Legal Analysis of Provocative Reform of Intercollegiate Athletics
February 16, 2012
Responding to increased concerns about the fiscal sustainability of big-time intercollegiate athletics, continued exploitation of athletics, and efforts to blame Title IX for pressures on men’s sports, Professor Ross offers a provocative Reform Charter that would (1) limit Men’s Division I-A scholarship programs to those that are financially sustainable; (2) limit Women’s Division I-A programs to an equal number of scholarship opportunities; (3) require all other sports to operate on a non-scholarship, limited budget basis; and (4) reduce aid to football to 55 equivalent positions; and (5) allow schools to pay elite athletes up to $15,000 per year, with such aid counting as 1 1/2 scholarships toward the total for any sport.
View a video of a talk with questions and answers at a recent Penn State program and the accompanying powerpoint.
Read Ross’ draft article, for a symposium sponsored by the Tulane Law Review, here.