Amateurism vs. Capitalism: A Practical Appr actical Approach to Paying College Athletes

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

By: Dalton Thacker

I. INTRODUCTION
On April 7, 2014, the University of Connecticut (UCONN) men’s basketball team was poised to reach its goal of winning a national championship. The AT&T Stadium was packed with 79,000 fans who paid an average of $500 to watch the Final Four games.1 CBS cameras were setting up on the sidelines; the network paid approximately $800,000,000 per year for the media rights to show the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament on its platform.2 UCONN’s point guard, Shabazz Napier, was preparing for the biggest night of his entire career when a reporter inquired about the topic of paying collegiate athletes. Napier seized the opportunity and responded, “we as student athletes are utilized for what we do so well, and we’re definitely blessed to get a scholarship to our universities. But, at the end of the day, that doesn’t cover everything.”3 Napier is one of many student athletes who struggle to make ends meet while being exploited for his hard labor.

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