The Student-Athlete As Exploited Market-Agent in Intercollegiate Athletics

Intercollegiate Athletics has become big business. A corporate mentality, shrouded by a guise of amateurism, dominates the administration of intercollegiate athletics. Football and basketball programs at the Division I level, defined as the major athletic programs in the text, are scaled down versions of their professional counterparts. Athletic expenses continue to grow, and are rarely matched by athletic revenue.Financial losses do not limit the scope of the athletic departments operations, since the athletic department has become adept at diverting general university funds into their own accounts. Unlike the Chief Executive Officers of large corporations, who continually watch the bottom line of the ledger, athletic directors spend money that they do not have because the university will bail them out. Due to these circumstances, athletic programs are constantly growing with the attitude that to make money, one needs to spend money. It also does not hurt to have the university safety net to break one's fall. Faculty, students and tax-payers pay for these practices, in the form salary cuts and/or caps for faculty and support staff, limitations in academic programs and limited student services. Profit motives are the driving force behind the college sports infrastructure.Aside from the drive to increase revenues and profits, intercollegiate athletics also suffers from the egocentric actions of athletic administrators and coaches who view themselves as the axis that all college sports revolves around, neglecting and even objectifying the student-athlete in the process. For their efforts and talents, the student-athlete receives a "free" education in the form of an athletic scholarship. This grant-in-aid is valued from $5,000-$10,000 at the average public institution, and up to $20,000 at a private institution, while some of their coaches and administrators receive salaries and perks that reach hundreds of thousands of dollars.Although the student-athlete is promised an education, literary research, along with data collected from the 1990 Intercollegiate Football Players Survey indicates otherwise. This opportunity to obtain a college degree is greatly impeded by the time commitment, both in and out of season, required of football players at the Division I level of competition. At best, the student-athlete maintains minimal academic progress, and in most cases only to remain eligible to participate in intercollegiate athletics.It is not only the time commitment required of student-athletes that stunts academic growth. The pervasive attitudes that exist in the realm of, and control the world of, intercollegiate athletics are also a hindrance to not only the academic growth of the student-athlete, but their personal growth as well. These attitudes include strict militaristic disciplinary regimes, objectification and dehumanization of the student athlete by coaches, emphasis on athletics, rather than academics and the exploitation of the student-athletes talents, (labor), to generate profits for those who administer the athletic program.Findings:Conclusions and recommendations based on the data suggest that major reforms are needed in order to end the exploitation of the student-athlete. Limiting the scope of athletic department operations, outside accreditation and certification procedures to insure "fair play" among the participants in intercollegiate athletics, the removal of athletic personnel who do not have the student-athlete's best interest in mind and the proper compensation for the student-athlete are the primary area's of reform discussed in this paper.