The recent lawsuit Dawson v. National Collegiate Athletic Association calls for college football players to be treated as employees and therefore owed wages. This lawsuit comes in a line of many unsuccessful attempts to get athletes compensated as employees. Support for college football players to be recognized as employees stems from the ‘enormous value’ many believe the athletes bring to the school. Donald Remy, the NCAA’s chief legal advisor, contests this idea because he claims the athletes are focused primarily on academics and feel a commitment to the sport that pay might devalue.
See "NCAA, PAC-12 Hit With Claim Football Players Are Employees", Jon Steingart, Bloomberg BNA, September 29, 2016