ABSTRACT
The United States is the only country in the world in which colleges and universities stage mass athletic spectacles for commercial gain. In 2013 athletic programmes in higher education accounted for an estimated US$6.1 billion in revenue from activities such as ticket sales, television and radio receipts, alumni contributions, guarantees, royalties and association distributions. 2 Given that the athletes in this industry receive only room, board, tuition and fees as compensation, it is not surprising that the issue of providing college athletes with a greater share of the revenues has generated heated debate. This chapter examines the evolution of professional college sport in the United States, and makes recommendations for how to defend academic integrity in higher education from the corrosive aspects of the college sport industry.
