Sports Access

With 6:33 minutes remaining in the first half of the Elite Eight NCAA basketball tournament, sophomore guard Kevin Ware faced a gruesome leg injury that left the public wondering if he could ever walk again. Many media outlets from ESPN to even CNN were reporting that Kevin Ware would not be able to walk, not be able to play ball, and worst of all lose his scholarship and not be able to support himself and his family. In 2011 the college sports industry generated 12.6 billion dollars in revenue. The Kevin Ware story is one of many examples given by defendants of the movement to pay student athletes. Arguments counter to this movement are twofold. The first deals with the reasoning and financial matters that constitute no change in the current system. The second fold strictly deals with the NCAA board members and their views about the future for the paid student athlete idea. All these views combined give a full, concise picture of the controversy surrounding whether college student athletes for revenue generating sports should be paid or not.

Whether you want to believe it or not, money is what drives sports year in and year out. NCAA Division One sports revenue generates close to 12.6 billion dollars each calendar year. (Nocera) Joe Nocera of the N.Y time argues that students getting full scholarships from these top schools are not exactly so full. Nocera states, “some studies estimate [athlete scholarship] falls on average about $3,500 short of the full cost of attending college annually.” (Nocera) The main argument backing paying college athletes is that of money. Nocera and his movement are not only saying that college sports have plenty of money to pay the players, but also that scholarships today would not even cover the majority of the expenses a full time college student has. Nocera continues about the NCAA greed, “the only thing it’s [NCAA] protecting is everyone else’s revenue stream.”(Nocera) Nocera is pointing to NCAA greed