Front Porch Football

Problems with Paying Players in College

by Brendan Paschal 

The National Collegiate Athletic Association might be the most corrupt institution in the United States. There is no doubt that the System is Broken. However, the multi-billion dollar industry might be too powerful to take on. The State of California started the push to change that. In a unanimous decision they passed the Fair Pay to Play Act. However, paying players in college could create bigger issues for collegiate athletes.

The Problems with Paying Players in College

The first solution that came to mind was paying athletes a stipend. When I was in college I worked two jobs to make a buck. Because I was only in class 15 hours a week – and had the flexibility to adjust my class schedule accordingly – I could work two part-time jobs. College athletes don’t have this luxury. From the moment they wake up until their head hits the pillow at night they have something on their schedule. Early morning lifts, breakfast, classes, lunch, more classes, film, practice, homework, and approximately five hours of sleep before waking up and doing it all again tomorrow. There is absolutely no opportunity for a job in their schedule.

Problem with Stipends

It would make sense to give athletes a monthly allowance. They work a full-time job anyway. Why not let them have a few bucks in their pocket to get a late-night-pizza? There would be a cap at how much colleges could pay to prevent blue blood programs from taking advantage of this during recruiting. It wouldn’t matter if you were the star quarterback or second string on the women’s tennis team. A flat fee would be spread out evenly among players. I’m pretty sure I just laid out the platform for college-level Communism…

The problem with giving players a stipend is the expense. Besides football (and basketball for some) all other athletic programs actually lose the school money. In other words, colleges are paying more money to field a soccer team than what that team earns. If it weren’t for football, most schools couldn’t offer half the scholarships for other sports. Furthermore, the revenue earned from athletics is already budgeted down to the penny. It would be close to (notice I said close to and not actually) impossible for most schools to find the money to give their players a proper stipend.

Fair Pay to Play