Revenue Generating Intercollegiate Athletics and Their Impact on American Universities

Abstract

This essay explores the development of revenue generating sports in American universities. The definition of revenue generating sports in this essay is NCAA Division 1 men’s basketball and football programs. There is a fundamental difference between collegiate athletics in America and collegiate athletics in the majority of the world. In the United States only, a fanatical and culturally significant movement has developed amongst a cross section of the American population that is not limited to any one particular demographic subset. In order to explore this movement, I discuss interactions and relationships between the university administration, faculty, student-athletes, athletic-department personnel, university donors, and third party groups. The aim of the essay is to argue that the influx of revenue had affected these relationships, identify the changes, and illuminate the driving forces behind those changes. I use scholarly and popular works, original source interviews with experts in this industry, and personal experience as the source for this essay.