Should He Get Paid?

It was February 20, 2019, and the basketball game between Duke University’s Blue Devils and University of North Carolina’s (UNC) Tar Heels was about to begin. The stands were packed, and the fans were pumped. Tickets for the game had almost reached Super Bowl prices. One ticket went for a whopping $10,652.

Duke and UNC have a long-standing—and super-intense—rivalry, but that was only part of the excitement.

The other part?

Duke player Zion Williamson.

At 6 feet 7 inches and 285 pounds—bigger than most NBA players—Williamson, 18, is unlike any player college basketball has ever seen. On the court, he is as graceful as a dancer and as powerful as a freight train. His sky-high jumps and showstopping slam dunks have earned him millions of fans. He’s often compared to Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

You might think that this teenage prodigy is raking in the big bucks. But in fact, he doesn’t make a cent. All the money that the Blue Devils bring in goes to Duke—not to Williamson or to any other player. That’s because, according to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), college athletes are not allowed to be paid.

But should they be? 

College sports—particularly basketball and football—are a very big business involving a very large amount of money. Ticket sales are just one slice of the pie. A top team can secure lucrative endorsement deals. For example, Nike pays Duke millions to outfit its players in Nike gear, essentially turning the players into walking advertisements. Top college teams can also help increase their school enrollments and bump up donations from alumni. And then there’s the money from TV deals and merchandise like hats and sweatshirts.

So if these teams bring in so much money, why don’t the players get any of it? After all, without the players there wouldn’t be any teams.

The thing is, colleges don’t just make a huge amount of money on sports—they also spend a huge amount. Stadiums are not cheap. Neither are the equipment and team travel, not to mention coaches’ salaries and scholarships for student athletes. According to a 2014 NCAA study, only 24 of the top 129 college football programs make a profit.

Some say that forcing schools to pay athletes could do more harm than good. If players were paid, many schools might not be able to afford to keep their athletic programs running. They’d certainly have less money for sports like swimming, cross-country, gymnastics, and soccer—sports that don’t bring in the kind of money that football and basketball do. Why should the students who play these sports have to suffer for the benefit of a few?

Then again, top coaches make millions. Is it fair for them to make so much while the athletes themselves get nothing?

After all, being a college athlete can be like working a full-time job while also going to school: A 2006 NCAA study found that top-tier college athletes dedicate an average of 37 hours per week to their sport.

As for Williamson, his future in the NBA seems certain. That is, of course, unless something unforeseen—like a career-ending injury—should happen. That awful possibility surely crossed many minds when, 36 seconds into that big Duke-UNC game in February, his left sneaker suddenly fell apart, causing Williamson to fall and sprain his knee.

Fortunately, the injury was not too serious. Williamson took a few weeks off, then returned to the court, ready to dazzle his fans.

But not to get paid. 

This article was originally published in the May 2019 issue.