Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics

Summary

This summary describes the highlights of each of the eight sections of this report in order to provide an overview of the basic information presented in each section.   Each section can be read on a stand-alone basis.  

Section 1 – History

1. Relying upon the 1984 U.S. Supreme Court decision, NCAA legal counsel advised the NCAA in 1986 and 1987 that its oversight of postseason Division I-A football needed to be limited.

2. Resolution no. 72 at the 1988 NCAA Convention, approved by a 98-13-1 vote, asked that the NCAA Postseason Football Subcommittee discontinue its consideration of a possible format for a Division I-A football championship.

3. Table 1-1 shows that, due primarily to a lack of scheduling regulation for Division I-A postseason bowl games, the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship game attracted a larger television audience than the highest-rated postseason football bowl game each year from 1988-89 through 1994-95.

4. In January, 1994, the NCAA Council authorized the appointment of an ad hoc committee to study a possible Division I-A football championship.  The committee’s work was discontinued in June, 1994 at the behest of the NCAA Presidents Commission.

5. The Bowl Alliance was formed in 1994 and organized certain portions of the Division I-A postseason bowl schedule from 1995-96 through 1997-98.

6. The Bowl Championship Series was formed in 1996 and, with the addition of the Rose Bowl Game, the Big Ten Conference, and the Pac-10 Conference, again reorganized a major portion of the Division I-A postseason bowl schedule, involving four bowl games and one exclusive television company, ABC Sports.

7. The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) became effective in 1998-99 for a four-year term, ending 2001-02.  The agreement with ABC Sports was renewed in 2000 for a second four-year term, ending 2005-06.

8. Table 1-2 shows that the BCS no. 1 vs. no. 2 bowl game achieved a higher television audience than the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship game in five of the first six years of the BCS structure, but the basketball championship telecast still commands higher television advertising pricing from commercial sponsors.

Section 2 – Division I-A Membership

1. There are 117 member institutions in Division I-A.

2. Of the 117, 62 are in the six conferences heretofore considered members of the BCS, plus Notre Dame.  The other 54 institutions are in five other conferences, plus three independents.

3. A total of 17 institutions (15% of Division I-A membership) are involved in the various conference membership changes announced in the past two years, with the last changes to be effective in 2005-06.

Section 3 – Division I-A Fall 2003 Regular Season

1. New Division I-A membership criteria becomes effective August 1, 2004.

2. Table 3-1 shows the home stadium capacities of member institutions, by conference.

3. Table 3-2 shows the average home game attendance for each of the 11 Division I-A conferences for 2003.

4. Table 3-3 shows the relative ranking of each of the 117 Division I-A member institutions in terms of home game average attendance, sorted by conference.

5. Table 3-4 shows the non-conference won-loss records of the 117 Division I-A member institutions, aggregated by conference, against other Division I-A opponents and against Division I-AA opponents.

6. Table 3-5 shows the non-conference won-loss records of each of the 11 Division I-A conferences vs.: (a) other “BCS” conferences; and (b) the “Non-BCS” conferences.

Section 4 – The Bowl System

1. Table 4-1 shows the total of 28 bowl games scheduled for the 2004-05 season over a 22-day period, beginning Tuesday, December 14 and ending Tuesday, January 4.  Three additional bowl games may be added in 2005-06.

2. Table 4-2 shows the number of bowl games, by year, from 1986-87 (17 games) to 2004-05 (28 games).

3. One television company, ABC-ESPN-ESPN2, holds the television rights to 25 of the 28 games; ESPN is not only the telecast partner but is the owner of record of three of the 25 bowl games.

4. It is believed that ABC is not earning a profit on the four BCS games but has offsetting compensation as a result of the net income from the 20 individually-negotiated bowl games telecast by ESPN/ESPN2.  

5. ABC retains the revenue and has primary responsibility for the selection of the title sponsors for three of the four BCS games and of the presenting sponsor for the fourth game (Rose Bowl).  The Rose Bowl has had three different presenting sponsors in the past three years.

6. ABC also has primary responsibility for the selection of the corporate sponsor for the BCS national championship trophy.  The BCS national championship trophy has had a different corporate name in each of the past three years.

7. Table 4-3 shows that the aggregate television household ratings for the four BCS games have remain essentially flat for the past 15 years (considered a positive achievement in the current U.S. television industry).  The aggregate television household ratings for the other postseason bowl games have remained essentially flat over the past 15 years, but are now distributed over 24 bowl games (2003-04) compared to 12 bowl games previously (1988-89).

8. Table 4-4 shows the Gross Revenue for each of the 28 bowl games in 2003-04.

9. Table 4-5 shows the aggregate Gross Revenue data for: (a) the four BCS bowl games; and (b) for “All Other” bowl games, since 1988-89.

10. Table 4-6 shows the aggregate Team Payout data for: (a) the four BCS bowl games; and (b) for “All Other” bowl games, since 1988-89.

11. Table 4-7 shows the aggregate Bowl Association/Owner Retention data for: (a) the four BCS bowl games; and (b) for “All Other” bowl games, since 1988-89.

12. Table 4-8 shows the various profit or loss amounts for the 24 “All Other” bowl games in 2003-04.  Of the 24 games, 17 reported a net profit.

Section 5—Conferences and Division I-A Football

1. Table 5-1 shows the lineup of conference/bowl game affiliation agreements and schedule for 2004-05.

2. Table 5-2 shows the aggregate Gross Revenue-Participating Expenses-Net Income data for each of the so-called six “BCS” conference from the 2003-04 bowl games, with the four BCS bowl games (as a group) listed separately from the “All Other” bowl games (as a group).

3. Table 5-3 shows the aggregate Gross Revenue-Participating Expenses-Net Income data for each of the so-called five “Non-BCS” conference from the 2003-04 bowl games, with each conference’s BCS distribution listed separately from the “All Other” bowl games (as a group).

4. Table 5-4 shows the summary of the data from Table 5-2 and 5-3.

5. Table 5-5 shows revenue information, through 2012-13, for the NCAA, derived mainly from the CBS contract for the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship.

6. Table 5-6 shows the 2003-04 summary revenue and expense budget for the NCAA.

7. Table 5-7 shows the amount of 2002-03 NCAA distributions to the 31 conferences of NCAA Division I, as a group, with approximately 58% of NCAA gross revenue distributed to 31 NCAA Division I conferences.

8. Table 5-8 shows the 2002-03 NCAA distributions to the 31 conferences, consolidated in three groups: (a) the six so-called BCS Division I-A conferences; (b) the five so-called Non-BCS Division I-A conferences; and (c) the other 20 conferences in Division I.

9. Table 5-9 shows the 2002-03 financial statistics (Gross Revenue-Participating Expenses-Net Income) from Division I-A postseason football, separately listed for the same (a), (b) and (c) conference groups as in Table 5-8.

Section 6 – Commercialization and Division I-A Postseason Football

1. At least 23 of the 28 Division I-A postseason bowl games now carry a corporate name.  Most have had multiple corporate names within the past decade.

2. Corporate associations with intercollegiate athletics occur to varying degrees.  Those conferences with conference championship football games and conference basketball tournaments now, more often than not, have a title sponsor.  The Heisman Trophy now has a presenting sponsor. 

3. ABC retains the revenue from the title sponsorships of three BCS games and the presenting sponsorship of the fourth BCS game (Rose Bowl). 

4. While the National Football League television contracts prohibit corporate namings attached to in-game, on-screen information graphics, the ABC agreements for the four BCS games do not contain a similar prohibition.

5. Nielsen Media Research announced in April, 2004, the initiation of a new television measurement service to gauge the amount of exposure that individual actual or virtual signage (on-field signage, sideline/stadium signage) receives during a telecast, in addition to viewing audience measurements.

6. The NCAA Football Certification Subcommittee’s handbook for postseason Division I-A football games does provide for limited NCAA authority over: (a) game titles/title sponsorships; and (b) advertising.

Section 7 – Academic Calendar Information

1. Table 7.1 shows the dates for the first three weekends in January, 2004.

2. Table 7.2 shows the results of a survey of the published 2003-04 academic calendars for the 63 BCS member institutions, specifically the number of institutions that began class in January after each of the three weekends:

·       18 (29%) in the week after the first weekend;

·       27 (42%) in the week after the second weekend;

·       18 (29%) in the week after the third weekend.

3. Table 7.3 shows the data from Table 7.2, aggregated by each of the six so-called BCS conferences.

4. Table 7.4 shows the data, aggregated for each conference, of the week of final examinations in December, 2003, for comparison to the schedule of the Division I-A postseason bowl games scheduled prior to December 25.  In December, 2004, six of the 24 non-BCS bowl games are scheduled prior to December 25.

Section 8 – Current Events – Questions and Observations

Three themes are identified for comment and discussion:

1. Governance
2. Access
3. Revenue Distribution