Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Senator, hopes to clinch the Democratic presidential ticket. Notably, he has been airing various concerns. One of them entails the contentious issue of whether college athletes should be paid as it has been prevalent in American society.
Expressly, this issue had instigated controversy between college sports and NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).
Bernie Sanders’s sentiments
Through a tweet he posted on September 6, Bernie Sanders asserted that college athletes ought to be viewed as workers; hence, they should be remunerated for the services rendered. Expressly, he did not miss his words as he boldly stated: “Pay them.”
Sanders tweet was a response to one posted by Lebron James, an accomplished professional basketball player belonging to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Explicitly, James had aired his sentiments about California’s Fair Pay to Play Act that would be instrumental in granting student-athletes monetary compensations once their likeness, image, or name is used.
The bill got overwhelming support at California’s Senate back in May. Once approved by the California Assembly, it will be enacted in 2023, and it will be applicable in all private colleges found in the University of California and Golden State system.
Bernie Sanders believes that payment is prudent
Despite NCAA’s objection of the bill, Bernie Sanders believes that all workers should be paid for services or tasks rendered and college athletes should not be an exemption.
NCAA’s opposition is based on the notion that if the bill got passed, the best athletes in the United States will congregate in California schools.
The issue raised by NCAA has been serious to the extent that its president Mark Emmert stipulated that college teams in California could be barred from taking part in national championships.
The ballooning of college athletics in the last twenty (20) years has prompted Bernie Sanders. As a result, it has emerged to be a fourteen billion dollars (US$14B) sector. Nevertheless, just twelve percent (12%) of this value is availed to students as academic scholarships.
Notably, Bernie Sanders has not been shying away from dealing with contentious issues in the American society head-on. For instance, he has been continuously proposing for tuition-free colleges.
