Neither Syracuse University nor the NCAA should pay student-athletes for their athletic performances. Instead, student-athletes should be able to profit off of their likeness and marketability.

Last week, while at a New York State Associated Press symposium, SU men’s basketball coach Jim Boeheim criticized the idea of compensating college athletes. He said these students have an opportunity to earn an education, pursue their athletic dreams, gain publicity and work their way into the NBA.

Boeheim makes a strong argument. These privileges extend beyond their sport. Student-athletes benefit from a variety of privileges on campus, too, including first pick during class selection and free tuition, which allows many of them to leave college debt free.

Although student-athletes are amateurs, they should have the same opportunities to earn money as students who hold on-campus jobs.

Today, student-athletes are unable to maintain a campus job because of time commitments for their chosen sports. These students do not receive any amount of money from the merchandise that is sold under their name, such as jerseys.

Instead, universities in the NCAA should take advantage of the Olympic model. The Olympic model allows the free market to compensate athletes through sponsorships and merchandise. They should be able to profit off of their individual likeness and take control of their marketing rights, which include endorsement deals and entities. This outside source of money would not bring economic strain to the university and should be taken into consideration.

University-wide compensation is unfair to the sports teams that bring the university greater revenue. If the university paid all athletes, starting players in major revenue sports would earn a stipend equal to second-string players in non-revenue sports. By profiting off of their personal representation through merchandise and contracts however, student-athletes could personally benefit because of their skill and sport.

Student-athletes should be able to control their marketability and the amount of money they make during their college careers. Their names should be able to earn them more than celebrity status on campus.

Published on October 7, 2013 at 2:59 am

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