One of the hottest debates in the sports world is whether or not college athletes should receive a cut of the revenue they produce for the school. Football and men’s basketball players generate billions of dollars a year through television contracts, so why don’t they get to share in the profits? Does this mean that big time universities are exploiting their college athletes so that they can cash in on their talents?

Quite simply, the answer is no. Universities should not allow players to receive any kind of compensation for their performances.

Many people are not aware that most athletic departments actually lose money year after year trying to fund programs. Out of the 120 FBS (formerly named Division 1) schools, only twelve broke even or made a profit last year.

How are these struggling athletic departments supposed to cough up even more money per year to pay their athletes to play?

The money they would be using would be coming out of the university’s general funds, which would mean taking money away from academic scholarships, classroom resources and professors’ salaries. Athletes already have their tuitions paid for, not to mention their room and board, meal plans, and all of the other perks they receive.

For the 12 schools lucky enough to not lose money on their athletic departments, only two sports contributed to the net gain. This means that those athletic departments used the surplus money earned by football and men’s basketball to fund all of the other sports that fell into debt. If these players are allowed to cash in on their profits, then what happens to the small sports like women’s water polo?

It is nearly impossible for them to earn enough money on their own, so they would face the consequence of having their program cut altogether. If a particular sport is not producing revenue, where are universities supposed to find the cash to pay the athletes of that sport?

The end result would be a decrease in the number of sports offered by schools and therefore a decrease in the number of opportunities available for student athletes.

Sure, the big time football and men’s basketball players work hard to earn a lot of money for their universities, but paying them would ultimately result in devastation for the rest of the sports world. The idea that college athletes should be paid should be put to rest based on the consequences that would arise.

Amanda Bokshan is a Writer for The Odyssey at Michigan. She is a freshman Sigma Kappa studying sports management. You may contact her at abokshan@umich.edu.

This article is from The Odyssey, a fraternity and sorority weekly newspaper that produces a unique paper on campuses across the United States. Check out the Odyssey at www.TheOdysseyOnline.com

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