This opinion by Knight Commission co-chairs, William “Brit” Kirwan and R. Gerald Turner, was published in the December 19, 2009, edition of the Washington Post. The college football bowl season begins today, with 34 games scheduled from Dec. 19 to Jan. 7. We expect to hear renewed calls from journalists, fans and politicians for a…
Amy Perko of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics was interviewed on WUSB 90.1 FM Radio Show “Everything is Broken” with host Jim Lynch on December 15. The title of the program is “EDUCATION: Big-Time College Sports Programs.” Perko discussed the impact of athletics on universities that have committed to big-time athletics, and knowledge of…
The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently published an article which investigated the myth that college athletic departments reap significant profits when their football teams are invited to high-profile bowl games, particularly Bowl Championship Series games. The paper notes that most BCS-affiliated conferences (Atlantic Coast, Big East, Big Ten, Big Twelve, Pacific 10, Southeastern) pool the payouts among…
An article published by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette raised questions about whether the increasing costs for major athletics programs was justifiable with consideration of the challenges of the rest of the academic financial obligations at higher education institutions. The paper stated that the the costs were extremely high, particularly in a time of shrinking school endowments…
Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal published an article on December 7 looking into five significant issues that will likely face the next NCAA President. Fiscal responsibility is cited as the top issue. The article references the Knight Commission’s presidential survey that questions the financial sustainability of the current Division I model and the widening…
At Western Kentucky University (WKU), the most recent member of the NCAA’s Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), a keen eye on the bottom line is impacting its decision making. A recent article by the WKU Herald looked at how high salaries demanded by football coaches affects the institution’s hiring decisions. It noted the recent…
Outside the Lines (Sundays, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN) will present five pieces over four weeks starting on Sunday, Dec. 13 examining several hot-button issues facing college sports. A companion series on ESPN.com, including a database showing how much money flows into each of the 120 bowl-eligible college athletic departments and how it is spent, will…
A discussion on December 9 at the annual Street & Smith’s Sports Business Daily IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum featured a discussion about the financial pressures facing college sports, addressing the recent Knight Commission survey of presidents at major college football institutions which found that athletic costs are unsustainable. The panel discussion, titled “Chancellors and Presidents:…
On December 3, Hostra University announced it will discontinue its intercollegiate football program because of the significant cost to the institution to compete in the sport. “As we continue to improve our academic programs and reputation, and plan the University’s future, we have to consider the investment we make in all of the University’s programs,”…
Orin Starn, a professor of cultural anthropology, questions whether his institution, Duke University, should continue to subsidize its athletics program. In an opinion published in the Durham Herald-Sun, Starn points to Duke’s $10 million subsidy to its athletics program last year and questions the expense when liberal arts programs are in the midst of having…