Hold That Bottom Line: The Development of the Business Model in Intercollegiate Athletics

The Rise of Commercialism Intercollegiate athletics began as one dimension of the extra-curriculum, but has evolved at some large universities into a substantially autonomous, for-profit entity. It was the construction of large football stadiums during the early twentieth century that provided the first intimation of athletics representing more than a vehicle for student physical and social development. In 1914, Yale University built the Yale Bowl, with a seating capacity of more than 70,000 (Yale University n.d.). Eight years later, The Ohio State University opened Ohio Stadium, the largest stadium west of the Yale Bowl, which initially accommodated 66,210 fans (Ohio State University n.d.). Post-season football competition started in 1902 when the Pasadena Tournament of Roses added to its parade a game between the University of Michigan and Stanford University. That first game was called in the third quarter, with Michigan leading 49-0. After a fourteen-year hiatus in which the Tournament staged chariot races for entertainment, football resumed in Pasadena. By 1920, William L. Leishman, president of the Tournament, concluded that a stadium larger than Tournament Park was needed for the growing crowd. The Tournament financed the new stadium, which came to be known as the "Rose Bowl," by selling ten-year subscription tickets for $100 each. The stadium opened for the game on January 1, 1923 (Pasadena Tournament of Roses 2003). The inhospitable economic conditions of the Depression did not stop the advance of post-season play. The Orange and Sugar Bowls were first played in 1935, while the Sun Bowl began a year later and the Cotton Bowl started in 1937. Basketball, still in its infancy as compared to football, likewise saw the origins of post-season competition during this time period. The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) began in 1938, with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament starting the year after (World Almanac 2002). In the 1950s, television presented new revenue opportunities for college football, but the NCAA limited the number of appearances an institution could make. Another signpost to commercialism was the NCAA rule change in 1965 that permitted unlimited substitution after each play in Division I football. This would engender an era of specialization and large rosters in football. Legitimacy for Commercialism: Gender Equity Commercialism in athletics preceded the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which stated that "no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance." However, if universities needed legitimacy for commercializing athletics, it came from the legally imposed costs of providing women with athletic opportunities. The provision of athletic opportunities for women was implemented with deliberate speed for twenty years, but the pace quickened with the landmark case of Cohen v. Brown University (1992). The United States District Court for the district of Rhode Island construed a three-prong test established by Office of Civil Rights regulations to determine whether Brown had complied with Tide IX. Brown failed to demonstrate compliance with any of the three prongs: (1) providing athletic participation opportunities for women "substantially proportionate" to their enrollment in the institution, (2) practicing "program expansion" for the underrepresented gender, or (3) full and effective accommodation of the athletic interests of the underrepresented gender. Accordingly, the court enjoined Brown to restore to varsity status two women's teams-gymnastics and volleyball-which had been demoted to club status. The decision sent shock waves through intercollegiate athletics. The most common institutional response has been to drop men's teams that do not generate revenue and to maximize revenue from football and men's basketball in order to absorb the costs of gender equity (Suggs 2001a, 2003a; Conniff 2003). …