Many students engage in sports, but only a certain number receive the opportunity to compete at the next level. Athletic scholarships can only be awarded one year at a time, so the chances of a student having the opportunity to earn one may be slim to none. “In 2017, 181,306 student-athletes received an athletic scholarship, out of 7.3 million high school student-athletes in attendance that same year.” Universities would have to pay their athletes because they earn a large amount of money from athletics, students could use the money for tuition along with other necessities, and if an accident were to happen the students would have something to fall back on. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, a large amount of a school's money comes from athletics. “From 2011-2012, the most recent year for which verified numbers are available. NCAA revenues were $871.6 million, the majority of which came from the rights deal with Turner/CBS Sports.” NCAA Division I schools earned a total of approximately $9.15 billion from all sports during fiscal year 2015. Since these student-athletes effectively represent the majority of school revenue, it is only fair that they receive a small portion of the proceeds. The major conferences have an eight-year package (ending in 2006) worth $930,000,000 with ABC to televise the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) at the conclusion of the regular football season. Each team playing in a BCS game currently receives about $13 million and, under the terms of the new contract, will receive about $17 million in the final years of the deal. Because the teams share these funds with conference members, the 62 schools involved will split approximately $116,000,000 in payments each year. The NCAA has signed an 11-year, $6,200,000,000 deal that gives CBS the rights to televise its men's basketball championship. (That's $545,000,000 annually, compared to $216,000,000 annually under the current deal that expires after the 2002 tournament.) The NCAA also makes money from advertising and revenue for this tournament. To increase revenue, finals are always scheduled in huge arenas with a seating capacity of at least 30,000, rather than regular basketball stadiums. Additionally, if students are not on a full scholarship, they could use the money to help pay for school. Even then, there's a good chance their scholarship won't even cover the cost of tuition, as the average athletic scholarship amounts to about $10,400. Outside of football and basketball, the average scholarship is $8,700. “The tuition, room, board and books were sufficient compensation.” This quote means that schools already provide students with the necessary essentials they need to get along. The NCAA admits that a "full scholarship" does not cover a student-athlete's basic needs. The NCAA refuses to change its rules to allow schools to provide equal-cost scholarships. Each school lists “cost of attendance” as the amount all students need to survive financially and academically. A relatively small percentage of postseason revenue can be used to help universities provide cost-effective scholarships (NCPAs). College recruiters deceive high school recruits by offering them four-year scholarships as well.