Money, Power and College Athletics

Where there's sports, there’s money. But the question many have began to contemplate is “how much money is too much money?” Today high school parents have shifted their concern from the classroom to the field. Parents of high schooler’s have seen the great effects of being a college-athlete, and lets not forget the thousands of dollars in scholarship money that go hand in hand with being one of the elite.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the varsity athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The NCAA is what most consider to be the "backbone" of college athletics. The NCAA has set up rules and regulations for each college sport to make both the recruiting process and the college experience as fair and equal as they can. However, when the question of money comes into play, there is no “fair and equal.”

Each college and sport has different rules regarding money and funding for scholarships. According to the graph above the amount of money through 2002 that each of the NCAA schools spend is no lose change. Reaching up to $45,000 in just conference money is almost doubled with how well teams in the NCAA perform. In 2009, University of Florida athletics generated more revenue then any other college. UF football team alone helped bring in $66.3 million.

Many people today question whether or not money changes college sports. In an article in The Daily Targum, the author states,

"Once money enters the equation, college athletes can no longer be considered amateur athletes. By paying their players stipends, universities would be making college athletics into a downright profession."

Today, college athletics has taken on a much larger role then just the average, "playing the game you love." The politics and money that are associated with college sports have become consuming and overwhelming. Professional athletes are coming forward and admitting their faulty mistakes of taking money or endorsements during their college career. Right or wrong, good or bad, the corruption of college athletics is starting to boil and the NCAA, the backbone of all college sports, might be to blame.