Chapter 201: Appendix A: Speech Choices Speeches

Why Student Athletes Should Be Paid: Full-Length Speech

Jacob presents his attention-getter with enthusiasm.

My favorite college basketball team is the Kentucky Wildcats. And when they won the national championship game with a score of sixty-seven to fifty-nine over Kansas in 2012, their star player Anthony Davis filled up the stats sheet with six points, sixteen rebounds, five assists, six blocked shots, and three steals. Nobody had done that in any college game since Minnesota’s Joel Prizybilla in 2000.

Jacob’s facial expressions convey his interest in the topic.

The only bad thing about that is that after just one year in college, Anthony Davis left school to turn pro, signing a multimillion-dollar contract with the New Orleans Hornets. If only he could have been paid to continue playing college ball! This shows why we need to pay college athletes in revenue-producing sports—because they are the men who make the big bucks and receive so little in return.

I am credible on this topic because I know a lot about sports. I played baseball in high school, and I interviewed my roommate, who used to play football for our school. I watched Last Week with John Oliver, read a Forbes online article by a commentator on sports legal issues, and did some more research.

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And I know you guys agree with me because look at how many people go to football, basketball, and baseball games at our school.

I don’t think there is any doubt that players in revenue-producing sports give up a lot to play their sports. According to my research,

Jacob checks his note cards to get his statistics right.

The typical Division I college football player devotes 43.3 hours per week to his sport—3.3 more hours than the typical American work-week.
Although the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) claims that college athletes are just students, the NCAA’s own tournament schedules require college athletes to miss classes for nationally televised games that bring in revenue.
Currently, the NCAA Division I football championship is played on a Monday night. This year, the national football championship game required Florida State football players to miss the first day of spring classes.
Meanwhile, the annual NCAA men’s basketball tournament affects more than six days of classes (truly “Madness” if the players aren’t “employees”).

Who gets rich off college sports? Not the guys who make it happen on the field.

Jacob holds his notes in one hand and gestures with the other.

The NCAA currently produces nearly $11 billion in annual revenue from college sports—more than the estimated total league revenues of both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL).

This year, the University of Alabama reported $143.3 million in athletic revenues—more than all thirty NHL teams and twenty-five of the thirty NBA teams.

The year that Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie won the Heisman Trophy as the nation’s outstanding college football player, Boston College’s undergraduate admissions increased by twenty points, and its average SAT score of admitted freshmen skyrocketed by 110 points.

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Of course, many colleges use their athletes as core marketers of the university. If not for college basketball players, think about how much more money Gonzaga University would need to spend on building name recognition to prospective students not located on the West Coast.

Jacob’s eye contact keeps him connected to the audience.

This is my roommates’ point too—the one who played football for our school. He says, “Yeah, athletes should be paid. Going to practice and playing games feels like a full-time job. We fill up the stadium, and they make millions of dollars. The scholarships are so low that you always run out of money before the end of the month.”

Here’s another problem:

At other schools, college coaches regulate student-athlete speech on Facebook and Twitter—even when their sport is not in session.

This is America, and the last time that I checked, we have freedom of speech. Americans fought and died for freedom of speech. It just isn’t right to tell athletes what they can and cannot say on social media. It is none of the school’s business. Nobody tells students on an art scholarship or a band scholarship or a math scholarship what they can and cannot say on Facebook. This is discrimination, and it isn’t right.

Jacob models extemporaneous delivery, looking up from his notes often.

So the question is, “What are we going to do about it?” I’ll tell you what we need to do about it. These guys are being treated unfairly. They sacrifice everything for the game, and they get little to nothing in return. Revenue-producing sports should not be propping up the rest of the athletic department. The football team averages 29,517 fans, men’s basketball gets 11,583, and baseball draws 5,973. How do our untraditional sports draw? Not even half that many. I’m not trying to be rude or offend anyone, but let’s face it: not every sport is exciting. Players who are bringing in the fans are the ones who deserve to be paid for their hard work.

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My solution: Players in the revenue-producing sports should be paid a salary of $35,310. I got this amount because it is three times the federal poverty level, according to healthcare.gov. And their tuition should be free. I’m not saying that college players need to be millionaires. I am saying that this would be a reasonable amount of money to live off of while you are in school. And I am saying when you are working a full-time job for your college, you deserve to get paid full-time wages.

Jacob wraps up his speech with confidence.

So I’ll tell you what I am trying to say. Right now, players in revenue-producing sports are making a lot of money for their schools. They are working a full-time job, and their colleges are getting rich off of them. The conclusion is obvious. Student athletes need to be paid a salary. That’s what I have to say.