Enhancing 'Education': Rebalancing the Relationship Between Athletics and the University

• Author: William W. Berry III
• Position: Associate Professor of Law and Frank Montague, Jr. Professor of Legal Studies and Professionalism, University of Mississippi
• Pages: 197-225

Enhancing “ Education ” : Rebalancing the Relationship Between Athletics and the University William W. Berry III * This symposium Article argues for a rebalancing of the relationship between athletics and the university. Specifically, it challenges college presidents to leverage the economic growth of intercollegiate athletics to enhance the academic side of the university for all students. The university ought to utilize athletics to improve the institution, not sacrifice its core mission to serve the athletics department. To be clear, this rebalancing would be consistent with the core ideals that both the university presidents and the NCAA have been verbalizing for decades. In Part I, the Article describes the shift from a symbiotic relationship to a more parasitic relationship, with athletics exerting dominance over the university at many institutions. Part II argues for a rebalancing—outlining a relational shift consistent with the values of the NCAA and the practices at some institutions. Finally, Part III addresses the practical obstacles to such a shift and provides a road map for universities to enhance the student-athlete educational model that the NCAA champions. Copyright 2017, by WILLIAM W. BERRY III. * Associate Professor of Law and Frank Montague, Jr. Professor of Legal Studies and Professionalism, University of Mississippi. The author thanks the Louisiana Law Review for the invitation to participate in its January 2017 symposium, Blurred Lines: Emerging Trends and Issues in Sports and Gaming Law, at which this paper was presented, and for the Louisiana Law Review’s hard work in editing the article. The author would also like to thank Matt Mitten, Jo Potuto, Marc Edelman, Roger Groves, and other participants in the symposium for helpful comments and suggestions. Finally, the author thanks Morgan Eason and Allison Bruff for their excellent research assistance. 198 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 78 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................. 199 I. Athletics Dominance of Universities ........................................... 205 A. The Platform of “Education” ................................................. 206 B. Athletics as the Front Porch of the University ....................... 207 C. The Costs of the Explosion of Athletics ................................ 209 II. Enhancing “Education” ................................................................ 213 A. Addressing the Arms Race .................................................... 213 B. Eliminating University Subsidy of Athletics ......................... 216 C. Mandating Athletics Subsidy of Education ........................... 217 D. Reforming the NCAA ............................................................ 218 III. Mapping the Future of the University-Athletics Relationship ..... 219 A. Obstacles to Reform .............................................................. 219 1. Status Quo Inertia ............................................................ 219 2. Unfamiliarity of Presidents with Athletics ...................... 220 3. Popularity and Visibility of Athletics .............................. 221 4. Academic Gaps for Some Athletes ................................. 222 B. A Roadmap for Readjustment................................................ 223 1. Restructure the NCAA: Emphasize Education, not Amateurism ..................................................................... 223 2. Grow Athletics, but Leverage Economic Gains through Conferences ..................................................................... 224 3. Reduce Coach Firings and Buyouts ................................ 224 Conclusion .................................................................................... 225 2017] ENHANCING “EDUCATION” 199 INTRODUCTION “I will turn your face to alabaster / Then you’ll find your servant is your master.” 1 —Sting By many standards, the economic success of intercollegiate athletics has reached a pinnacle. 2 The college football playoff yields payouts to universities in excess of $600 million per year, 3 and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) enjoys roughly $900 million in revenue from the NCAA men’s basketball tournament each March. 4 For universities in conferences with their own television networks, contracts can yield tens of millions of dollars a year for universities. 5 And yet, most athletics departments lose money annually. 6 At many universities, the revenue sports of football and basketball—occasionally baseball and women’s basketball as well 7 —subsidize all of the other sports 1. THE POLICE, Wrapped Around Your Finger, on SYNCHRONICITY (A&M Records 1983). 2. Will Hobson & Steven Rich, Playing in the Red, WASH. POST (Nov. 23, 2015), http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/sports/wp/2015/11/23/running-up-the-bills/ (“Big-time college sports departments are making more money than ever before.”) [https://perma.cc/SF5B-BHV5]. 3. Kristi Dosh, College Football Playoff Payouts By Conference For 2016-17, FORBES (Dec. 31, 2016), http://www.forbes.com/sites/kristidosh/2016/12 /31/college-football-playoff-payouts-by-conference-for-2016-17/#7229e24e5da5 [https://perma.cc/R84R-GYHC]. 4. Jonathan Berr, March Madness: Follow the Money, CBS NEWS (Mar. 20, 2015), http://www.cbsnews.com/news/march-madness-follow-the-money/ [https:// perma.cc/W769-LVSB]. 5. See, e.g., Kristi Dosh, A Comparison: Conference Television Deals, ESPN (Mar. 19, 2013), http://www.espn.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/3163/a-comparison-conference-televisiondeals [https://perma.cc/9KS6-C275]. 6. Steve Berkowitz, Jodi Upton & Erik Brady, Most NCAA Division I athletic departments take subsidies, USA TODAY (July 1, 2013), http://www.usatoday .com/story/sports/college/2013/05/07/ncaa-finances-subsidies/2142443/ [https://per ma.cc/AL6M-G5S6]; Shane Shifflett & Ben Hallman, The Subsidy Gap, HUFF. POST (Nov. 25, 2015, 9:50 AM), http://projects.huffingtonpost.com/projects/ncaa/subsidy-gap [https://perma.cc/8WLN-2V7L]. 7. Steve Berkowitz et al., NCAA Finances 2015-2016, USA TODAY, http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/ (last visited July 27, 2017) [https://perma.cc/H36H-2MUL]; Brad Wolverton et al., The 10-Billion Sports Tab, THE CHRON. OF HIGHER EDUC. (Nov. 15, 2015), http://www.chronicle.com /interactives/ncaa-subsidies-main#id=table_2014 [https://perma.cc/S94X-SLLW]; 200 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 78 at the university, including coaches’ salaries, recruiting costs, scholarships, facilities, uniforms, and travel costs. 8 Even worse, many athletics departments use student fees to subsidize their athletics programs, particularly the football programs. 9 In non-Power Five conference programs, student tuition and fees usually account for half, if not more, of the athletics department’s budget. 10 The financial crisis in athletics departments, however, is a more recent development 11 that ironically has corresponded with the ballooning revenues generated by postseason games and television contracts. 12 The two primary culprits for the increased athletics department costs lurk in the wild increase in coaches’ salaries in revenue sports, including assistant coaches, 13 and the facility arms race 14 among athletics programs—used Kristi Dosh, Does Football Fund Other Sports At College Level?, FORBES (May 5, 2011), http://www.forbes.com/sites/sportsmoney/2011/05/05/does-football-fund-other-sports-at-college-level/#7a9c82a0563e [https://perma.cc/6UH6-PECJ]. 8. Paula Lavigne, College Sports Thrive Amid Downturn, ESPN (May 1, 2014), http://www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10851446/sports-programs-nation-top-public-colleges-thrived-economic-downturn-earning-record-revenues [https://perma.cc/X6E3-5GVT]. 9. Berkowitz et al., supra note 7; Wolverton et al., supra note 7; see also William W. Berry III, Educating Athletes, 81 TENN. L. REV. 795, 798–99 (2014) (citation omitted). 10. Berkowitz et al., supra note 7; Wolverton et al., supra note 7. The Power Five conferences are the SEC, Big 10, ACC, Big 12, and Pac-12. Shifflett & Hallman, supra note 6. For instance, Morehead State University subsidized 86% of its athletics department budget in 2014, with student fees and tuition covering $9.3 million of a $10.8 million budget. Wolverton et al., supra note 7. 11. Hobson & Rich, supra note 2; Brian Burnsed, Athletics Departments That Make More Than They Spend Still a Minority, NCAA (Sept. 18, 2015), http://www .ncaa.org/about/resources/media-center/news/athletics-departments-make-more-they -spend-still-minority [https://perma.cc/698X-YWAW]. 12. Hobson & Rich, supra note 2 (“Big-time college sports departments are making more money than ever before, thanks to skyrocketing television contracts, endorsement and licensing deals, and big-spending donors.”). 13. Andrew Zimbalist, College Coaches’ Salaries and Higher Education , HUFF. POST, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-zimbalist/college-coaches-salaries-_1_b_6400256.html (last updated Mar. 2, 2015) (noting that between 2005 and 2012, the average salary of head football coaches at the top 25 football schools increased over 60%) [https://perma.cc/9365-SPFS]. 14. With the increase in television money, universities consistently have sought to improve their facilities in recent years and make them better than peer institutions, leading to an “arms race” of sorts. The University of Oregon is one obvious example of the facility arms race. See Peter Berkes, Incredible Photos 2017] ENHANCING “EDUCATION” 201 both as a recruiting tool and an additional source of revenue. 15 Despite these developments, the financial situation is not desperate for schools in the Power Five conferences, 16 as economic revenues continue to grow with few signs of over-saturation in the marketplace, at least for a few years. 17 The increased commercialization in college sports, however, continues to fuel the ongoing debate concerning whether athletes in revenue sports...