Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1
Literature Review
Yoseph Hernandez
The University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302
April 15, 2019
LITERATURE REVIEW 2
Abstract
This paper analyzes on student athletes getting paid by asking the following questions.
What effects does paying student athletes have on both the athlete and the institution? What are
the legal issues that surround paying student athletes? In what way are the institutions using this
money? What is considered fair compensation to be for student athletes? The first section
analyzes information on what would happened if you paid student athletes do to them and the
institution. The second part focus on what would be the consequences on paying student athletes.
The third section investigates the impact that student athletes do on the institution on how much
revenue is being brought in. Lastly is what do student athletes is a fair payment for student
athletes.
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Introduction
There are several debatable topics that circulate our society. One such topic is the debate
over the issue of collegiate student athletes getting paid to play. Many experts have argued both
in favor and against this topic and both sides have valid arguments. The National Collegiate
Athletic Association (NCAA) has defined the compensation for student athletes to be a full paid
scholarship to attend their University. This compensation comes with room and board, supplies,
tuition, and a stipend they are granted for the semester, this is the compensation that the NCAA
grants student athletes from division one to division three colleges around the country. Those
against paying these athletes think this compensation is enough. Those in favor of payment think
that student athletes work just as hard as professional athletes and should be compensated as
such. They also believe that these institutions make a lot of money because of the performance
that these athletes give on a weekly basis. Despite that, there have been several discussions on
this topic of student athletes getting paid as unfair to the student athlete. Grenardo D. (2019)
O’Bannon v. NCAA was a case that involved college athletes seeking compensation for their
names, images, and them being in video games. These Universities make millions of dollars on
their sports programs. In order to understand this better we must answer these four questions:
What affects does paying student athletes have on both the athlete and the institution? What are
the legal issues that surround paying student athletes? In what way are the institutions using this
money? What is considered fair compensation for student athletes?
What affects does paying student athletes have on both the athlete and the institution?
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When it comes to paying student athletes it can have many impacts on the athlete
themselves and on the institution. According to some student athletes, they want this opportunity
to earn a paycheck to help with day to day student life. The stipend for college student athletes is
somewhat unreasonable for some because it does enough to get them through the month. Some
stipends do not even come on the day they are supposed to so student athletes are struggling to
eat and pay off school items for classes. Some say that paying student athletes would come with
some benefits. It would help them to become more financially responsible because many college
students do not even know how to manage their money (Lemmons, 2017). You have a lot of
cases where professional athletes mismanage their money and lose it all fairly quickly. If student
athletes learned early how to manage money perhaps this could be avoided. On the other hand,
paying student athletes could remove the athlete’s competitiveness and passion for the game. The
players will have that pro-mindset to where they are just here for the money, and that they will
lose the drive of passion people see in college sports (Lemmons, 2017). If student athletes were
getting paid it would have an effect on the and the institution because they would not have the
motivation and the effort to play the sport it would be like the NFL where the players decide
what they want to do, and the institution would have down fall (C. Hernandez, personal
communication, April 14, 2019).
Just as the student athletes are affected by a paycheck, the institution themselves are
greatly hurt with it as well. In the colleges eyes it will cost them extra to pay student athletes.
Colleges athletics bring in at least a revenue about 20 million dollars each year to the school
(Genardo, 2019). This seems like plenty of money and that they have enough to pay student
athletes. But in all reality institutions pay a lot of money on faculty and staff salaries and for
other expenses as well and paying student athletes would just be another expense to them if it
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happened and it would limit them other stuff that is important to them.
In the graph above it shows the 10 largest athletic departments revenues and how they
disperse that money to the coaches/staff, buildings/grounds, and lastly to student athletes’
scholarships (Gaines, 2014). The Institutions have to take care of other expenses and the paying
student athletes is not an interest to them because of all the expenses they have to take care of.
What are the legal issues that surround paying student athletes?
Paying student athletes is a big controversy in the United States but what are legal issues
that surround paying student athletes. There have been many cases of the legal issues on student
athletes being paid because of how good they are and what kind of name they have made for
themselves and the University itself. There was a case in 2014 The Ed O’Bannon case against
the NCAA on how they violated the antitrust law by not giving the athletes a share of the
revenues of their own image in broadcasts and in video games (Holthaus, 2010). The big
companies profit off about 650 million dollars (Genardo, 2019). University are sponsored by big
corporations like Nike, Adidas, and Under Amour and these companies make jerseys with
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players names on them and generate millions of dollars on these jerseys of the student athletes
and none of those athletes see a penny of that revenue
The NCAA holds strong to the rules of not paying student athletes when recruiting and to
not bribe their parents for cars and employment. But there have been many cases to where
student athletes have been paid “under the table” since they were in high school to attend their
college because of how talented they were (Business Mirror, 2017). “If student athletes did get
paid they would not use the money that they were given would not be used wisely, it would go to
people wasting it on irresponsible things like going out, and buying things they do not need (C.
Hernandez, personal communication, April 14, 2019). The NCAA does not grant anybody if they
were being paid “under the table” and are taking drastic measure to stop this because it is not
moral to do this to get into college.
What is considered compensation for student athletes?
The NCAA has being trying to compromise with the situation of how they should address
the student athlete getting some compensation. Athletes are evolving in talent each year and it
makes watching the game or being there in the stands way more exciting. For example, freshman
Zion Williamson is the most looked at college basketball player from Duke University. He
suffered an injury in the middle of the season during a game where his shoes tore right off of him
during a game and had to sit out of five game of the season, he was wearing Nike basketball
shoes. People that went to that game paid on average a 2,000 dollar a ticket just to see him and
his athleticism. These student athletes are young that they risk their bodies every time and they
do not see any money coming in to them cause of how big they are to the university. Nike and
other companies must work something out with the NCAA to where they get paid if not they will
end their sponsorships to the University (Grenardo, 2019). “As an ex-student athlete I would say
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that a reasonable compensation for student athletes would be a minimum wage job salary on top
of the student athlete stipend. That would give them leeway and give us a break and a whole lot
of weight on our shoulders (C. Hernandez, personal communication, April 14, 2019). There is
one side from what the people think on the compensation of student athletes, but the NCAA has
a different thought of what they think should happen.
The NCAA is still negotiating compensating student athletes, but it is still in the works. It
might take years for this to happen. They have become lenient on student athletes getting paid if
they participate in the Olympics. Student athletes that win in the Olympics in a gold, silver, or
bronze medals in their sport will be granted a reasonable amount of money. If winning gold you
are granted 40 thousand, silver is 25 thousand, and bronze is 15 thousand and the NCAA does
not have a problem if they get paid (J.S, 2016). In a situation that the NCAA had a couple of
years ago was that they had a student athlete that swam for the University of Texas at Austin and
was going to the Olympics to swim for his county of Singapore. After winning the gold medal
for his country the country granted him $750,000 for doing that and the NCAA came around and
had to say that this amount of money is not reasonable, and it is not legitimate (J.S, 2016). It just
how everything plays our and the NCAA just wants to find a way that it could work for them and
every student athlete around the country.
Conclusion
Paying student athletes has been the most debatable topic around the country. It is the
most talked about subject in collegiate sports and no one has found the solution on what they are
going to do. Many people research this topic and over the time the date and the research that is
leaning toward the student athlete on getting paid. The NCAA is making more money every year
and it will increase because people love watching sports and the student athletes that are
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competing in them. With how much money the NCAA makes they still must come up with a way
to if they were going to pay student athletes is an amount and a funding of how much they are
going to lose or gain from it, and if it will affect them. The experts and the student athletes have
being clashing their head for the longest time to compromise a way that everyone could come
out.winning and everyone be happy, but we will all see in the future to see what comes to the
debate on whether student athletes should get paid.
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Reference
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The Athletes. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/college-sports-revenue-
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