Should College Athletes Earn Endorsements?

By Jacob Kim

Rowland High School

With the rising popularity of college sports, institutions in the sports scene are debating whether or not student athletes should be paid in endorsements. Institutions like the NCAA disagree. This topic has involved many, from politicians to sports analysts to college athletes. There are many strong arguments supporting or going against this topic.

People have expressed positives and negatives about student athletes earning endorsements. The positives outweigh the negatives. Some reasons why college athletes should receive endorsements are because of their talent levels, no time for other jobs, and it helps set them up for the future. College athletes are too busy working ot become successful outside of sports while coaches and advisors are making money off of the athletes. Kenneth Yang, a 12th grader from Fairmont Preparatory Academy, states, “I feel as if there is a cut off line for this topic. I do understand that a lot of college athletes think they should be paid for playing their own sports, but there needs to be an incentive for endorsements to put forth their funding and sponsor athletes. There are college athletes such as Lonzo Ball who come out of UCLA into the NBA and end up as a bust. Those types of athletes would excel in college but might not push towards that expected potential in the future. Taking that into account, it might be bad for endorsements to take in those players that just end up becoming an average player in the big league. In conclusion, I do not think college athletes should earn endorsements.”

Ryan Lee, an 11th grader from Sunny Hills High School, states, “I think that it would not be a problem for college athletes to make money because they are in college to make a career out of sports; as long as there is some sort of limit.” Clearly, Ryan and Kenneth both have their own perspectives on the topic. They both mentioned that it’s understandable that college athletes want to make a living from their sports.

Overall, many people had been discussing whether college athletes should be paid endorsements or not. Although there were many strong arguments between both sides, the positives outweigh the negatives. Because of that, I believe that college athletes should be paid endorsements that will aid in enriching their lives. It doesn't seem fair that the college athletes are being mistreated. After reading this editorial, how would you feel about college athlete receiving endorsements?