The Over- Commercialization Of Student Athletes

3 Pages 860 Words

College athletes in this country are being over-commercialized right in front of us and they are not getting compensated in any way. Universities are using the cover of calling the athletes amateurs when in reality they are “big-time, big-money entertainment, with professional trappings, financed by a plantation mentality and slave labor” (Lyon par.3) and then the colleges say that the scholarship given to them is considerable reimbursement. The reality is that these athletes are going to school full-time and are essentially working-full time jobs for no pay. Not only that, but athletes can’t accept gifts of any kind, even if it is just something necessary like money for food or toiletries. These kids worked hard in high school to get these scholarships, but now that they have them, their lives are harder. Although a scholarship is a good way to recruit athletes to a school to make that school money, big time athletes who are being commercialized should be getting a share of the large sums of money that the schools and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are making.
In 1997, star running back for Penn State, Curtis Enis was invited to a year-end award ceremony for his team to celebrate his 1,363 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. In order to attend, however, he would need an outfit that he did not have money for . Since he is an athlete, he would not be allowed to have the clothes needed given to him as a helpful gesture. If he were a regular student, he could have accepted the clothes as a gift from anyone and no one would look twice. But he is an athlete who is held to a hypocritical double standard (Lyon par.2). If an athlete is lucky enough to even have time for a job, NCAA rules prohibit them from working a job that pay more that $2,000 a year (O’Toole par.9). That means they can make roughly $41 per week which is hardly enough to put gas in your car nowadays. The NCAA offers athletes some alternative forms...