For many years, College athletes have put much hard work and dedication into their sport. They spend most of their year training to be the athlete they need to be to get them to the college level. For some athletes, that time and effort got them there. College sports have slowly became less of a sport for the player, and more of a business for the university to bring in money. Athletes are not focused on bringing in money for their university, but are more focused on the college sport that they spent many years to get to. Lately in the college sport community, it has been debated if college athletes should be paid for the sport they play, I feel that they should. For most athletes, their main focus has nothing to do with their pay or how much money they will bring in from their sport, it is the pure love and passion that drives them to keep playing. Making it to a collegiate level team is not an easy task. To be awarded a full ride scholarship is a privilege that most people do not get the opportunity to obtain, but I personally feel that it is not fair that college athletes do not earn a part of the massive profits that universities earn off of them playing. “The typical Division I college football player devotes 43.3 hours per week to his sport — 3.3 more hours than the typical American work week.” (Forbes article.) If not at practice, or reviewing team footage, student athletes are most likely studying or doing homework left with barely any free time. This resembles a full time job, but without the pay. There are many reasons why college athletes should be paid, but many people have reasons against it. For example some might say; student-athletes are already being paid through the expensive scholarships they receive, scholarships include tuition, books, food, and housing. Although students receive these scholarships “The NCAA currently produces nearly
$11 Billion in annual revenue from college sports” (Forbes Article), this is more than the NBA and the NHL. Division I athletes play a very large roll in the marketing of the university they attend helping bring in loads of money, they are do not receive a portion of this money. We are in an economy that has massive fluctuation. Many student-athletes are leaving college to help out their family members. This would be eliminated if players were compensated for the work they put into their sport. Although the NCAA claims that college athletes are just students and should focus on their class before their sports, the NCAA schedules tournaments that require players to miss many days of class. The NCAA Division I football championship game requires football players to miss the first day of spring classes, also the men’s basketball tournament affects more than six days of classes. For some universities, the games leading up to the NCAA men’s basketball classes may require a player to miss a quarter of all