III. Building Blocks and Positioning
Chapter 10. Big-Time College Athletics
Dr. Ed Ray
Chapter Overview
In recent years, media contracts in Division I sports increased dramatically, especially for the so-called big five conferences. Money draws scrutiny, and so who gets the money in big-time college sports gets a lot of attention, which has led to the development of policy changes, including the on-demand transfer portal and name, image, and likeness contracts for college athletes. The implications of these developments for the future financing of college athletics, especially for non-revenue sports at all Division I schools, is not obvious. New approaches and strategies will be needed to succeed in this new environment. What do best practices look like?
- Funding revenue and non-revenue sports and keeping faith with Title IX.
Funding for Division I athletics programs is driven by media revenue, mostly generated by football and men’s basketball, yet Division I schools are required to sponsor sixteen sports that equally serve men and women. How does the model work, and how must it change?
- The impact of the transfer portal and name-image-likeness programs on college athletics finances and competition.
For the good of the game and the financial viability of Division I college athletics funding, how should transfer modules and access to name-image-likeness funding be regulated?
