Abstract
Recent discussion amongst scholars and practitioners related to current issues in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college athletics has focused on areas such as the widespread commercialization of amateur sports, consistent corruption within athletics departments at NCAA member institutions, extensive exploitation of student-athletes and the necessity of a “pay for play” employee compensation model for student-athletes (see, for example, Benedict & Keteyian, 2014; Branch, 2011; Huma & Staurowsky, 2012; Nocera & Strauss, 2016; Southall & Staurowsky, 2013; Staurowsky, Maxcy, Karcher, Southall, Berri, & Otto, 2015). However, there has been minimal scholarly and industry discourse on how to leverage some of the revenues generated at the NCAA, conference and individual athletics program levels in order to develop innovative and sustainable higher education solutions that would prepare all student-athletes for career and personal success after participation in college athletics. The primary objective of this journal article is to encourage a more informed conversation about important issues in college athletics in part by proposing several practical strategies that would improve the overall student-athlete experience and further align participation in college athletics with the core goals of institutions of higher education. This research note provides an overview of the college athletics business model at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions within Division I of the NCAA. In addition, this article reviews the current NCAA Division I governance structure. An accurate knowledge of the business and governance realities within college athletics is essential to understanding that paying student-athletes an hourly wage or annual salary is actually not one of the main system issues or central student-athlete wellbeing priorities of advocates for student-athletes, athletics leaders and higher education administrators. This article analyzes the primary issues and areas in which key college athletics stakeholders presently seek change and improvement. This article also spotlights innovative, culturally relevant student-athlete career and professional development programs recently developed by the University of Central Florida, Oregon State University and Vanderbilt University. Finally, this article provides a series of recommendations for all stakeholders involved in college athletics to optimize the student-athlete academic and athletic experience and to improve the level of career preparedness of all student-athletes.
Highlights
A primary objective of this research note is to provide an accurate, timely overview of the business and governance of college athletics at the NCAA, conference, and member institution levels
One of the first college athletics contests took place in 1852—a crew race between Harvard and Yale sponsored by the Boston, Concord and Montreal Railroad (Smith, 1988)
$567 million of the total revenue generated by the NCAA was distributed to Division I member institutions (NCAA and Subsidiaries, 2015)
Summary
Recent discussions amongst scholars and practitioners with respect to current issues in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college athletics have focused on areas such as the widespread commercialization of amateur sports, consistent corruption within athletics departments at NCAA member institutions, extensive exploitation of student-athletes, and the necessity of a “pay for play” employee compensation model for student-athletes (Benedict & Keteyian, 2014; Branch, 2011; Huma & Staurowsky, 2012; Nocera & Strauss, 2016; Southall & Staurowsky, 2013; Staurowsky et al, 2015). There has been minimal scholarly and industry discourse on how to leverage some of the revenues generated at the NCAA, conference, and individual athletics program levels in order to develop innovative and sustainable higher education solutions that would prepare all student-athletes for career and personal success after participation in college athletics. A primary objective of this research note is to provide an accurate, timely overview of the business and governance of college athletics at the NCAA, conference, and member institution levels. This research note aims to spotlight the significant issues and areas in which college athletics leaders presently seek change and improvement. The section of this research note provides an overview of the college athletics business model at Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) institutions within Division I of the NCAA. The final section provides a series of recommendations for all stakeholders involved in college athletics to optimize the student-athlete academic and athletic experience as well as to improve the level of career preparedness of all student-athletes
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