As the winter Holiday College Football Bowl Game season trots along, the big-timing television broadcasts and corporate sponsorships are profound evidence to grant College Athletes a stipend. It has become painfully obvious, now is the time to start paying these collegiate athletes. Prominent University scholarship athletes are unpaid indentured servants. These young adults sacrifice their entire physical bodies, innate well-being, reduced study time, and more in honor of representing their employers. Whoops, I mean Universities.
The NCAA and United States judicial courts have turned a blind eye for way too long on this controversial subject. In my opinion, these entertaining, constantly producing and hard-working college athletes deserve to be paid a monthly stipend during their participating semesters. They should NOT be paid during their summer vacations and scholastic breaks. How much $$ should this monetary monthly allowance and stipend be? I think the stipend should be based on each schools' particular athletic department's budget and revenue. When athletes are performing well and the school receives more income, raise the stipend. When the athletes are winless and unfocused, lower the stipend percentage accordingly to the school's athletic department revenue.
How do you feel about American Universities paying their scholarship athletes a monthly allowance or stipend, on top of their existing full scholarship ride? What are your thoughts?
Can you image the workload forced on student-athletes at such iconic sports schools as say, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, North Carolina or Duke Basketball programs? How about the sports talk, paying fans and constant scrutiny bestowed upon powerhouse football programs such as the entire SEC conference, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, USC, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, and the other historically successful blue blood college football programs.
From my own personal experience, I can happily and easily advocate for the college athletes stipend. Why? It is because, during my club-level three-year athlete tenure, I experienced first hand the massive amount of time, dedication, money and work it takes to simply be a club level University athlete. I was Not even a D-I Tier Pressured recipient. I can vividly recall driving my own private Ford Explorer vehicle the 40 blocks or so, to and from campus to the University's practice fields. Our particular lacrosse club chose to practice 3 times per week, from 6 to 8 pm. Games were held on Saturdays. Obviously, Home games were easier in practicality, while away games involved lengthy carpool driving or commercial airplane flights. It is also quite possible, we practiced even more often, yet my memory is a bit hazy on our practice schedule exactness. I remember that being a college athlete was time-consuming and draining.
Dear Reader, keep in mind, these multiple practices and game activities, were on top of an already challenging 12-15 hour per semester University Courseload. I will always be impressed by any College athlete male or female who can maintain a healthy school education life, in addition to complying to the rules and responsibilities of being on a college team. Is college athletics fun, yes! Is it an honor to represent your school's name and jersey on the field? Yes! But, it is work! I think it is fair to consider a dedicated college athlete's commitment and constantly scrutinized performances as work!
These College Athletic Programs are earning the big bucks. Coaches salaries are surging into the mega millions. Apparel endorsement deals from Nike, Addidas, and Under Armour are in the Millions. Television Networks such as a CBS, ABC, TNT, FOX, NBC, and ESPN pay millions of dollars for television rights. There is a ton of money being made and changing hands in regards to the "purism" of college athletics and sports.
A full-time college student and athlete literally has zero time to get a part-time job. I personally was lucky enough to be raised from an above middle-class family and was granted a Discover credit card from my mother to cover my basic living costs. For example, I'd use my parent's money and my mother's Discover credit card for gas, food, books, and the basics. My name wasn't on the credit card, it was my parents. But businesses accepted it because money and income is money. What if I'd been from a poor family? How would that have worked? Here's your answer, it wouldn't have. It is quite possible that there were better athletes at my school, but because of their familial financial situations, they were forced to work through their college curriculum days. On the flip side, I was fortunate to be burdenless. Thus I studied and ran the glorious fields and athletic games, unobstructed.
The past 5-6 decades of growing television (Espn, ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS) and apparel success (Nike, Addidas) have proven how Universities and even College Coaches profit massively from their proteges free sweat and labor. NCAA College football and basketball programs can earn a Mansion filling amount of money. Some Coaches earn 2-11 million of income, in a single working year. Click here for USA Today's list of Top Paid College Football Coaches. Hell, even some assistant college coaches are handsomely paid millionaires. The College Sports World is oozing and overflowing with money and interest from the consumerist American Public. What would your neighborhood sports bar be, without the Sports? For example, have you ever heard of March Madness, the College Football Playoff and Bowl System, College Gameday or the College World Series? Recently University sports stadiums are lifting their bans for on-site alcohol sales to produce even more revenue, off the backs of the college athlete. Texas has done it. Now the SEC has done it. Yikes, even drunker SEC patron games sound scary for the opposing team. No longer is the boozy, food-filled, music thumping tailgate party atmosphere limited to outside the stadium. With permitted alcohol sales inside the Collegiate Sports Stadiums, the party and raucous behavior will keep flowing!
In addition, more and more states are legalizing sports gambling. I just lost 20 bucks to my brother on a sports bet. Nominally betting on sports is fun and engaging. Yes, there is money to be made from the gaining sports betting steam. And you still think, the actual working, poor and ramen noodle eating college athlete doesn't deserve a simple stipend?
Kentucky Basketball is a 1 year and done, stepping stone farm system to the NBA. So is the NCAA's previously sacred and holy Duke Blue Devils program. Zion Williamson, R.J. Barret and Cam Reddish were all on the same team this year. All of them will upcoming NBA lottery picks. Alabama Football and Nick Saban recruits play a few years, before becoming NFL first-round Draft pick themselves. It's happening my friends. Do you feel it? College Sport's money-creating net is widening. I love College Sports! Do you? Now, is the time to provide a monthly stipend during the school year to athletes playing income generating sports.
Here is where I may lose or anger some segments of my reading audience. I personally do not think college athletes participating in non-school income generating sports should get paid. So let's say Mens' Football, Basketball, and Baseball, along with Women's Volleyball, Basketball and Softball are the only sports generating monthly green revenues for the schools. Those are the athletes who deserve the percentage based stipend. If the school's swimming, soccer, softball, badminton, track and rugby teams are not generating enough positive cash flow and income for the school, then these athletes should not be privy to a stipend. These supplemental athletes will have to get creative in their own sports and fan-based marketing. Maybe University swimming events need T-Shirt Cannons to excite and awaken the crowd? Maybe the University Swim Team pays Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, or Missy Franklin an appearance fee to generate event hype and paying fans? How can supplemental college sports produce revenue? Hmm, perhaps this deterrence and challenge will teach colleges athletes about life in general, the real world, and its stinging harshness. Just like their chosen academic majors, some education fields produce higher paying jobs than others. Why do you think the big Box-Office Hollywood Movies spend so much damn money on their actors, movie trailers and publicity. Their goals are to rope-in the consumer and the public's attention. College is a character molding time period for students and athletes alike to learn, "The World is Not Fair."
The quicker college student-athletes realize humanity and the earth is filled with greed, marketing, money, competition, winners and losers, the better! It will enhance the student-athletes lives and perhaps be their most vital lesson and lecture moving forward!
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