Anthony Locascio
Smith
English 2000
21 March 2012
Pay
LSU’s student athletes have been participating in intercollegiate sports for over a century, however recently these athletes have helped accomplish something that modern day college athletics has never seen before. A massive revenue producing company has been successfully created at LSU Athletics. College athletes are LSU’s most sought after employees, yet they don’t receive a dime of extra compensation for the millions of dollars LSU receives from their drudgery. LSU’s student athletes, as well as NCAA student athletes around the nation should be paid because they are the direct cause in helping bring in millions of dollars revenue, yet some of the students who help rake in millions cannot afford some of the basic necessities, and paying them may do a lot to help solve the corruption in collegiate sports. During the most recent athletic season starting in 2010 and ending in 2011, LSU’s 20 teams boasted revenue of over $106.4 million according an article on the website The Business of College Sports. The university walked away with a profit of over $10.4 million dollars after using the revenue money to fund the spending of each program including: equipment, travel, coaches’ salaries, etc. Now there are teams that only produce a small amount of profit, if any, for the university, but there are sports such as football and basketball that produce millions of dollars of revenue not only for the school’s athletic department, but for the university at well. According to an article in the Huffington Post, in the 2010 football season, LSU raked in $68.8 million in revenue and $43.25 million in profit. If the $43.25 million in profit were to be spread across each of the 85 scholarship players on LSU’s roster that season, each player would be worth roughly around $508,800. It costs the average out of state student around $19,000 in tuition to attend LSU, so if each football player is worth over $500,000, there should be at least some compensation for a program that is bringing in the kind of profit that LSU’s athletic program is bringing in. Even though these athletes are the main attraction in these profitable sporting events, they are still college kids with no money and without the time to get a job. Scholarship’s aren’t actually “full rides” like they are made out to be, states Frederic J. Frommer, writer for the Associated Press. Students on full academic scholarships are often left living below poverty line at over 85 percent of schools. The average scholarship usually leaves an athlete around $3,000 short of everyday living expenses. This makes it difficult for the player to live comfortably when they don’t have time for a job to make up this monetary deficit. According to Frommer, the average FBS football player spends 43.3 hours per week in practice, and the average Division 1 men’s basketball player will spend 39 hours per week. On top of that workload, when the players do have time off of school during the offseason when they could be making some money, they are requested to attend summer work outs. The dining halls aren’t open on the weekends and meal transfer sites close for the week at 3 on Friday; how is a collegiate athlete supposed to eat on the weekends when he/she is often living below the poverty line? It’s situations like this one that make the illegal offers from boosters even more attracting to the young student athletes. Just this last football season, the college athletic world has been shocked by violations upon violations stemming from the illegal interactions of players and boosters. LSU had to give up 2 of its football scholarships and was put on a year of probation through self-imposed punishments stemming from a violation of NCAA rules regarding a housing dispute with one of its former players and coaches while on a recruiting visit. Corruption in the NCAA is running rampant and one way to slow it down would be to allow the athletes simple compensation from the school’s earnings. When players accept donations from boosters or sell their memorabilia for money, it isn’t because they are trying to gain a fortune, it’s because they are just trying to have something to eat or buy clothes. Player compensation would also reduce the amount of athletes that leave early without getting their degree. Most of these athletes grew up below the poverty line and the first opportunity they are going to take the first opportunity they can get to provide for themselves, which is why they leave early. If the players were compensated in the least bit, it would entice more and more athletes to stay in school and earn their degree, because an athletic career can only take someone so far in life. Some oppose the payment of college athletes by saying that it would take away their amateurism or that smaller schools wouldn’t be able to fund the payment of their own athletes. NCAA basketball players are only playing for their freshman year and then darting for the NBA, can we really still call that amateurism? The average athlete spends around 40 hours, a full work week, on the practice field; can we really still call that amateurism? The lesser schools would have a bit of a struggle finding ways to pay these players, but each conference could implement something of a shared wealth system just as the professional sports organizations have. All of these arguments that people have against paying the players can be countered with just a reasonable if not more reasonable debate on why compensating these athletes is necessary for the evolution of collegiate sports. Times are changing, and with the change in time comes the change in infrastructure. Businesses give bonuses to employees when their work is appreciated, and I know the NCAA appreciates the work of their college athletes. Let the athletes receive some of the compensation they deserve.