Should NCAA athletes be paid?
Posted by Ron Johnston on Tue, Sep 29, 2009 @ 08:48 AM
Sam Keller, former starting quarterback for ASU and Nebraska, filed suit against Electronic Arts, NCAA, and the Collegiate Licensing Company. Why? Because they've all profited from likenesses of college athletes without their permission. Not only do they appear in commercial videogames, but some star athletes are largely responsible for bringing healthy revenues in to major college athletics programs.
NCAA currently prohibits athletes from competing if they profit from their position. In addition, they report that more than 90 percent of NCAA schools don't make money from their athletic programs, with profits from money-makers like football and basketball usually not quite offsetting losses from other sports.
While the athletes are not getting paid, many argue that they are getting fair compensation in the form of scholarships and other perks. According to the NCAA, any student athlete who receives a fully-loaded scholarship is getting the equivalent of more than $100,000 at the average public school.
In reality, a four-year scholarship at a top university could be worth even more than that, since full-ride scholarships often include housing, books and a stipend to go with the paid tuition.
What's your take on this?
Read the full article here.