A recent investigation by the Atlanta Journal Constitution of major college football teams found significantly lower average SAT score for college athletes than the remainder of an institution’s undergraduate student body. The disparity was more significant for male athletes, with the largest average gap between the student body and football players (220 points), and the…
A report published by New America Foundation noted the low graduation rates of many football teams listed in the 2008 final regular season Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings. The Foundation’s “Higher Ed Watch” noted that the two football teams competing in the national championship, the University of Florida and the University of Oklahoma, are not…
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The University of Texas at San Antonio officials will present to the UT System regents a plan to boost their athletic budget from $8.5 million to $19 million by 2016 by adding NCAA football and enhancing its other 16 sports. According to a report by the San Antonio Express-News, the plan notes football will raise…
The University of Minnesota athletic department recenty acknowledged its concerns about maintaining its $65 million, self-sustaining budget through the current economic crisis. As posted by the Big Ten Network, UM athletics director Joel Maturi is concerned about the pending $426 million defecit in the state’s budget this year, although the athletic department may be held…
The football coaching carousel is already in motion at several major colleges and the 2008 football season has yet to conclude. According to a recent report in USA Today, coaching changes are underway at 15 of the 119 NCAA Football Bowl Division institutions, 10 of them as a result of dismissals. Next year, more than…
The Cincinnati Enquirer recently highlighted the risk-reward venture of the costs and revenues associated with the University of Cincinnati’s (UC) expected selection to compete in a Bowl Championship Series bowl in January as the football champion of the Big East conference. While the BCS pays out $17.5 million per school competing in one of the…
On November 19, USA Today published an investigative story, “Athletes guided toward ‘beating the system.’” The article was the cover story for the 2-day special report that examined whether athletes are clustering in majors in disproportionate numbers from the student body; the extent to which athletics advisers guide athletes into ‘easier majors’ for eligibility and/or…
The Hattiesburg American reported on November 18 that University of Southern Mississippi (USM) students would be charged $180 in fees for intercollegiate athletics as part of their semester tuition bill. According to the article, the fees helped to raise $5.4 million toward the $19.3 million athletic operating budget. An additional $1 million was provided from…
By MARC ISENBERG, Sports Business Journal The rights of college athletes are under attack – and, as usual, the “amateurs” lose to the business pros. Media companies and professional leagues and athletes have all benefited from the emergence of fantasy sports, whether directly through increased revenue and licensing agreements or indirectly through a more captivated…