Play could Pay

Play Could Pay

College sports, generates many profits, through popular players, teams, and games, where does the money go? Many debates have recently been occurring regarding the money in college athletics, specifically football and men’s basketball. About two weeks ago, Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to ever win the Heisman trophy, an annual award given to the best player in college football that year. Days before this occurrence, Manziel and his agent, trademarked the nickname, “Johnny Football.” This has caused much controversy because, Texas A&M and  Manziel are not allowed to profit using the name Jonny football or using his name on shirts or jerseys. Often times in college sports, this type of situation occurs. These household names like Johnny Manziel, Tim Tebow, and Anthony Davis, cannot make a profit. These players are making money for the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) but excepting scholarships are not making money for being so famous and good. Recently in the past couple of years, college basketball and football alone have made up to 6 billion dollars a year, meaning that in ten year, they are worth the amount of Bill Gates! If so much money is being made, where is it all going; because it’s not going to the people who work hard to play, its going to companies.  Many people say that college is for learning and money should be focused on after college. or instance Peter Higgins, a lacrosse coach at Princeton Day School and a former NCAA athlete, agrees saying that college is for school, athletes should do there school work and play the sorts, money shouldn’t be a question. Another topic of concern is how much money single programs at a school makes in revenue. In the 2010 season the Tennessee University football team made a grand total of 56.8 million dollars. So are these athletes being USED? Taylor Branch, a civil rights researcher says that College athletes are not slaves and that using these words like slaves is inappropriate. As you can see, many important people are involved in this topic, and everyone is wondering what will happen next.