As a university president for 12 years and a faculty member at three Power Five (now Four) institutions since 1993, I have long observed the interplay between National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I athletics and the university. Now as the chair of the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference board, I have a front-row seat as the college sports landscape is being radically upended. I have a responsibility, as do my peers, to use the influence and power of our positions to act in the long-term interests of our institutions and our students. There are actions that we alone can take, and now is the time to step forward.
Borrowing from biological principles, the relationship between athletics and the university can be described as mutualistic symbiosis at best, and parasitic symbiosis at worst. There is no question that DI-level athletics benefit the university by advancing regional and national branding and creating an indelible bond through shared experiences between students, alumni and the institution. The latter brings application demand, enrollment yield, partnerships and sponsorships. The former drives philanthropy and the local economy, especially in small college towns like Blacksburg, home of Virginia Tech. The problem is, we can’t accurately quantify the aggregate indirect financial impact of athletics on the university. Instead of making rational decisions about athletics expenditures, these decisions are largely driven by emotion.
Athletics departments exercise disproportionate emotional leverage over the resources of the university proper, despite representing a small percentage of the operating budget (about 8 percent for Virginia Tech). If funds can be extracted from the university, students or donors, there is very little negative feedback in the system to prevent ever-escalating coaches’ salaries, massive investments in facilities and increasingly convoluted methods for paying players. Without controls based on clarity around the return on investment, athletics can become parasitic, driving institutions toward financial unsustainability.