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Creators: Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Reforming the NCAA: How the governing body of intercollegiate athletics should handle student-athletes into the future

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My thesis project, "Reforming the NCAA: How the governing body of intercollegiate athletics should handle student-athletes into the future," sets out to create a working blueprint for how the NCAA should handle the relationship between student-athletes, universities, and the NCAA from this point forward. The NCAA has come under fire in the past 10 years for its failure to meet modern social constructs and provide student-athletes with the resources necessary to achieving a successful educational and athletic experience, and through my thesis, I formulated reforms the NCAA can adopt and enact to respond to the growing issues within intercollegiate athletics. I began the process last spring with my thesis director as we selected a topic together, and I researched a variety of topics relating to current NCAA issues throughout the summer and fall. In the fall, I outlined sources I hoped to interview, and I conducted interviews over winter break. I spent the first two months of 2015 writing and refining my thesis, and through March, I created a PowerPoint presentation I used to defend my thesis project. During the process, I met with my thesis director at critical junctures to discuss the direction of the project and to determine how to find a delicate balance between creating attainable goals for reform and overstepping my boundaries. After a successful thesis defense, I made small revisions to the thesis and had my project re-approved by my director and second reader. In the coming weeks after submitting my thesis, I plan on exploring the possibility of having my thesis published and received critiques from those in the industry who follow collegiate athletics closely.

ContributorsCrowley, Kerry O Shea (Author) / McGuire, Tim (Thesis director) / Kurland, Brett (Committee member) / College of Letters and Sciences (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2015-05

ASU Hockey: How the Sun Devils became a Division I team

Description

On Nov. 18, 2014, the Arizona State University announced its club hockey team would be elevated from club to varsity status begin in 2015-16. ASU's process lasted merely four months, spring-boarding off a July article that quoted athletic director Ray Anderson as saying all the program needed was money in order to make happen. This thesis explains what happened between that July story and the November announcement. Almost immediately the school received calls from interested donors who said they were willing to completely fund the creation of a men's hockey program. In the end, a group led by Milwaukee businessman Don Mullett donated $32 million to ASU. The thesis also explains the challenges that are still to come for ASU. Those include the arena in which ASU will play, the conference it will join, the women's sport ASU will add in order to stay compliant with Title IX and whether the program will be profitable for the University, among other things. ASU will begin play as a Division I program, the southernmost and westernmost school in the continental United States. It truly is, as Anderson wanted, an example of ASU being "entrepreneurial."

ContributorsEmerson, Justin Charles (Author) / McGuire, Tim (Thesis director) / Anderson, Doug (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)

Created2015-05

The Implications of the Interim NIL Policy on College Athletics

Description

On September 30, 2019, the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, signed the Fair Pay to Play Act which prohibited universities from taking away an athlete’s scholarship should they choose to profit off their name, image and likeness (NIL). This was a monumental moment in college athletics as numerous lawsuits against the NCAA had been filed by former and current athletes due to the unfair nature of “amateurism.” With California getting the ball rolling and the Supreme Court pressuring the NCAA to change their outdated ways, the NCAA withdrew their rule stating that student athletes could not monetize their NIL. While this was a massive step forward in regard to compensating athletes for the time and effort they put into their sport that in turn generates revenue for the school, it also posed many questions that needed an in-depth look into including how this will affect non-revenue generating sports. This study aims to measure the student-athlete knowledge surrounding name, image, and likeness, as well as capture the athletes, coaches, and administrators' projections of the future implications of this policy. On the surface, this is a wonderful opportunity for college athletes. However, with the variability in the popularity and profitability between revenue generating and non-revenue generating sports, this does not put student-athletes on a level playing field to profit off their name, image, and likeness. With non-revenue generating sports falling vastly behind revenue generating sports, a further divide between these two segments of collegiate sports will form. Though there is an opportunity for all collegiate athletes to profit off their name, image, and likeness, the feasibility of putting these athletes on a level playing field is slim. In addition, with this new era comes a whole new set of rules for recruiting tactics and the desire to get more influential athletes. The data collected for this thesis, in conjunction with this new rule, implies that sports producing more influential athletes will be given more money as more eyes will be on the individual athletes. This will leave smaller sports behind because it will continue to create a divide between revenue generating and non-revenue generating sports. This gap will be created by increasing the publicity and recognition surrounding the revenue generating sports, while pushing less relevant sports further behind.

ContributorsStanley, Kira (Author) / Jankowski, Cali (Co-author) / McIntosh, Daniel (Thesis director) / Bertoletti, Joe (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)

Created2021-12