PROS
The NCAA generates enough revenue to pay their athletes. They just choose not to.
The NCAA is a billion dollar industry. Even though it is listed as a non profit, its employees earn high wages and profit off of the athletes. An average D1 football coach makes 2.7 million dollars a year while an average D1 football player makes absolutely nothing (Berkowitz and Shad). The NCAA generates enough revenue from football and basketball to be able to pay their athletes a monthly salary. They just choose not to.
NCAA Student-Athletes work as much as a 9-5 job but do not get paid for it.
The NCAA has a rule that states that no athletic team can have more than 20 hours of team practice per week. This doesn’t include the mandatory film sessions, team liftings, recovery sessions, team study halls, long bus trips to road games, and individual skill work that all contribute to an athlete retaining his scholarship at a university. When added up, many collegiate athletes end up spending more than 40 hours a week on their sport which is equivalent to working a 9-5 job. This prevents them from being able to get a job and make money to survive on their own. The athletes are essential free labor that the NCAA profits off of (Jacobs).
A majority of NCAA athletes come from poverty and do not have the money to support themselves throughout college.
86% of NCAA athletes live below the poverty line. 86%. Combine that with long hours and you have a majority of revenue generating athletes that go to bed hungry, don’t have enough money to buy toothpaste, and don’t have enough money to pay for gas. Along with that, families that once relied on their young adults to go out and work to be able to pay bills are left stranded when their children go to play collegiate sports and they lose a working family member. This pushes families into financial stress which takes a toll on both the athletes and their families mental health. (DeWitt).