Pay-And-Play?: Should College Athletes Be Paid?

ESPN’s First Take is mostly known for the ridiculous and outlandish sports arguments between Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless in the beginning portion of the shows run, and Stephen A and Max Kellerman in the more recent years. But, for me, one of the most consequential moments did not involve any hijinks, but a poignant argument about paying college athletes by guest and college football legend Tim Tebow. The argument that Tebow made has always stood out to me as a significant moment in discourse over whether student-athletes should be paid. Tebow has a lot of pull in the industry and makes a lot of great points about preserving the passion that makes college sports so unique. But, in the almost two years since this clip, this discussion has evolved and transformed.

The debate over whether or not collegiate athletes should be compensated financially past their scholarships has raged for decades upon decades. While it would be nice to believe that there is a clear answer to this dilemma, the truth of the matter is that an incredible number of factors that the general public overlook that cloud and muddle possible solutions to this complex issue.

I think the first factor to unpack is just how profitable these athletic programs are. When the general public sees an article from the USA Today showing athletic programs like Texas, Texas A&M, and Ohio State generate over 200 million dollars in revenue, the argument to pay players seems obvious (USA Today). These kids are spending countless hours training and studying, and don’t receive a penny back outside of scholarships and meals provided by the school. Why are these archaic amateurism rules holding back athletes from getting just a little back of that immense revenue stream? While it’s easy to cherry-pick the revenue streams of major universities like Alabama and Michigan, the truth of the matter is that a majority of programs aren’t profitable at all, and are actually putting certain universities in debt, even before the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020. An article from the Washington Post in 2014 does a great job of showcasing this phenomenon, as they stated that even some of the largest programs like Louisville and Auburn operate at a loss. If profits differ so drastically from school to school, how could the NCAA create a system where athletes are paid equally? Do salaries for players differ on how much their sport makes? How would the NCAA handle Title IX laws that would require women athletics to be paid as well? (Washington Post)

Image Source: The Washington Post

In my personal opinion, there are no perfect answer to the ongoing debate of paying collegiate athletes. With the new passing of NLI laws across the country, though, we are seeing a new frontier of this debate. NLI legislation at the state level is creating the potential of watershed moment for this dialogue that has been constantly present in the collegiate sport industry. I believe that NLI can create a middle-ground between the people who want athletes to get their fair share, and the people who take Tebow’s point of view of preserving the pureness of college athletics. By allowing athletes to seek endorsements outside of the university environment, this allows the athletes to seek financial compensation for their work without running the integrity, pageantry, and tradition that Tim Tebow wants to preserve. But, this vision that I’ve laid out is only possible with universal, federal NLI laws. Without this universality aspect, there is a true recruiting imbalance present, as players would just commit to schools located in states with NLI legislation. This would leave schools in non-NLI states at a massive disadvantage.

It’s these types of questions that make tackling this charged issue so difficult as a sport communicator and SID. In almost every case, SIDs have to protect the best interest of the athletic department, players, and coaches. In the case of paying players, there’s only so much SIDs can do. In my perspective, I think its best that universities and communications champion for NLI laws, because that will improve the department and the school in a variety of ways.

We are still deep in the debate of paying student athletes, but big changes are coming that will warp the fabric of that debate.

Cover Photo Credit: ESPN