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Knight Commission to Seek Changes to How NCAA Distributes March Madness Revenue

[ TODAY: Commission to discuss new analysis that highlights inequities in the annual NCAA distribution formula ]

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics today will propose in a virtual public session changes to the NCAA’s March Madness revenue distribution, which sends nearly $600 million to its 351 Division I schools every year. In addition to this direct funding to Division I schools, March Madness revenues support both NCAA operations and 90 national championships for 24 sports across all three membership divisions, which include more than 1,000 colleges and universities.

Knight Commission to Highlight Inequities in Division I Revenue Distribution at Second Virtual Forum

[ Session will feature former U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan and findings from a new analysis ]

On Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics will hold the second virtual forum of its four-part series on the NCAA Division I model and the need for reform. This 60-minute forum, A New Analysis of the D-I Revenue Distribution Formula Inequities, will examine the financial distributions from Division I’s two marquee events: the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament and the FBS College Football Playoff.

THE COMING COVID-19 TRANSFORMATION OF COLLEGE SPORTS

By Nancy Zimpher and Jonathan Mariner Published in MarketWatch, August 11, 2020. While millions of fans are lamenting the looming disappearance of college sports this fall, the coronavirus pandemic is also exposing financial fault lines and a broken governance model that may trigger an opportunity to irrevocably transform big-dollar college athletic programs. COVID-19 has cast…

Knight Commission Releases Guidelines and Considerations for Decisions to Reopen College Sports

The Knight Commission appreciates the gravity, urgency and uncertainty of decisions about how to reopen college sports, and recognizes that reopening college sports programs is an important leading indicator of the broader national crisis gripping higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic. The decisions that college leaders make about whether to bring athletes back to campus and engage in training and competition should not be made in isolation but rather should go hand in hand with decisions about returning other students to dorms, classrooms and dining halls. Maintaining the safety and health of college athletes is just as vital as maintaining the safety and health of all students, faculty, staff and university administrators.

Knight Commission’s June 4 Video and Webinar Kit

On June 4, 2020, the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics held a webinar to assess the NCAA’s proposal allowing college athletes to earn money for the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) and to evaluate key differences with recommendations made by other groups. The session focused on issues such as compliance with fair market value, the confusion around group endorsement opportunities and ways to achieve uniformity, either through Congress or the Uniform Law Commission. The expert panel included Congressman Anthony Gonzalez, who is working on an NIL bill, Val Ackerman, Gabe Feldman and Tom McMillen.

Knight Commission Examining Major Restructuring of College Sports

For Public Release Dec. 16, 2019 The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a leading voice for college sports reform, informed NCAA President Mark Emmert today that it will examine new models to restructure college sports, citing the challenges created by the “highly commercialized environment” for Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) football and some NCAA Division I…