in college. In fact, why shouldn't they? Everyone else does except the ultra fortunate.

3) Agreed. Leaving early does distort graduation rates. I submit that well over half those students fall into the athlete catagory rather than student.

4) Maybe they won't pay to watch you account, but they'll pay you TO account.

5) Can't have it both ways. Do you want to discuss viable contenders for national athletic championships, or Vanderbilt?

6) I agree 100% that the demands on these people is tremendous...IN SEASON. I too attended and graduated from college. I know what I saw as far as athletes in class went. My dorm was directly across from the football dorm. Again, I know what I saw. I personally knew a few of the prominent athletes at the time I was on campus. I know what I heard.

7) Again, 100% agreement. Athletes aren't the only slackers on a campus. But they slack on my money. The others are wasting Daddy's bucks, which has little to no effect on me, Joe Student.

I support certain concessions made to atheltes. They represent the university...one way or another. Their actions on the field stimulate donations, which in turn builds chemistry labs or whatever. These athletes earn the right to take a test later than the rest of the class, because the time I was studying they were in Tempe or where ever. I have no real problem with athletic scholarships, so long as they do not outnumber academic scholarships. College is a place to learn, not a place to play football. That's secondary, same as high school. Most universities have forgotten that fact.

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one...been fun though. :)
 
Originally posted by mngopherguy
1. sorry I didn't realize my book was posted so disregard my last one.  

2. You also make excellent points.

3. What is wrong with a 3.0 in general studies?  Or are you just saying that shouldn't be the top score?
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I'm saying they should at least have a major. And 3.0 is not exactly supportive of your points of view. Over 100 "students", and no one can beat a 3.0 in General Studies? Kinda blows the phrase Student Athlete to one side of the fence.
 
Is this a real honest to goodness debate? Hey, this is neat. Here's my two cents on this whole thing. First off, if the players got paid $100 a week or month, that would just be the beginning. The next thing we would have to give them a raise. Once you start something, it will continue to grow. Who's going to pay for this? Ah, either tax payers or the boosters. Even if it comes out of the money made by the game, it originally is for the school. Here's my question or idea. Most of us know that a certain percentage of student athletes are not there to get an education in the first place. If that were the case, they would stay for the duration. My idea would make student athletes who are on scholarship, pay back every bit of money that was spent on them...IF they hit the draft early...AND are drafted. I don't think it would be fair to ask the dummy to pay it back if he even fails to make a team. How about that idea?
 
They do in a way. A lot of them get their grades handed to them so they can play.
 
Your right TN-Ward_Fan, we may have to disagree. However it is nice to get a real honset response instead of a flame. You and Buckaroo make good points. I'm really not sure what the answer is, I personally think the first step is allowing these kids to work. From there who knows.
 
I have no problem allowing them to work. As far as getting paid to play.... IMO their scholarship is their payment. Tuition for alot of colleges for one yr are more than I make in a yr. I personally think that's more than enough payment. Not to mention that they're either going to end up making millions or at least stand a better chance at making more money than me because they got the college education that I couldn't afford to get. Take all the players there on scholarship and total up what their tuition is for one yr as a whole. With tuition rates these days I would bet that it takes a big chunk out of the amount of money you listed in your earlier post about how much the school makes on the games. I'll even go one step further and say let the alumni give 'em all the money they want..... I certainly don't care if an individual wants to give them money, but I do have a problem with the college paying them actual cash to play a sport that they play for a very short period of the yr.

mng, I certainly see where you're coming from (and there was no offense taken on your reply to my earlier post. I didn't find your post to be cold, I just found it to be your opinion which is perfectly fine with me.) I have a question for you.... Do you see where I'm coming from on this ? DO I make sense or do I sound like an idiot that doesn't have a clue about life ????(no need to answer the 2nd question) ;)
 
I see this as a catch 22. They should be allowed to work as far as I'm concerned, but then you would have pressure from coaches who don't want their star tailback working the night shift instead of practicing, resting, training etc. You also would have to have a ton of guidelines to make sure they aren't working for a booster who is paying them like $50/hour to do nothing. And a lot of administrative costs in carrying these guidelines out. But, it seems unamerican to not let them earn a paycheck if they so desire. No easy answer as far as I'm concerned.
 
4X- Interesting point. I hadn't looked at it quite that way before.

Penske Girl- Your not clueless or anything like it. I understand totally what your saying. My point was the life isn't always fair. Entertainment is where the money is :)

As far as your tuition question. Sure you could subtract that from the game income. At Minnesota, we don't have the greatest fan base, about an average of 45,000 a game. The average ticket price is about $20 a game. Maybe a little low, but a nice real even number. Thats $900,000 just for the tickets. Minnesota doesn't get the parking money here, but the majority of schools do. We're in a bad situation here. At any rate figure the average car has what 3 people? So 15,000 cars at 10 a pop is another $150,000. If its 2 per car its $225,000. Either way we're over a million already for this one game. We still have to figure in concessions, which most schools get atleast a part of. And maybe the biggest factor of all: Television. Now television is hard to figure out. The TV contracts are made with the conferences the school is in, and from there the money is divided between the schools. Its safe to say this game creates between 1.5 and 2 million dollars for the University of Minnesota. Also the University gets advertising on the station carrying the games. Something else to add in to the total.

Now think of Tennessee where they draw around 105,000 a game. I'm not familiar with ticket prices, I'm sure since there's such a demand they charge more. But in this example if they charge 20 a ticket, the ticket income would be $2,100,000 thats right over 2 MILLION a game injust ticket prices. Parking, again lets use 3 people per car at $10 a car. Again I think this is low. That another $350,000 just for parking. Add in television and concessions and Tennessee would be over 3 MILLION a game. Remember to take these
figures and multiply them by 6 or 7 for a seasons total.

Minnesota 1.5 Mill * 7 home games this season=10,500,000

Tennessee per example 3mil * 7 home games=21,000,000

Now scholarship limits are set at 85 players on divsion 1 football. Take your tuiton times 85 to get the toal for the scholarships. That amount should be less than one games revenue. That still gives your team 6 home games of profit without these kids scholarships. Sure there are other obvious costs, but hopefully my little example shows just how much money is brought in by just football. Basketball and hockey here in Minnesota also make money. Figure around 12,000 to 15,000 people times 15 to 20 home dates. add concessions, TV, and parking and again they generate alot of cash.

You could try and find a way to have these kids pay back their scholarships. But I think they've done their part helping raise 10 million a season.

Just another way to look at things:)
 
Good illustration mng. But there's more to going to college than tuition, as I am certain you are aware.

Figure housing those 85 football players....feeding them....utilities.....I know for a fact that these expenses were taken care of at my particular alma mater. Gotta pay those coaches, trainers, travel expenses for road games, stadium upkeep, hot dog sellers, parking lot flashlight wielders, etc etc ad nauseum.

This is a fun discussion.
 
Originally posted by TN-Ward-Fan
Good illustration mng.  But there's more to going to college than tuition, as I am certain you are aware.

Figure housing those 85 football players....feeding them....utilities.....I know for a fact that these expenses were taken care of at my particular alma mater.  Gotta pay those coaches, trainers, travel expenses for road games, stadium upkeep, hot dog sellers, parking lot flashlight wielders, etc etc ad nauseum.  

This is a fun discussion.
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Your absolutely right. And travel you have to take case by case. Depends where your playing. Obviously travel is only 5 games for most major universities. However do they fly or bus? Big difference. For us are we going from Minnesota to Wisconsin or al the way to Penn St.?

Housing- very very good point. Most football players I know live in dorms for 2 years. The ones who can't afford things (one's I think could use extra cash) will stick around. Many others who can afford to move out with a girlfriend or get money from Daddy generally move to an apartment junior year. If anyone has ever lived in a dorm, you know why :)

Paying coaches: That also is another very good point. I believe our football coach makes around 1.5 Million a year. That is basically one game's worth of cash. I believe that 1.5 million is slightly on the high side of the coaches pay. But many coaches even start out around 750 K. Trainers ands assistant coaches also need to be paid. There cut in obviously smaller. Some trainers make 100 K. These figures obviously change for each school or circumstance.

I'll even add in one more expense that we haven't thought of yet: Recruiting. Does the coach drive 30 minutes to sit in Tommys living room and talk up Minnesota, or does he hop on a place to LA to talk to him? It's all about location here.
 
If I could think, I would think. It's the "biggest party night of the year" according to our local DJ and I was able to get outta work a lil early..... Even if I weren't able to get out early enough to enjoy some cold refreshing beverages and I was still stone cold sober, I'd still be confused as heck by all the #'s that mng threw out. Guess that's why they're in college and I "ain't". Mng, TNW, and all the others... I have thoroughly enjoyed a nice debate where the people involved took things at face value and not made a personal issue out of everything posted here. I hope ya'll have an OUTSTANDING turkey day, along with everyone else here.

:p
 
Sorry I didn't get back to this thread until today. I hope your had a wonderful Turkey day as well :)
 
Just found this thread and don't fill like reading all the post :p


I am a college studint and no they should not get paid.
 
Originally posted by spok4
Just found this thread and don't fill like reading all the post :p  


I am a college studint and no they should not get paid.
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Why? Whats your reasoning?
 
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