The continuing saga of Johnny Manziel's off the field activities should ultimately lead us back to the debate about compensation for student athletes. A player like Manziel has brought an incredible amount of income into Texas A&M. The Alabama football team is everything to that University and to that state. The talented players attending these schools are an incredible driver of revenue. But these players see nothing. Yes they get an education, and the value in that can't be overstated. At the same time though, a player going to Alabama can likely go ANYWHERE. And in the society and economy we live in, that means they have a market value.
Major collegiate sports are like a market. Universities get revenue from tickets, merchandise, and TV deals! Most student athletes are like regular college students- broke. So why can't our universities provide them with some kind of stipend that their talents make them worthy of? I am not suggesting we treat their market value like professional free agency and initiate bidding wars between schools. But there should be a set number that the student athletes can receive each month that keeps them from doing things like selling their jerseys or signing autographs.
The players have talents most of us don't. They bring in huge sums of money for their schools that can keep tuition rates down and keep the schools in a position to grow and improve. Something like $1,000 a month for an athlete would mean everything to them - and barely anything to the school.
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