The NCAA is an intercollegiate association that regulates and organizes all college sports and enjoys non-profit status by awarding scholarships to student athletes. For as long as it’s existed, the NCAA has prohibited these athletes for being compensated for their work.
Although the organization has received criticism about this law for many years, it has remained a standard practice in all 1,268 colleges in North America. However, starting in the year 2023 the almost 60 colleges that qualify for NCAA status in California will allow student athletes to get paid for use of their likeness, be able to sign endorsement deals, and hire agents to represent them.
The NCAA’s net revenue for the year of 2017 was over $1 Billion, much of which can be credited to the Men’s Division 1 Basketball teams. The organization claims that this money gets reinvested into colleges through scholarships given to students, but forgets to mention that a big chunk of the money goes into building huge sports facilities and funding high-priced coaching staff.
With California rejecting this exploitative practice by colleges, the NCAA is getting increased pressure to change its rule regarding compensation of student athletes. Students receiving these scholarships have long been taken advantage of by a corrupt system. These athletes should be allowed to be paid for their hard work, all over the country, and why should sports (or anything else) be a business, anyway?
