Regardless of your interest in college athletics, you’ve likely heard about the industry’s turmoil. The NCAA is yet again facing a series of legal, political, business, and social challenges, mainly of its own making. For these reasons, my recent research published in the Sport Business and Management journal analyzed factors influencing the NCAA’s decision-making. Education, finance, compliance, professionalism, health and well-being, and inclusion are all areas where the NCAA aims to lead. In reality, the best corporations in the country struggle to get things right on just a few of these issues, yet the NCAA has positioned itself as trying to do it all.
Doing so has led the NCAA to make contradictory decisions, sparking controversies. For instance, the NCAA has aimed to empower athletes as social justice advocates, especially following the Black Lives Matter resurgence. However, former Historically Black Colleges and Universities students are suing the NCAA for disproportionately penalizing these schools, taking opportunities away from the predominantly Black student-athletes attending them. This is not to mention the many decades denying football and basketball players (who are predominantly young Black men and women) the right to earn compensation for their talents.
These contradictory choices have hurt the earning potential of the association as well. Despite claiming to champion Title IX, the NCAA sold women’s basketball tournament multimedia rights for a fraction of their value. It was not until an empowered female college athlete, Sedona Prince, shared the stark differences between the men’s and women’s tournaments that the NCAA allowed the women’s tournament to use the name March Madness. With the women’s March Madness tournament attracting 9.5 million viewers for the championship game, the NCAA has missed out on millions of dollars by not aligning with its stated priorities and values.
Despite these contradictions, there are some things the NCAA is good at. My research revealed how NCAA leadership approaches its financial responsibility to college athletics. While it is often portrayed as an exploitative force, due to the billions of dollars college athletes generate for their schools, NCAA leaders understand their role as financial stewards. They see themselves as working to ensure every dollar they generate in revenue provides academic opportunities for the students. Recent policies that allocate funds based on academic metrics showcase how the NCAA can successfully champion a worthwhile cause. However, as the head coach for the UCLA football team, Chip Kelly, recently commented, “we’re leaving money on the table.” And the money that is left on the table would do well to support the NCAA’s investment into college athletes, in a way that could be far more equitable.
Nonetheless, the key finding of my research is that the NCAA attempts to be all things to all people. The result is an organization making decisions and implementing redundant and contradictory policies. This continues to expose the NCAA to various issues and complaints, resulting in many calling for abandoning the association altogether.
With former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker now leading, the NCAA needs to confront multiple pressing issues. Beyond the above-mentioned issues, several other challenges are shaking up the college athletics ecosystem, including college athletes gaining employee rights and universities chasing record revenue. These issues have brought negative pressure on the NCAA and landed several NCAA leaders in front of Federal lawmakers demanding to know how the association plans to fix the situation.
Baker’s predecessor, Mark Emmert, lacked vision and foresight, often regurgitating decades-old talking points. Baker must avoid repeating the same approach. He and the NCAA’s top leadership need to forge a new vision, much like his time as governor, which recognizes the need to integrate the public and private sectors, streamline bureaucratic processes, and be future-oriented. The NCAA can embrace a corporate identity while preserving cherished college athletics traditions.
Creating a subsidiary that maximizes opportunities for all sports could boost NCAA revenue they can reallocate to achieve its educational goals. Further, Baker needs to take a hands-on leadership role and cut through much of the bureaucratic mess the NCAA has become. My research uncovered the NCAA has over 1,100 committees, many accomplishing the same tasks. During this tumultuous period, the NCAA needs fewer voices and a clear vision coming from the top. Lastly, college athletics is changing. Leaders can continue regurgitating talking points from the last century or finally step into the 21st century, lay forth a new future for college athletics, and take ownership of the changing landscape.
Charles D.T. Macaulay is an assistant professor of sport management who has been at UMass since 2021. Charles can be reached at cmacaulay@isenberg.umass.edu