March Madness is an event that is looked forward to all year, and as the final games approach, more and more people are tuning in to find out which team will be crowned champion. With such a high viewership, companies are paying big bucks to advertise their product to the millions nationwide who are watching.

Chris Smith of Forbes says that CBS and TBS make more than $1 billion during the tournament, “thanks in part to a $700,000 ad rate for a 30-second spot during the Final Four.” According to Smith, the NCAA makes an average of $6 billion annually. So why don’t the athletes see any of this money?

This is a question that has begged being answered for a decade. The vast amount of money that is made off of the sporting events makes people wonder if student-athletes can be considered amateurs. A group of former players has even filed an antitrust lawsuit going so far as to say that student athletes are entitled to some of the money the NCAA makes off of using their names and likenesses on merchandise such as jerseys and video games.

Should collegiate athletes get paid? In some aspects—yes. The NCAA should not own the rights to a player’s name, but an athlete should not attend a college strictly for sporting purposes. A student goes to a school to learn, not to make money (well, not immediately). Some are even fortunate to have received a scholarship, which in itself, is a sort of payment. Thousands of dollars are thrown towards prospective collegiate athletes in an effort to sway their decision to attend a specific school.

Money corrupts. Do you really believe that college student is mature enough to earn an income from sports? Working a job is one thing, but getting paid for collegiate sports is another.

Add money to the fact that athletes are already admired, respected and practically worshipped for their talent, and the result is a corruption of morals and loss of humility. What is going to stop them from living like they are professional athletes? The distraction of said lifestyle will draw them away from what they are at college to do: TO LEARN.

Some athletes know this and excel in the academic field. They understand that they have been presented with the opportunity to both receive an education and get the exposure to win a major professional contract.

Perhaps NCAA president Mike Emmert understands this and that is why he is reluctant to disburse athletes. “Rather than push college athletics further and further from academics, we need to bring it closer,” Emmert said.