Should NCAA athletes be paid? This topic is possibly one of the most controversial sports topic of this generation. Through many examples and scandals, this argument continues to arise in the sports world, especially collegiate sports that generate millions of dollars in television revenue or sportswear sales.
University of Arizona star basketball player DeAndre Ayton
In the most recent NCAA basketball scandal, the University of Arizona is being exposed by a former Adidas employee surrounding the topic of their star player DeAndre Ayton. Declining other top-tier programs, including Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke, Ayton, 7’11” and 250 pounds, surprisingly selected the University of Arizona on commitment day. While the collegiate world was shocked in his selection, it did not raise enough questions for an investigation. In fact, it was not until an Adidas employee was fired were the facts around the whole circumstance arose. Ayton was allegedly paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to commit to the University of Arizona to make a name for their basketball program. The Adidas employee admitted to paying a family friend of Ayton $15,000 to commit to an Adidas sponsored school,
Fans taunting Ayton after news leaked of payment
such as Kansas. Given this large amount of money, why would DeAndre Ayton go to Arizona (a Nike sponsored school)? Well actually, Adidas did not put enough on the table. Behind closed doors, Nike paid Ayton’s mother $100,000 to go to Arizona, and the rest is history.
This example only adds fuel to the fire on whether or not NCAA athletes should be paid. There are two arguments.
Comic about the NCAA and its players
First, it a privilege to play in the NCAA. Despite the amount of money that the NCAA makes, the majority is cycled back to the players through free gear, full scholarships, and the exposure to professional programs like the NBA or the NFL where these athletes will continue to go and make more money. Besides, only the athletes that will go to these professional levels are the ones actually generating the massive amounts of revenue for the NCAA. Thus, it is the NCAA’s job to provide a free education and act as a stepping stone to that next level.
Second, the NCAA would not be what it is at all without the quality of athletes going through it. The NCAA profits far more from the athletes that what the athletes even come close to earning through scholarships, education, and gear. Also, many of the athletes that go to college on scholarships come from families in which this was their only way to go to college financially. Given their commitment to the NCAA sport consumes all their time, many athletes go into harsh financial debt as they do not have time to support their family through a secondary job as they once were able to.
Personally, I believe NCAA athletes should be compensated in some ways, but not fully. The main thing that bothers me is the use of their name in order to make profit. For example, Penn State has sold
Penn State Saquon Barkley Jersey sold on multiple sites
hundreds of thousands of jerseys solely due to the reason that it has a last name and a number on it. Most prominent is Barkley and #26. Literally the only thing that it selling these jerseys is his name. Due to this, I believe Saquon Barkley should at least receive some payment for it. Whether it is 2% or 15%, Saquon Barkley is an elite player that has created a product through his name and deserves to be compensated for it.
As always, I am very curious on your opinion on the topic. Do you think that what NCAA give to the university is currently accurately paid back or do they deserve more?
Thank you for reading. Signing off, Woz.
This is a solid post to end out on, Woz. Probably the biggest sports controversy out there right now. Before I offer up my opinion, it’s important to note that the vast majority of those Saquon Barkley jerseys have been sold illegally for the past few years. They have not been officially licensed by Nike, and they have not been promoted by the university. While I think it’s unfair, unfortunately, it’s hard to properly reward Barkley for all those sales. But I’m in the same camp with you. I believe those athletes who are bringing in millions of dollars for the university, television networks, etc., should be granted some money in return. The collegiate athletics landscape is just so vast and so unevenly distributed that it’s difficult to implement a rule that would actually pay these athletes. There are so many different variables that you have to account for, which is why I don’t think we will see athletes getting paid anytime in the near future. Regardless of what happens, I just hope we can get back the NCAA Football video game. Great blog, Woz.