Sunday, May 7, 2017

Literature Review #5


McFarland, Allison J. "What's in It for Us?" Rethinking Corporate Sponsorships in Interscholastic Athletics. 2002-03-00. 22p. Opinion Papers. Print

The article talks about the importance big corporations now put on interscholastic athletic activities across the nation, from very early on to national college level. It informs the reader of their importance, and a lot of marketing methods used by a lot of them to pull in more revenue and also help schools build more funding meanwhile. It also alerts the reader to some of the dangers in what is happening as well.


 Allison J. McFarland- Professor and Chair Department of Business & Economics, Bethel College. During the past several years, Dr. McFarland has presented over 60 workshops on the topic of Millennials to human resource professionals regionally, statewide and nationally.


Key Terms: Commercial opportunism- which refers to the opportunity to market their brand by sponsoring activities and events that would lead many to partake of their product and hopefully make it a practice.
Purchasing influence- The influence these corporations have on such young ones to consume or use their product, and build brand loyalty from early on

"Athletic departments across the country are selling
broadcast opportunities to local radio and television stations; connecting with corporate
sponsors for special events and promotions; seeking corporations who will agree to make
a substantial financial contribution in return for naming rights to a local facility; signing
deals with soda companies to distribute their product exclusively in exchange for new
electronic scoreboards, uniforms, or equipment; and soliciting advertising revenue from

game programs, field, arena, bus and rooftop signage, and halftime promotions"
"most companies are in a race to establish brand loyalty with young consumers before their competitor does" (Thompson, 2000, p. 30).
"Research has demonstrated that the commercialization of athletic programs and the high schools in which they exist have become a major focus of strategic corporate marketing plans"

I think it's crucial to understand just how far these companies have gone to impress on youth what they should drink when they get older. It's also interesting to note that any exposure is a good exposure when both sides are winning, and usually it is the big corporations that get the upper hand on these deals, much to the apathy of schools who just want more money for their staff and to fuel their programs and gain even more attention.

Allison McFarlandA picture of Allison McFarland

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Literature Review #4


Huot, Lyndsay N. "Athletics and the Title IX of the 1972 Education Amendments. The Georgetown Journal of Gender and The Law. Vol VIII:417. 2007. Print

The article talks about almost everything there is to know about Title IX; from its history, to how involved women's sports have become in society, to females from all ages being able to compete with the same amenities as boys' sports programs. Giving more opportunities for a fair ground to athletic development.

Lyndsay "represents financial institutions, broker-dealers, and investment advisers in investigations, enforcement cases, or other regulatory matters involving government agencies and regulators, including the SEC and FINRA." She has worked on a couple of cases that helped reinforce the efficiency of Title IX with regulatory jurisdictions and so forth.

key terms: Framework of the Title IX legislation in the context of high school and intercollegiate athletics.
Constitutional Protections- basically protecting from sex discrimination claims and constitutional malpractices that can take place from time to time.

'At least one court has explicitly stated that that outside funding for athletics programs, whether through booster clubs or outside donors, becomes transformed into public funds upon receipt by a school."
"Existence of equal treatment and benefits is measured by an analysis of whether the resources necessary to ensuring equal opportunities for males and females are provided, as well as the comparison of the advantages provided to females and males program-wide."
"Claims may also involve substantive equal protection violations brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1964"

It is valuable to understand the legalities of Title IX because this outlines more rules about gender equality in extra-curricular activities, and thus the reasoning behind the funding of collegiate sports.

This is a picture of Lyndsay N. Huot

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Literature Review #3


"Rutgers Revisited: Coalition to Save Our Sports Responds to Rutgers Media Statement." Swimming World News. The Coalition, 27 July 2014. Web. 21 Apr. 2017.

This article talks about the six athletic programs that were cut from the Rutgers athletic program to supposedly save money and slowly get out of debt due to low revenues and increased spending. It also talks about how great these sports were to the school and what many accolades and benefits they brought as far as athletic and academic attention. It further talks about how these cuts were a mere distraction to spend more on things that benefited others' pockets, and how this decision came back to bite them in the butt anyway.

The Coalition is the group that put this information out there, and they seem to have quite a bit of knowledge on this topic; maybe through interviews or data given to them, or maybe one of the people giving out information was again from Rutgers Athletic department.

One key concept is the fact that the sports that were cut were actually very competitive in their fields compared to the rest of their foes in conference play. They were also very academically inclined student athletes who upheld great standing in that aspect, and it still was not enough to keep them around, although there was no actual necessity to cut them. The whole thing about Title IX is to create more opportunities, not take them more away.
Another key concept is the actual increase in spending due to regulations put in to stay on good standing with the NCAA, despite these cuts.

"Rutgers "elected" to cut six sports in 2006, including men's swimming and diving, as part of a budgetary crackdown from the State of New Jersey. The explanation for the decision to completely cut six sports, instead of taking the state-mandated percentage cut across the board came under heavy fire at the time."
"Rutgers claimed that it was forced to eliminate the teams due to reduction in funding received from Trenton. Yet, no savings resulted."
"$711,734 increase in women's athletic scholarship spending triggered by the elimination of Women's Fencing which forced Rutgers into the Title IX "proportionality" test."
"The Scarlet Six included incredibly high performing teams, producing numerous Olympians and NCAA All-Americans, Rutgers' only national championship performances, and Big East titles"
"By terminating the Scarlet Six, Rutgers has eliminated the present and future financial contributions of some 4000 team alumni and supporters."

This material helps me to see more details on the cut of these programs in general, and what came out of it. It clears up things that lead up to resolutions that were questionable at times, and how they could have been avoided, and how we could have potentially had a stronger overall program had these sports stuck around.

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Literature Review #2


Rvc73. "Restoring Sports Is the Right Thing to Do." On the Banks. On the Banks, 28 June 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

The reading is basically about Rutgers's attempts to gain more money through very selective areas, and being a lot more partial towards those sports when it comes to funding compared to others. It also makes mention of the allocation of scholarships favoring a few sports programs (3 to be exact). The article also touches on Title IX and some of the intricacies this topic deals with when it comes to staying in line with regulations.

There is no history on the author of this article, but it seems to be one well versed with Rutgers Athletic department, and maybe even one who works in the department.

One key concept was the constant shortfalls of funds for athletes in Rutgers compared to their conference foes, who receive abundant money just from revenue of the sports programs.
Another key term is the effect Title IX has on Rutgers athletic growth and competence against other schools, and the only way to bring back cut programs.
"When someone says that got a "full ride", they're probably playing football or basketball"
"The law never said that sports should be eliminated in order to do this. In fact, the spirit of the law was to expand opportunities. However, as costs have increased, many schools have found the easiest way to bring about the equity called for in the law is to cut men's sports"
Reinstating sports that were cut in 2007, the focus of this series, seems a back-burner issue for the Athletics Department, although there are supporters in those sports who have strong feelings about it, and they will not give up easily"

This material helps me better understand the priorities and main concerns of funding at big schools like Rutgers, and what nuances the Title IX claw has on the whole ordeal.

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Research Blog #9


My argument rests on the fact that athletic programs lean too much on their "staple sports" to bring in revenue for the rest of the sports, and big corporations are flocking to the sports that could make them the most money as well. The misallocation of funds among men's sports and females' sports is also slightly accentuated by the implementation of Title IX, which in a way allows this more favored behavior among sport programs.
A counter-argument is the rise of many female sports programs thanks to Title IX, and the amenities it brings to those teams so they can be able to perform at a higher level and compete against the best.
My thesis question was trying to find out if corporations could help change the tide around athletic funding, and if so how? Also finding out how Tile IX has affected the playing fields, and if that is really a concern for the future.

One opposing argument on this would be the actual dominance of football and basketball on a national scale compared to other sports, which is why these two sports are heavily publicized and pushed to generate more revenue. But, when we look outside of the U.S, these two sports are nowhere close to the revenue other sports bring in outside, and the same goes with their popularity. The universal sports are pulling in great numbers.

Research Blog #8

My chief example for this argument is the decision made by then Rutgers athletic director Bob Mulcahy; to cut six great sports from the athletic program to "save money in a period of budget crisis." We see that these changes actually did nothing more but bring attention to the NCAA about regulating the Title IX effects hat were supposed to be put in place, and increased the amount of money dished out to mostly female sports. However, it also made it much easier to ignore proper allocation of funds to the other men's programs (apart from football and basketball), because although funds are to be split "equitably" among male and female programs, it does not say that every sport in each gender gets the same amount of money. In my opinion, that was the plan all along, and it seems to have worked so far. Those teams cut were no less competitive in their respective domains compared to other schools in their conferences, but they were apparently not good enough to stay. If we look at what those teams offered to the student body, school's athletic recognition, and their academic prowess, we see what a curious decision it was to take them away if not for one reason..

Rutgers Revisited: Coalition to Save Our Sports Responds to Rutgers Media Statement - Swimming World News

https://www.swimmingworldmagazine.com/news/rutgers-revisited-coalition-to-save-our-sports-responds-to-rutgers-media-statement/

http://www.onthebanks.com/2015/6/28/8761051/rutgers-athletics-title-ix


Research Blog #7


One major theory that helps me put my paper together is the corporation's involvement in athletic programs in general, and how it is affecting the monetary transactions of those universities.
Another theory that is guiding my paper is Title IX which was a result from women's rights and lack of support for female sports in general, and this changed the structure of college sports when serious implementations of the law started taking place.These two ideas basically help guide my paper towards its eventual conclusion which will be finding a possible culmination to this issue.
In "Title IX and Men's "Minor" Sports: A False Conflict," we see that although Title IX is in effect nationwide in the U.S, "female athletes [are] still [getting] the short end of the stick." It also mentions that Title IX is not to be viewed as the problem for men's funding for sports other than football and basketball, but it is rather the misallocation of these funds among men's sports that is to be seen as the main problem. This unearths many suspicions about the Title IX saga and why funds have been drastically cut from men's programs unlike female programs.

Research Blog #6




This is a visual showing how many men's scholarship the football program obtained in the 2013-2014 season. It helps us understand the monopoly of Football at Rutgers compared to all other men's programs (or lack there of), and shows the plain disregard other programs are shown because of their financial?revenue capacities

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Research Blog #5



Carpenter, Linda Jean, and R. Vivian Acosta. Title IX. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics, 2005

"Data: Cutting Sports Fuels More than Football." SportsBusiness Daily SportsBusiness Daily Global. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Finn Jr., Chester E. "The Cost of College Sports." American Jewish Committee. Oct. 2001, vol. 112, issue 3, p.53, 5p.

"Rutgers Revisited: Coalition to Save Our Sports Responds to Rutgers Media Statement." Swimming World News. N.p., 27 July 2014. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

Sargeant, Keith. "Rutgers to Distribute Some Athletes $4K in Cost of Attendance Stipend." NJ.com. NJ, 28 July 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2017. <http://www.nj.com/rutgersfootball/index.ssf/2015/07/rutgers_ad_julie_hermann_cost_of_attendance.html>.

Schneider, Raymond G. "COLLEGE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ON THE PAYMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE STUDENT-ATHLETES." College Student Journal. June, 2001, vol 31, issue p.232

"The NCAA Division I Athletic Funding Crisis." ASHE Higher Education Report 41.5 (2015): 25-47. ASHE Higher Education Report. John Wiley & Sons, Inc, Aug. 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

"Title IX and Men's "Minor" Sports: A False Conflict." National Women's Law Center. July, 2008.

Literature Review #1



     Carpenter, Linda Jean, and R. Vivian Acosta. Title IX. Champaign, Il: Human Kinetics, 2005.


The book is about male and female equality in sports and in social life through Title IX, and what implications this has on society in general. The book interprets policies and regulations of the Title IX saga, and it goes through the process of getting to this decision.

Carpenter has been involved in Title IX and gender equity issues in sport for over 30 years, and she is sought after after to speak at multiple conferences. She is also a professor at New York's Brooklyn College, and has received numerous awards for her work on sport equality and so on. Dr. Acosta is a former president of the NAGWS (National Association for Girls and Women in Sport), and has been involved in this kind of work for more than 30 years as well. She works with Carpenter at New York's Brooklyn College, and has written quite a bit on the topic as well.

One obvious key term defined in the very beginning of the book is Title IX, which basically states that "no person in the U.S shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance"
Specifically for higher education sports, allocation of resources should be distributed fairly equal for both male and females as a whole, and if institutions cannot prove that the interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex are not being met then, they are liable for convocation with the board of NCAA to explain themselves.

"In providing financial assistance to any of its students, a recipient shall not on the basis of sex, provide different amount.. of such assistance, [or] limit eligibility for such assistance" (66).
"The policy interpretations tell us that financial aid dollars need to be distributed in "substantially equal amounts""(69)
"The policy interpretations graciously provide two acceptable excuses for not meeting the "substantially equal" yardstick: (1) imbalances created by non-discriminatory grants of in-state versus out-of-state-fees and (2) when not all financial aid available in a given year is distributed so that a new team is able to stagger grants over the first few years of the team's existence." (71)

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So, what I would like to address is the lack of scholarships, or simply the lack of interest to fund scholarships for a Men's tennis program at Rutgers New Brunswick. I will attempt to break down all the pieces impeding this from happening, and find out why Men's tennis is one of the D1 collegiate disciplines that has taken a back seat to the football program (a lack-luster football program now to say the least).

Thursday, March 2, 2017

Research blog #3

 Academic sources for my research

 The NCAADivision 1 Funding Crisis

 COLLEGE STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS ON THE PAYMENT OF INTERCOLLEGIATE STUDENT-ATHLETES 

The Cost of College Sports

Corporate Sponsorships in Schools: Altruism and Ethical Judgments.

Book: Universities in the marketplace : the commercialization of higher education /

Tuesday, February 21, 2017



 
  My research has gotten a little broader from just men's tennis to most of the other popular collegiate sport programs not funded here at Rutgers (volleyball, swimming,etc) . This is to understand what kind of people in general colleges are seeking to attract according to what programs are funded (more specifically Rutgers). The fact these sports are also perceived as somewhat "higher class" and what not, and still not included in a budget that could be boosted by them is a question I would like to dig up as much information as possible to answer. Is it that these institutions are so blinded by the money they will be able to put in their pockets after, or are they really trying to help these "student athletes" create a path for themselves? Dr. Ronald B. Woods says that "major college sport programs are run as corporate businesses that pay no taxes". He goes on to say that most schools want to at least "break even", and if they are able to get an invitation to post-season games there they are able to cash in a little more. One website talks about schools fighting back though. Schools and students (even student athletes) are fighting extra charges on their tuition to help pay for fields and departments they will never set foot in. 
Key terms that have helped so far are: college sports funding, intercollegiate funding, NCAA finances, financing school sports
Scholarly articles: Washington post, forbes, human kinetics. Wikipedia is also a big help..
Books: Ethics and college sports 
A couple of ideas I got from this research is an even bigger picture about who used to play these sports more, who plays these sports now, how college sports are run financially, what new perks teams receive with exposure, and a couple more things
Resources: http://www.humankinetics.com/excerpts/excerpts/intercollegiate-athletic-programs-effect-on-university-enrollment-fundraising
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/why-students-foot-the-bill-for-college-sports-and-how-some-are-fighting-back/2015/11/30/7ca47476-8d3e-11e5-ae1f-af46b7df8483_story.html?utm_term=.3c2f19a68e22
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Association_of_Intercollegiate_Athletics
There are a couple of controversies in this topic; starting with who is helping fund these programs, how these programs are not really using all the funding for their operations but rather to increase their yearly  salaries, and how the weak programs get caught because athletic directors don't want their record to be tarnished by some under-par teams.

Sunday, February 12, 2017




  My research will  be mainly focused on digging deep into the lack of certain athletic programs here at Rutgers, whether it is a financial problem or another issue that is rooted even deeper. Why have all these programs been taken away by one sport and what are the logistics or numbers behind it