College Student Athletes get Paid???!

[Eric F]

If the school is profiting from the sport then the athletes should get paid. Fat rich guys shouldn't reap the benefit of other peoples talent.

-W

What about skinny rich guys?

 

[CoreSoftball20]

Bottom line, I do think that a small stipend is in order - enough to buy clothes if needed, or even just to meet your new best friends from math class for coffee. Your new math buddy can sell her math expertise to pay for her coffee, but you are not allowed to profit from your basketball prowess, which seems unfair.

So when somebody "needs" 200 dollar jeans, thats ok? haha

The math buddy of the quarterback prob isnt paying the same tuition

 

[SoCal_Dad]

Schools in the five major D-1 conferences can afford it. It would just mean sacrificing other things, like an indoor football practice facility, or the addition of 10,000 seats on the stadium. But adding that mandatory cost of business would make it harder for for the have-nots to compete. $1 million is nothing to the University of Texas, but quite a lot at Western Kentucky or Marshall.

For smaller conferences and lower divisions, it might well mean the need to cut sports programs. Might be one of those things where you'd have to try it and see what would happen.

The additional benefits being discussed are why the five major D-I conferences are looking for more autonomy within the NCAA. This really won't have much effect on schools like WKU because there is already a huge gap between them and the major programs. This will lead to some more shuffling between conferences as smaller programs within the 5 major conferences will be further stressed to keep up and strong programs outside the 5 will want to join them.

NCAA already passed a change so athletes wouldn't go hungry. I haven't seen an explanation yet how that works with athletes receiving a stipend for living off campus.

 

[GunnerShotgun]

A player should get everything paid for 4 years just for playing only one season?

Yes. They should also get everything paid if the coach leaves for any other reason than retirement. I don't think you realize how large these TV contracts are and how little these athletes are receiving.

If I were a president at a major university (of higher learning) I would be embarrassed.

 

[Softball scholar]

Fair or not fair, this would not be good for non-revenue sports like softball. Lets be real, the money to pay for sports like Softball, Golf, Baseball, Swimming, Wrestling, Lacrosse, etc come from the revenue generated by the big revenue sports Football and Baseball. If a signifcant amount of money was needed to pay athletes, where is it going to come from? School admins will start cutting non-revenue sports left and right. This would affect men's non-revenue sports more because of Title IX, but some womens programs will see the ax. I think Title IX would also affect the pay equality. Could a school give a football player a $100k salary and not give anything to the starting softball pitcher? Obviously, not many programs have a budget to pay any softball players extra. If non-revenue student athletes got some kind of pay, it would just reduce the available scholarships/salaries available. Not good for softball.

 

[CoachChristine]

I don't know how other schools work, but the DI college I am currently attending charges me approximately $9 per credit hour for an "athletic fee". For the spring semester, students enrolled in 146,394 credit hours. That means that the college received over $1.3 million just for the spring semester alone from students' fees. So that revenue doesn't all come from the successful sports teams.

 

[Softball scholar]

I don't know how other schools work, but the DI college I am currently attending charges me approximately $9 per credit hour for an "athletic fee". For the spring semester, students enrolled in 146,394 credit hours. That means that the college received over $1.3 million just for the spring semester alone from students' fees. So that revenue doesn't all come from the successful sports teams.

CoachChristine, Does that athletic fee entitle you to tickets or discounted tickets to sporting events? Do you get anything for that fee?

 

[CoachChristine]

CoachChristine, Does that athletic fee entitle you to tickets or discounted tickets to sporting events? Do you get anything for that fee?

Yes, depending on the sport (discounted football/basketball, free softball). I don't use $100+ dollars worth a semester and I'm sure most students don't, either. In fact, I'm the only nontraditional student I know who goes to any of the games. Anyway, I don't worry about the athletic fee in light of my other fees (rec center, study abroad fee, etc.). I was just pointing out that the popular sports aren't necessarily bringing in all the revenue.

 

[CoogansBluff]

Yes. They should also get everything paid if the coach leaves for any other reason than retirement. I don't think you realize how large these TV contracts are and how little these athletes are receiving.

I understand that, but you can't give a four-year deal to somebody who chooses to play only one. There would be lots of kids quitting after their freshman year if that were allowed.

 

[riseball]

IMO athletes should get minimally compensated. It should not be a windfall and needs to be consistent across all sports. It also should not be in any way performance based. If the stud running backs replica jersey makes a ton of money, great. But they do not deserve an proportional cut of the action. If they are that good they will probably be playing on Sunday when they graduate and money will not be an issue. Otherwise they might need to use that education they received and get a job.

My DD is on a "full ride" athletic scholarship that includes books, tuition, room, meals, $75 weekly stipend for weekend food, they even paid for for her parking decal. When it is all said and done we still toss in another $50 or so a week for "stuff". Don't get me wrong, I am certainly not complaining. But some of the other players from softball, baseball, basketball, etc. come from homes of little means and could certainly use a little help. Were it not for athletics they would not be attending college. That said I think it is time for the NCAA, NJCAA, and NAIA to loosen up and allow a fair and equitable stipend.