ABSTRACT
Do successful big-time athletic programs actually enhance a school’s finances and reputation? Only a paucity of evidence suggests that success on the field or court correlates with greater alumni contributions (except to the athletic departments themselves), and in fact scattered evidence shows that athletic triumphs can actually depress donations, if notoriety accompanies those triumphs. Nor is there a demonstrated link between athletic success and the volume of student applications, though there are isolated examples of the “Flutie Effect” in which an unexpected and spectacular success boosting a school’s national name recognition can lead to a brief surge of interest from prospective students. We also explore the evolving relationship between “student-athletes” —a term that some consider a fiction—and the university via a history of athletic scholarships and NCAA rules governing academic requirements for scholarship athletes. Incentives to cheat—to recruit and illegally aid athletes who will significantly improve a Division I team’s performance—are strong enough to make rule-bending and rule-breaking endemic, as evidenced by a survey of historic and recent scandals. Those administrators who have sought to de-emphasize or even eliminate big-time sports have met fierce resistance, institutionally and from fans.
