Should college athletes be paid... people outside the US I have a ? for you also

[ilitig8]

I streamed the 30 for 30 piece Pony Excess (about SMU football in the 1980's) last night and that along with all the recent discussions inside the college athletics community got me thinking about it.

So should college players be paid?

For people outside the US is this an issue or discussion in your countries? While I know a decent amount about a lot of professional sports outside the US I don't know anything about college/university sports past our borders.

[RayMac]

In Canada college sports are purely amateur hour. There are very limited athletic scholarships so a student athlete plays for the fun of it basically. The level of competition is lower than the US - probably ivy League caliber stuff. The elite athletes like Andrew Wiggins or Anthony Bennett head south and get US scholarships. So do many good hockey players.

[bolaberlim]

Amateur here in Portugal too. Nobody gets paid if you're not in a club. That said you can join a club when in college. You can join at 6 years old in fact.

[Raza]

I don't think so. Participating in school athletics is a choice, and if it's a condition of a scholarship, then the athlete is already being paid in a way by getting the scholarship.

[Upstate]

I don't think so. Participating in school athletics is a choice, and if it's a condition of a scholarship, then the athlete is already being paid in a way by getting the scholarship.

I agree. If they're getting a full ride that should be enough. Yes other people are making money off of their image (NCAA, Bowl Sponsors, TV stations, ect.), but if/when they go pro they're making bank. Allot of the top prospects in basketball are 'one and done' anyway and I don't think paying them would keep them in school longer. The signing bonuses are just to big now.

[ilitig8]

Participating in school athletics is a choice,

It is a choice BUT as I pointed out in my last post in football for example it is essentially required if one wants to go on to play in the NFL. Though one could argue that you an I had to go to undergrad before being able to go to law school...

[Jeannie]

I'm ambivalent about this. I love college basketball so I follow the arguments to some extent. Raza's point above is well taken. But I've also heard college athletes complain that the demands of their sport preclude them from seeking any type of outside income source and a lot of them suffer real cash flow issues.

I think a simple answer might be to include stipends as part of their scholarships. But then, it's probably not a simple question so that might not work either.

Jeannie

[oak1971]

You can argue that they are already compensated, but I would at least let them cash in on some sponsorship deals.

[RayMac]

I don't think you could ever pay the best college basketball guys enough to keep them in school when the payoff is so huge in the NBA draft.
I suppose "one and done" is better than right out of high school. However I can't help thinking that Anthony Bennett would have learned more staying with Dave Rice at UNLV than struggling in the NBA last year.

[ilitig8]

I don't think you could ever pay the best college basketball guys enough to keep them in school when the payoff is so huge in the NBA draft.
I suppose "one and done" is better than right out of high school. However I can't help thinking that Anthony Bennett would have learned more staying with Dave Rice at UNLV than struggling in the NBA last year.

There is NO question that colleges can't pay enough to keep players eligible for the draft but at least in basketball they only have to be 19 and a year out of high school PLUS basketball careers (like baseball) can be MUCH longer than pro football careers whose players have to give up 3 years of pro money.