For the first time ever, the NCAA will allow athletes to profit from their name, as well as their image and likeness. It used to be that athletes were not paid a dime for playing and they were not allowed to accept any money either. This new rule will give student athletes a whole new view on whether or not they want to play sports in college. Over the past couple years there has been a lot of arguing about whether or not college athletes should be allowed to make money off of their name, likeness, and image. 

Paying athletes would take a lot of stress off of both themselves, as well as their families. Student athletes are not permitted to autograph or sell certain memorabilia in order to generate revenue. Their families are often the people who pay for the student to go to college. Paying the athletes will provide those families with relief, so that they won’t have to pay all of the costs for college. 

Allowing student athletes to make money off of their name, likeness, and image will also help them to focus more on their sport and schoolwork. Athletes already work harder than most students by trying to balance school and their sport. In addition to trying to balance school and their sport, they have to work in order to be able to pay for college and whatever other things they may want. 

 Playing sports in college is time consuming and also can be expensive. According to smartasset.com, D1 athletes spend an average of 35.4 hours a week on athletic activities during the season according to smartasset.com and also spend about only about 2% of their time at a job each week.

According to Vittana.org, less than 2% of collegiate athletes actually become professionals in their sport. For some students if they know they won’t go pro, they may give up sports, but by receiving funds to play they can use that money to cover costs not covered by scholarships. Going along with costs not covered by scholarships, it could also lower tuition rates. Competition would increase across the country and the athletic facilities would most likely be upgraded to encourage enrollment. 

Over the past decade there have been a lot of cases where a coach, agent, or other industry professionals have been caught trying to pay athletes to attend their college. Allowing college athletes to be paid would eliminate not only the corruption, but also the costs that go into investigating these felonies. Also, athletes would not need to try to sell their apparel, which is illegal, if they are already being paid.