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Big Time Sports In American Universities: A Comprehensive Study of Consumer Demand, Economic Impact,



The prevalence of financial subsidies is one aspect of the complex relationship between universities and their athletic departments. These subsidies have become controversial on some college campuses as various stakeholders view subsidies for athletics as problematic (Denhart & Vedder, 2010). For instance, faculty senates have passed resolutions calling for a reduction or the elimination of institutional subsidies for athletics, with recent examples of these controversaries at Rutgers University and the University of California at Berkeley (Clotfelter, 2011; Mulhere, 2015). Interestingly, these concerns have been expressed for many years prior to the financial strains brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, which highlights the on-going controversy around subsidies for college sports. Because of this unique viewpoint, our main focus is on athletic subsidies, and not other types of athletic revenues and expenditures.


College sports are big money (Clotfelter, 2011) and, on September 1, 2006, a new era of athletic finances began. The Mtn. Network began broadcasting representing the first time that an athletic conference (The Mountain West Conference) created their own television network in which an entire television channel was devoted to college sports (Chi, 2014). More TV networks focused solely on college athletics followed, including the Big Ten Network, Longhorn Network (University of Texas-Austin), Pac-12 Network, and SEC Network. Reflecting the massive scope of dedicated TV networks, in 2014, the Big Ten Network reached more than 90 million (of 112 million total) U.S. households (Chi, 2014). While TV has been a part of university athletics since the dawn of television (NCAA, 1953), the introduction of athletic conference networks represents a new and different type of exposure for college sports, and a large new funding stream.




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In addition to this supporting evidence, we are unaware of any other major policy changes in college sports during this time that would have systematically impacted our treated institutions. Because the conference networks were created in a number of different years, it is unlikely that a single policy change would have impacted the outcome variables in a way that would skew the results. That is not to say that there were not changes in college sports over the time period, just none that we are aware of that coincided with the creation of each of the conference TV networks that would violate an assumption of a DID model. Additionally, the decisionmakers that set subsidy values on each campus are likely different from the decisionmakers who decide if an athletic conference will start a television network, which indicates a clear separation of decisionmakers.


The cleaning that we did was to impute data for Maryland for the number of sports variable. This data was missing from the EADA dataset, but the number of sports did not change during the time period, so we used the same number for each year of the dataset.


Not only do typical athletes in big-time sports enter at an academic disadvantage, they often encounter a diluted educational experience while attending their schools. Coaches, under the intense pressure to win, tend to diminish the student side of their athletes by counseling them to take easy courses, choose easy majors, and enroll in courses given by faculty members friendly to the athletic department.


Despite the call for educational primacy by Myles Brand and the statements embodied in the NCAA Manual, the reality is far from the stated ideal. In fact, the current commercial structure of big-time college sports is essentially incompatible with education (Eitzen, 2000; Sack, 2001).


Now is a great time to discover one of the top universities in Michigan. Our diverse and intellectually dynamic community is the perfect place to call home. Our professors are experts in their fields. Plus, we're investing in facilities, adding new academic programs, and renovating our dining and living spaces. Come see for yourself.


The University of New Haven is a member of the athletically and academically prestigious Northeast-10 Conference and NCAA Division II. Our teams are known as the Chargers, and the University's mascot is Charlie the Charger. The University of New Haven offers 20 varsity sports and we have about 440 student-athletes. Collectively, the University of New Haven's teams have been to the playoffs over 275 times. The Chargers have won conference, regional, and even national championships, and our student-athletes excel in the classroom and community.


At the University of New Haven, campus recreation is called "ChargerREC," with a home base in the David A. Beckerman Recreation Center. There are 20 intramural offerings in three divisions (men's, women's, and co-REC), subdivided into divisions by skill level as well. The University has 21 club sports teams and offers over 35 different fitness classes, in addition to personal training and lifetime health and skills classes.


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