With college sports generating more revenue and television contracts paying lucrative monies to Universities for rights to broadcast their games in popular service providers like direct.tv, a question is rumbling within the college sports world. Should college athletes be paid for their services?
Take the rookie quarterback Tim Tebow for the Denver Broncos. Tebow is arguably one of the greatest college football players of all time. The former Florida Gator won one Heisman trophy and set numerous rushing, passing and touchdown records while playing sports at the University of Florida.
Tim Tebow’s jersey sold in record numbers in Florida and across the United States, yet the sports star never saw a dime from his name placed on millions of jerseys sold.
Some say the collegiate athlete is already receiving preferred treatment and luxury through their college scholarship. While the scholarship pays for the books and tuition, collegiate sports athletes are limited in the types of funds, and even jobs they can work, by the NCAA committee that oversees collegiate spots. With academics and athletics, collegiate sports stars don’t have the time to work a part-time job like regular students. The regulations governing college sports are lengthy, and typically prevent athletes from accepting funds from illegitimate sources.
News from the sports world regarding former USC star Reggie Bush has not been flattering. Bush and his family are accused of accepting funds outside the scope of which the NCAA allows. The allegations against Bush have put the University of Southern California on sports probation, and threaten to have Bush’s Heisman trophy award repealed.
More and more sports enthusiasts are pushing to see collegiate sports athletes receive at least some type of stipend for their services. Some have suggested that jersey sellers, like the aforementioned Tebow, be given a small percentage of their jersey sales that would be paid at the end of their sports eligibility.
The question of whether collegiate sports athletes should be paid, will likely to continue to gather steam as television sports continues to spit out enormous revenues.