Background Information
It’s no secret that college athletics is an enormously successful and lucrative sports market. Every year, college athletics brings in billions of dollars of revenue, to both the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and to the schools themselves. However, there is a huge controversy that is threatening the status quo. Sports fans and athletes alike are upset that college athletes do not get paid. If the rules don’t change, people may turn away from college athletics completely. But on the other side of the debate, there are people who are adamant that college athletes should not be paid. As this is such an important and complex issue, many scholars have voiced their own opinions. Doctors, professors, and legal experts have written to the NCAA, college athletes, universities, and fans themselves in order to sway opinions. These scholars have made moral appeals centering around injuries and revenue brought into the schools, as well as how being a student athlete can negatively affect one’s academic learning. People have even made differing claims that paying college athletes would either benefit or damage the popularity of college sports. The decision as to whether or not to pay college athletes will have a big impact on the college sports market, so the relevant issues should be examined carefully.