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Should College Athletes Be Paid?An athlete who drops out of college to go pro can earn big bucks right away. Even the lowest-paid NFL player earns hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.But what about an athlete who sticks with college football or basketball? He’ll earn . . . nothing. That’s because under National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rules, student athletes aren’t allowed to get paid.But college sports—football and men’s basketball in particular—are a billion-dollar industry. Many universities and the NCAA, which oversees college sports, make hundreds of millions of dollars through ticket sales, advertising, and TV deals. Some people say the players deserve to cash in as well.But opponents of paying college athletes insist that the players?are?compensated. They note that many top athletes receive free tuition, books, tutoring, room and board, transportation, and medical care. At some schools, such benefits can amount to more than $250,000 per player over four years.Plus, they say, if schools had to pay football and men’s basketball players, they might not be able to afford athletic programs that don’t make as much money, such as track or lacrosse.Should college athletes be paid? Two experts weigh in.YESThe NCAA likes to call the athletes who play varsity sports at universities “student athletes.” A far more accurate term would be “athlete students.” Putting the word?athlete?first would at least let everybody know what the priority is: sports.This is especially true for football and men’s basketball players. Why? Because these athletes are there to help their schools make money. Without their athletic ability, many of them would not have been admitted to these schools in the first place.College football and basketball are multibillion-dollar businesses. Some schools have billion-dollar TV deals and team sponsors. The coaches for these teams make millions. Schools have money for fancy training facilities, charter jets to away games, and state-of-the-art arenas. Yet the labor force—the players—gets nothing. Name another industry where labor gets nothing. You can’t.College athletes help their schools earn millions of dollars, and they deserve a cut of the profits.The NCAA argues that amateurism is an important part of college sports—that the players are “students first,” not professional athletes. Yet players have to choose classes that don’t interfere with practice. Indeed, they often don’t really get much of an education at all. Many athletes routinely put in 50 hours a week on their sport, leaving little time for schoolwork. In addition, coaches have the ability to cut players from the team at any time, just like in professional sports.?The truth is that many fans wouldn’t care if college athletes were paid. But NCAA executives insist on maintaining players’ amateur status because that argument has helped them get very rich.—Joe NoceraSportswriter and author of?Indentured: The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAANOCollege sports provide hundreds of thousands of student athletes the opportunity to play the sports they love while getting the education and skills they need to succeed after college. Paying students to play would turn them into employees, shifting their focus away from academics. After all, of the more than 480,000 NCAA student athletes playing today, fewer than 2 percent will become professional athletes. ??Among NCAA student athletes, 15 percent say they wouldn’t even be in college if they didn’t play a sport. That experience is made possible by the $2.7 billion in athletic scholarships NCAA schools award each year. Unlike many of their peers, scholarship student athletes don’t leave school burdened by a mountain of debt. Many top universities give athletes free tuition, books, housing, meals, and money for other educational expenses. ?Many top players already receive free tuition, books, meals, and housing.Many people wrongly believe that the NCAA and its members earn millions of dollars annually. In fact, very few athletics departments take in more money than they spend. The NCAA distributes more than 90 percent of its revenue back to member campuses and conferences. That money funds programs that support the academic needs and well-being of student athletes.?Paying college athletes would force many schools to make tough choices and have fewer athletic teams. It would rob many students of the chance to learn the life skills that come with participating in sports: time management, resilience, discipline, and teamwork.?The NCAA is committed to fairness and helping all college athletes achieve their dreams. While we have made great strides, we recognize we have more work to do. Paying students is not the way to get there. ?—Bob WilliamsSenior Vice President of Communications, NCAACORE QUESTION:?What evidence does each writer use to support his claims? ................
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