Mattar 1

Simon Mattar

Storer

English 3H Block 4

12/15/19

Work for No Wages

About one year ago, there was this 17-year-old kid coming out of high school. Now, this

was no ordinary kid. This was a 6’8, 285-pound monster by the name of Zion Williamson. He

was one of the top prospects coming out of high school with amazing speed and athleticism. This

was one of the most anticipated athletes that people wanted to watch since Lebron went straight

from high school to the NBA. The first game of the regular season that he played in set the

record for most views for a weeknight television event in ESPN history (Hernandez, “Ratings

Roundup: Despite Zion Williamson Injury, UNC-Duke Rises to Most-Watched Men's College

Basketball Game in ESPN History”). This racked up 4.343 million viewers (Hernandez, “Ratings

Roundup: Despite Zion Williamson Injury, UNC-Duke Rises to Most-Watched Men's College

Basketball Game in ESPN History”). Last March Madness was also the most-watched in decades

because of Zion’s presence, especially with their new “Zion Cam” (Winfield, “Zion Williamson

Will Have His Own 'Zion Cam' for Duke's NCAA Tournament Run”). CBS producer, Marc

Woff, stated, “Because of Zion (Williamson), we have added a camera dedicated to him the

whole time he is on the floor.” (Winfield, “Zion Williamson Will Have His Own 'Zion Cam' for

Duke's NCAA Tournament Run”). This “Zion Cam” blew CBS ratings off the charts and they

profited millions from it (Winfield, “Zion Williamson Will Have His Own 'Zion Cam' for Duke's

NCAA Tournament Run”). None of this would have happened if it was not for the presence of

Zion on the court and guess how much he made off of this: nothing! Now, does this make any
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sense at all? This specific problem does not just apply to Zion Williamson, but to thousands of

athletes who have passed through this rigged and corrupt system. These players have been used

for decades by these money hungry companies who have made billions in profit and have given

nothing in return. Bill SB-206 is a bill that would prohibit colleges from using the name and

image of their college athletes for profit without compensation for the athletes and it would allow

athletes to associate with outside organizations to use their name and image for money (“Bill

Text - SB-206 Collegiate Athletics: Student Athlete Compensation and Representation”). There

is a clear-cut line between this bill, no shades of grey. Should or should not these athletes get

paid? College athletes should be receiving compensation for their hard work because it will

prevent athletes from the struggle to maintain basic living necessities, it will push them to be the

best athlete they can, and it will propel them to stay all four years and obtain their academic

degree.

Why do these athletes need this money? Just because they are on scholarship does not

mean that they are not struggling financially to pay for their basic necessities. The New York

Times interviewed Dremond Green, a professional basketball player who played college ball at

Michigan State. He told the journalist about his teammate’s situations, “Kids going to sleep

hungry, cannot afford ANYTHING yet these Universities are profiting off those same kids”

(Bokat-Lindell, “Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Get Paid?”). Some of these athletes are

living thousands of miles away from their families and have to make their own income (Kareem

Abdul-Jabbar, “It's Time to Pay the Tab for America's College Athletes”). Some players’

families are struggling themselves at home and cannot send money to their kids (Kareem Abdul-

Jabbar, “It's Time to Pay the Tab for America's College Athletes”). This leaves these kids not

eating some nights and not being able to take care of their bodies the way they should be
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(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “It's Time to Pay the Tab for America's College Athletes”). Some may

argue that their situations are no different from a regular student in college, however, regular

students are not going through the immense physical training that student athletes go through.

These athletes do not have time to get a job and pay for their necessities or else they will be

skipping their practices and are at risk of losing their scholarship (“Can a Coach Take Away My

Scholarship without Telling Me?”). This money will not only help them out financially, but also

supply them with the motivation they need to become better.

Providing these athletes with the money that they deserve will push them to be the best

athletes that they can be. Only those who perform the best will be getting paid because they will

bring in the most revenue for the companies. This will increase the competition between many of

these athletes and the best will rise to the top. Many argue that they should already have the push

to be the best that they can be. The Harvard Business Review surveyed over 400,00 workers and

more than 75% stated that they will work twice as hard if they have a promotion at hand Money

talks and the same principles go for these athletes (Bush, “How You Promote People Can Make

or Break Company Culture”). If they know that they will get paid for being one of the best, it

will drive them to become one of the best. It is simple. Less than 2% of college athletes make it

to the pros (Manfred, “Here Are The Odds That Your Kid Becomes A Professional Athlete

(Hint: They're Small”). The other 98% needs a plan after college so they can support themselves

or else they will be left with nothing, which is why finishing with a degree is helpful.

Having these athletes get paid not only pushes them to continue their athletic career but

also their academic career. In 2016, the rate of student-athletes graduating was about 23% lower

than the graduation rates of regular students (Goethals, “Broke College Athletes”). Most of these

athletes are not graduating due to academic struggles (Rubin, “Why Athletes Drop Their Sport”).
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However, if these players want to get paid, they have to stay eligible or else they will receive no

compensation (Weaver, Ken. “Let's Pay College Athletes”). This will push the athletes even

more to work their hardest academically and complete their degrees. As stated earlier, the pros

are only for that top 2% and if these college athletes do not have a degree to bounce back on after

college, many will go to the streets and left without a future. This is the last thing that we want to

happen to the hard-working student-athletes.

Students are being used and manipulated by these big companies and are left with

nothing in return while the corporations are left making millions (Bokat-Lindell, “Should

College Athletes Be Allowed to Get Paid?”). It just does not add up. Being an athlete is like

having a job: a job where they are putting countless hours into getting better and perfecting their

craft, a job that they also have to balance between their college academics. That is a job within

itself and these players are receiving no compensation whatsoever. Imagine working overtime

for a month on a project for your company. However, your boss takes all the credit and receive

the paycheck, while you are left with nothing. How would you feel? It will probably be the same

feeling these college athletes have right now.

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Work Cited

[1] Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem. “It's Time to Pay the Tab for America's College Athletes | Kareem
Abdul-Jabbar.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 9 Jan. 2018,
www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/jan/09/its-time-to-pay-the-tab-for-americas-college-
athletes.

[2]Bokat-lindell, Spencer. “Should College Athletes Be Allowed to Get Paid?” The New York

Times, The New York Times, 1 Oct. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/opinion/california-

student-athletes-paid.html.

[3] Bush, Jessica Rohman Chinwe Onyeagoro Michael C. “How You Promote People Can Make

or Break Company Culture.” Harvard Business Review, 3 Jan. 2018, hbr.org/2018/01/how-

you-promote-people-can-make-or-break-company-culture.

[4] Goethals, Sophie. “Broke College Athletes.” The Daily Californian, 20 Oct. 2016,

www.dailycal.org/2016/10/19/broke-college-athletes/.

[5] Hernandez, Kristian. “Ratings Roundup: Despite Zion Williamson Injury, UNC-Duke Rises

to Most-Watched Men's College Basketball Game in ESPN History.” Sports Video Group,

22 Feb. 2019, www.sportsvideo.org/2019/02/22/ratings-roundup-despite-zion-williamson-

injury-unc-duke-rises-to-most-watched-mens-college-basketball-game-in-espn-history/.

[6] Manfred, Tony. “Here Are The Odds That Your Kid Becomes A Professional Athlete (Hint:

They're Small).” Business Insider, Business Insider, 10 Feb. 2012,

www.businessinsider.com/odds-college-athletes-become-professionals-2012-2.

[7] Rubin, Griffin. “Why Athletes Drop Their Sport.” LRT Sports - College Athletic News and
Exclusive Coach Ratings, LRT Sports, 14 May 2019, www.lrt-sports.com/blog/why-
athletes-drop-their-sport/.
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[8] Weaver, Ken. “Let's Pay College Athletes.” www.public.asu.edu/~jvanasu/ucai/weaver/.

[9] Winfield, Kristian. “Zion Williamson Will Have His Own 'Zion Cam' for Duke's NCAA

Tournament Run.” SBNation.com, SBNation.com, 22 Mar. 2019, www.sbnation.com/college-

basketball/2019/3/22/18277951/zion-williamson-zion-cam-ncaa-tournament-duke-cbs

[10] “Bill Text - SB-206 Collegiate Athletics: Student Athlete Compensation and

Representation.”, 1 Oct. 2019,

leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200SB206.

[11] “Can a Coach Take Away My Scholarship without Telling Me?” Find College Athletic
Scholarships and Get Recruited with Athnet Sports Recruiting,
www.athleticscholarships.net/question/can-a-coach-take-away-my-scholarship-without-
telling-me.