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... receive some of the money for which he or she is generating for the company, school, and coach. The greatest negative aspect of the media affecting college athletes today is television. Television is the mobilizing force that has shaped the foundations for the evolution of sports to a new stage of corporate organization, for the presentation of sports on television helps to integrate more fully the profit motive into the organization of intercollegiate sports (Hart-Nibbrig and Cottingham 39). College sports are no longer just about having fun, but about which team can have the most games televised. Only the most naive individual would believe that efforts to increase national rankings and television exposure, despite the cost of getting there are not the primary motivating forces in big-time college sports (Hart-Nibbrig and Cottingham 26).
Nowadays, cable television offers smaller schools chances to be seen on television and to receive money for their participation. Some such cable networks are Entertainment, Sports Programming Network, and ESPN. These stations have led the way in developing more specialized programs covering a broad range of sporting events. Because cable television allows recruiters to identify sports talent at smaller, non-Division I schools, the added exposure increases movement of college stars into the professional ranks. How can we keep these athletes in college so that they can receive the education they need for their future?
The answer to the previous question is to pay athletes beyond the limit of a full ride scholarship. Some college administrators and sports officials feel strongly that an athletic scholarship is more than enough compensation for the services that athletes provide. On the other hand, college athletes often require more money than they receive under the rules (Shropshire 79). The NCAA does not allow athletes to earn any money if they are receiving a full tuition, room and board scholarship. All other students can sell their skills, or work part time, but not athletes. Student-athletes cannot engage in the same kind of activities and are specifically forbidden to capitalize on the skills that millions of people willingly pay to see (Lawrence 143).
This hinders the ability for athletes to have money for day to day expenses. Archie Manning, father of the University of Tennessee quarterback Peyton manning stated, Ive been outside dressing rooms, and Im ready to go to dinner with my family, and I see athletes going back to the dorms who cant afford to do anything (Wulf). Back when Archie played, they received $ 15 for laundry, and nowadays they dont even get that. Now, television-rights fees have increased exponentially, and some shoe money has pushed the income of some coaches into seven figures (Wulf). The coaches profit from endorsements and television contracts, so why shouldnt the athletes? Some coaches salaries are over one million dollars a year while the players earnings havent changed appreciably above that of 39 years ago (Byers 10).
Many people might argue that athletes should play only for the love of the game and should not place such an emphasis on money. However, it is willfully naive to expect athletes not to care about money seeing as though many of them lack the financial resources for a comfortable lifestyle. A major reason why paying college athletes is not currently implemented is because many think that universities would lose a lot of money in the process. However, this is clearly not true. When looking at how much television pays for college sporting events, the amount of money required to pay athletes adequately is rather small.
If you were to multiply $ 100 a month times nine months times the 130, 000 Division I men and women who juggle sports and academics, the result is $ 117 million. That is about what a network would pay to televise the college Super Bowl (Wulf). That is just one sporting event covering the possible salaries of all the Division I athletes. It is a fact that 90 % of elite college athletes have had contacts with agents (Kirwan). This would not be the case if the athletes were paid a salary, for then they would no longer need the assistance of an agent. Some of the money given to these athletes could be put in a trust fund, payable after graduation.
This would eliminate athletes turning professional too early in their career and not receiving the education they need to get ahead in life. As shown by the examples above of athletes being exploited by their respective colleges and the mass media, athletes should be given a monetary sum above a scholarship for their participation in college athletics. The media has given the sport exposure to a much larger audience than just the people in attendance at the games. This means people who like to watch the sport but can't afford to go to the games live can watch it in their home or listen or read the results of the game in newspapers or on the Internet which is also an extension of the media.
Media attention on the sport has created such a financial market for the sport universities and high schools have basketball programs which gives children who excel in the sport and cannot afford post secondary education a chance to attend university and a possible career in the sport. Athletes are now recognized for their abilities and are given scholarships and grants to attend university, which is a result of the media giving exposure to the sport. The media has expanded the womens equality struggles into the sport of basketball by giving women exposure in the sport as actual athletes and not their traditional roles women were thought of as the cheerleaders of the sport. Girls growing up can now identify with female athletes in basketball as role models and encourages them to participate in the sport. The media caused players of the sport particularly on a professional and collegiate level to have discipline and morals mainly because of the exposure the media gives these players to fans which causes them to be considered role models. Basketballs growth on a financial aspect is a direct result of the media, in the past the salaries of athletes in the professional leagues are non comparative with the salaries of the athletes today, because the media provides a larger audience which provides revenue to teams and players get a share of this new wealth. 6.
Basketball players are now seen as role models through the media and people try imitating their basketball heroes to the extent players with charismatic personalities and excellent basketball skills are paid to endorse products. Such basketball players such as Michael Jordan, Shaquille O'Neal and Grant Hill to name a few are seen as heroes to people and given contracts to endorse products. The media attention on players lives goes beyond the basketball court and goes into their private lives which give players no privacy. The media forces athletes to live as almost a saint status and the media scrutinizes their every move. Professional athletes have limited public access because they are not considered normal citizens. Recently Kareem Abdul Jabbar was arrested for smoking marijuana while driving and the media exposed such a private aspect of his life to the general public.
Michael Jordan was accused of having a gambling problem because he went to a casino and lost 2 million dollars which is a lot to an average person but pocket change to him. Basketball players especially on the professional level are considered above the law as a direct result of the media because their status puts them into a different category than the general public. When Latrell Sprewell choked his coach his case was treated differently than a normal person doing that same crime his punishment was much less severe than a normal person. There are other positive and negative effects of the media on basketball but it is actually worth noting the growth success of the sport is a result of the media attention it has received in the past and present. The media is a positive influence on sport in general and some negative effects must be present since nothing in the world is perfect without any side effects or negative effects. Bibliography: Byers, Walter.
Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Exploiting College Athletes. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan P, 1995. Gray, John R. The Successful College Athletic Program. Phoenix, AZ: Onyx Press, 1997.
Hart-Nibbrig, Nand E. , and Clement Cottingham. The Political Economy of College Sports. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1986. Kirwan, William E.
Protecting college athletes from unscrupulous agents. The Chronicle of Higher Education. 43 (1996). 17 Nov. 1999. Lawrence, Paul R. Unsportsmanlike Conduct: the National Collegiate Athletic Association and the Business of College Football. New York: Praeger, 1987.
Sack, Allen L. , and Ellen J. Staurowsky. College Athletes For Hire. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1998. Shropshire, Kenneth L. Agents of Opportunity: Sports Agents and Corruption in Collegiate Sports.
Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1990. Student-athletes cut back to jocks. Commentary. The Atlanta Journal the Atlanta Constitution. 14 Mar. 1999. 16 Nov. 1999. Wulf, Steve. Tote that ball, lift that revenue.
Time. 21 Oct. 1996. 16 Nov. 1999.
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