There have been many court cases over the years all of which have gone nowhere. It wasn't until earlier this year when California became the first state to allow NCAA athletes to profit off of the use of their name and likeliness. Although California passed a law saying their athletes could be paid, the NCAA still holds firm to their rule that if a player gets paid, they automatically become a professional, meaning that they are no longer eligible to be a NCAA Athlete. Negotiations into this rule are still going on though so it is possible that sometime in the near future, players will start to earn small profits solely based on what they can bring to the school (jerseys, autographs, etc.).
So, should NCAA student-athletes become paid in some form, or is turning down money in pursuit of their education more important?
In a sense, the athletes are being paid in scholarships and they benefit by using the NCAA platform to make their names well-known. Since the rule is that college athletes cannot be professionals, it doesn't really make sense to give them a salary. However, if the names and jerseys of the athletes are selling to customers it gets tricky because they wouldn't really be getting payed to play like a professional, they would be paid for the use of their name. This is more justifiable since they wouldn't be professionals just by profiting off of jersey sales, and it is a bit unjust that the institutions are making money off of jerseys that the students put into demand in the first place.
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