Reflecting on the Shame of College Sports: Should NCAA Div 1 Basketball and Football players get paid?

In the article The Shame of College Sports, Taylor Branch examines the enormous amount of money that college athletes generate and offers a proposition to compensate athletes. He states that the SEC conference alone raked in over a billion dollars in receipts. Branch also takes note that the United States is the only country that hosts sports of higher institutes of education. He talks about the relationship between the NCAA and the member colleges and how the NCAA slaps big schools on the wrist as opposed to the historical death penalty that was once handed out.

The article How Big Time Sports Ate College Life by Laura Pappano provides reasoning on how paying college athletes would increase the problem of college athletic programs endless budgets. She states that the programs are becoming increasingly big. She argues how much emphasis schools place on their football and basketball programs, commonly canceling classes for sporting games.

I’ve always thought that college athletes should be compensated. The amount of money they make for the colleges should be reason enough to pay them. Additionally, many athletes come from families with financial issues. If not playing sports, these athletes could work part-time in order to support themselves. Going to practice over working 40 hours a week has serious repercussions.