NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar joined CNN’s Crossfire and argued that collegiate athletes should be paid.
“It’s a $6 billion a year industry,” Abdul-Jabbar said about the NCAA. “Last year, CBS and TBS split up $1 billion just off of March Madness. There’s so much money being made and the people who are creating this wealth do not get to participate, and they don’t get to graduate.”
While the NBA legend argued that college football and basketball players should be the students who are paid, USA Today‘s Christine Brennan argued all student athletes would then have to be paid, citing Title IX.
“Football and basketball are on national TV,” said Abdul-Jabbar. “They generate money for all of these national sponsors and advertisers. It’s incredible how much money is being made. The president of the NCAA makes $1.7 million a year, yet the people who are performing and generating this cash do not get to participate in any way.”
Click here to watch the segment.
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