Dear President:

Do you enjoy watching college sports? Do you want to grant kids the opportunity to better themselves in college while still playing the sport which they love? College sports are a great opportunity to many kids in america with approximately 420,000 NCAA student athletes (Statistic Brain). Every year student athletes get in trouble for things such as accepting gifts, this lowers the competition level taking out some of the best players. NCAA student athletes should be paid due to the money they generate, the time they spend with their sports, and some college athletes struggle to make ends meet.

The NCAA and colleges sports are some of the most profitable industries in America. The NCAA made approximately $1,057,901,598 in 2014-15 alone, money made off of student athletes (Gerencer). Despite this the average student athlete make $0 off of their sports. This would be considered a crime and disrespectful in many areas, student athletes are essentially free laborers being used to make the bosses money. If they were payed however it would not take away from a majority of the money made from the sports. For example in the NFL players are payed significant amounts and still able to turn a large profit in the industry This means paying student athletes nowhere near the amount NFL players make would not prevent the NCAA and schools from making money. This would however make it a more fair relationship between athletes and those receiving the larger profits. In general with the money they are able to generate there is no reason student athletes shouldn’t be paid.

The time athletes spend with their sports and with classes, homework, and more is unheard of and should allow them to be paid. The average D1 football player for example spends an average of 43.3 hours per week with their sport (Jacobs). This time does not take into account the 17 hours a week average college students spend on preparation for class (Pierre). With this time spent they work significantly longer than the average workweek of 47 hours (CNN). College athletes work longer and harder than anybody else in America. Their hours are almost unheard of and they work and don’t complain, the average student wouldn’t be able to last doing an athlete's workload even if they were working for money much less doing it for the sheer love of the sport that they play. The hours of work athletes put in for their schools should be compensated.

Money is a very real problem for many college students. To combat this problem nearly 4 out of every 5 college students work part time jobs (Kingkade). A college athlete however is unable to have a part time job, they therefore have no money. With many college athletes struggling to make ends meet if they need a midnight snack during a study session or something of this sort they are unable to get one. While people may say they are given scholarships and meal plans these things do not offer help for food outside of dining hours. They also do not give any money which could be given to help struggling families of college athletes which can be a factor in athletes leaving college early and therefore not getting a degree. This means if they do end up getting injured or otherwise not making it they then have no degree to fall back on and no way to get their education. This goes back to needing to pay college athletes, if they are paid and able to help support themselves and their families while in college they may stay in college, get an education and have something to fall back on if their sport does not work out for them.

Paying college athlete is in all ways a good idea because of the money they generate, the time they invest, and even the fact that many struggle to make ends meet. No matter what the reasoning is against there is simply too much proper reasoning for paying college athletes. They are suffering and unable to be able to have what they need. They lack the ability to get food whenever they need it or even help their families. At the same time they produce the revenue they need to for places like the NCAA and their schools to profit off them with no return. If you like college sports you should like helping better college athletes lives.

Sincerely,

Kevin Rogers