Should college athletes be paid?

There are many people in favor of and many against the idea of paying athletes who play sports for their college or university. College athletics generate nearly $1 trillion in annual revenue for the NCAA and its member institutions, yet relatively little of that goes to the real stars of the show. The average top-tier football or mens basketball player earns his school roughly $200,000 per season, according to NCAA data, while being compensated to the tune of $14,000 in education, food and housing each year. And all of that can disappear just as quickly as an ACL can tear, as scholarships are not guaranteed. Meanwhile, more than 100 football and mens basketball coaches earn more than $1 million per year, as do nine athletic directors and at least 30 school presidents, according to WalletHub research. Even teaching assistants make nearly $16,000 per year. So the question remains: Should college athletes be paid for their efforts, or is amateurism too precious of an ideal to let go of just yet?

This poll was created on 2016-10-12 13:11:20 by Caleb Matthews