The Business of College Sports. Who Earns What.

The Business of College Sports.   Who Earns What. 

Greenhaven Publishing.  

There is no question that college athletics are rapidly changing these days and not without its own share of controversy.    There are ways to try and keep up with those changes.   One especially was found in the Book:   The Business of College Sports.  Who Earns What.    No author only a publisher that compiles myriad articles and journals produced by some of the great thinkers and scholars of college athletics. 

Inside this relatively short book of about 170 pages, the reader will find four chapters pertaining to topics such as whether colleges and universities should even be in the business of college sports.  In addition, they also detail chapters including the question if college coaches are paid too much, is the move to super conferences good for the sport and finally evaluating the reasonableness of Name, Image and Likeness.    Now, the book was published in 2023 and thus is current, however, not all essays are immediately recent as the book includes some topics that while may be interesting could also be argued as outdated.    Of course, that is the nature of college sports these days.  The changes taking place are more rapid than ever. 

We like the discussion of the compensation for college and university coaches and administrators.   Several essays within that chapter pose strong arguments for each side.    Readers will appreciate the objectivity that pervades most of the writing style although not true for all contributors.   The chapter analyzing the NIL concept seems to be less of a debate and more a contrition that it is legal now and here to stay.   The contributing journals included in that chapter try to pose some suggestions for how to better regulate the entire process—something that seems to be sorely lacking as we approach the middle of this decade although still in the infancy of this new source of player entrepreneurship.   

One noted author, Joe Nocera, vehemently argues that college coaches are well overvalued by their employers and the system that currently exists and has for a generation.     This comes as no surprise since Nocera also heavily contributed to a book published in 2017 called Indentured.    A full proponent of student athletes getting their fair share of compensation, Nocera clearly is a believer that coaches do not need to earn excessive annual salaries particularly at the expense of other less compensated university employees and the athletes performing the labor.  

 One of the latter chapters poses a pretty good argument for how colleges continue to exploit athletes despite the advent of NIL.    The scholars of this essay assert that while college athletes are now legally able to generate and retain compensation for their services it still falls well short of the millions that the established forces in college sports earn annually.   This of course pinpoints mostly white males and their perceived exploitation of college sports comprised primarily of black athletes. 

A section within the first chapter is titled Team Sports offer Social and Academic Benefits.  While the content of this essay is interesting it is very general and broad.   As a physical education instructor, it reads like a brief overview of a training manual when discussing topics such as communication skills, time management and teamwork.  This seems to be a questionable choice for the book.  To be clear, these current controversies series of books are likely written for adolescent audience (although not necessarily entirely for them) and although this chapter is easy enough to process, it does not add much to the debate about the ever-changing world of college football, basketball and other sports.   

 This is not a book an ardent fan may seek or recommend to others.    That doesn't mean is it is not worth the read, though.    New fans, regardless of age, may still find some of the chapters useful and helpful in their understanding of a business that is more complex than meets the eye and is constantly changing.    Due to the book’s impartial stance and the ability to feature essays discussing both sides of the issue it makes for a dry but likely effective way to get better informed about the controversial business of college sports and athletics.   

    

·       You might like to read this book if you are interested in learning more about the business side of college athletics.

·       You might like to read this book if you enjoy reading articles and debates about the business side of college athletics.

·       You might like to read to read this book if you relish reading about current controversies and possible solutions.  

Read more about Greenhaven Publishing:   https://www.greenhavenpublishing.com/title/The-Business-of-College-Sports