Economics of College Sports

Operating behind a veil of amateurism, the NCAA and collegiate athletic departments oversee big business sports programs. These entities generate revenues comparable to professional sports, practice and play in facilities that rival those found in professional sports, and pay their top coaches salaries comparable to the salaries paid to coaches of professional sports teams. Athletes are courted with lavish stadiums, training facilities, and locker rooms. Customers are wooed with branded apparel, videos, logos, and advertisements. Business interests are captured with stadium billboards, electronic ads on scoreboards, sponsorship of bowl games, logos on uniforms, and exclusive apparel and equipment contracts. Where do, or should, these lucrative athletic ventures fit in the mission of higher education? To what extent is the central mission of creating an environment for learning and extending the frontiers of knowledge enhanced or limited by college sports? Are declarations by the NCAA to promote amateurism and competitive balance supportive of the university mission? Does the NCAA even follow its purported objectives?
The Economics of College Sports contains both empirical and theoretical research to address these and related issues. Perhaps the most unique contributions focus on the interactions between legal and institutional aspects of the NCAA and their impact on the objectives and goals of university education; all of the contributions provide insights that will generate significant discussion about the policies necessary to sustain the vitality and integrity of the university education-sports coalition.

JOHN FIZEL is Professor of Economics and Chair of the iMBA program at Penn State University. He conducts research in applied microeconomic topics that have included online auctions, nursing home efficiency, and the economics of sports. He is co-editor of Baseball Economics (Praeger, 1996) and Sports Economics (Praeger, 1999).
RODNEY FORT is Professor of Economics at Washington State University. The author of dozens of articles and monographs on sports economics, he serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Sports Economics. He is a regular speaker and panel participant on sports issues in the United States and Europe, and he has testified before the U.S. Senate on competitive balance issues and often renders expert opinion in legal cases in the United States.

Tables and Figures Introduction Economics of College Sports: An Overview by John Fizel and Rodney Fort Structure College Sports and the University Mission The 1997 Restructuring of the NCAA: A Transactions Cost Explanation by Joel Maxcy The Impact on Higher Education of Corruption in Big-Time College Sports by Paul Staudohar and Barry Zepel Motivating College Athletics by Evan Osborne Financial Returns to College Sports Effects of University Athletics on the University: A Review and Extension of Empirical Assessment by Brian Goff Why do U.S. Colleges have Sports Programs? by Robert Sandy and Peter Sloane An Economic Slam Dunk or March Madness? Assessing the Economic Impact of the NCAA Basketball Tournament by Robert A. Baade and Victor A. Matheson Labor Issues in College Sports College Football and Title IX by Michael A. Leeds, Yelena Suris, and Jennifer Durkin Measufing Marginal Revenue Product in College Athletics: Updated Estimates by Robert W. Brown and R. Todd Jewel Participation in Collegiate Athletics and Academic Performance by John Fizel and Timothy Smaby Managerial Efficiency, Managerial Succession, and Organizational Performance by John L. Fizel and Michael P. D'Itri Competitive Balance in College Sports Institutional Change in the NCAA and Competitive Balance in Intercollegiate Football by Craig A. Depken,II and Dennis P Wilson Is There a Short Supply of Tall People in the College Game? by David J. Berri The Impact of Cartel Enforcement in Divisiion I-A Football by Craig A. Depken,II and Dennis P. Wilson Index About the Contributors