Amateurism and College Athletics

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: This paper explores the concept of amateurism as it relates to college sports. The history of amateurism in sports will be reviewed with consideration of how that history has been revised to support the modern-day, $16 billion college-sports enterprise. The National College Athletic Association’s (NCAA) history will be summarized, and its role as the head of a cartel of colleges engaged in a sports-entertainment business will be discussed. After the economics of this cartel is examined, it will be argued that NCAA member schools enjoy monopolistic and monopsonistic powers that give them impressive market power. The NCAA’s amateurism rules serve to protect the integrity of the cartel and allow colleges to extract rents from studentathletes, especially Division I football and men’s basketball players. Too often with this current system, athletic scholarships fail to translate into a college education. Additionally, the injury risks inherent to college sports seem undermanaged and undercompensated. The paper will conclude with possible alternatives to amateurism in college sports.

Type of resource	text
Date created	April 2014

Author	Lemons, Robert Scott
Primary advisor	Cogan, John F.
Degree granting institution	Stanford University, Department of Economics

Subject	Stanford Department of Economics
Subject	amateur athlete
Subject	college sports
Subject	revenue-generating sports
Subject	NCAA
Subject	cartel economics
Subject	monopsonistic cartel
Subject	athletic scholarship
Subject	college-sports-related injuries
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/mq677rd9543

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Preferred Citation: Lemons, Robert Scott. (2014). Amateurism and College Athletics. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: https://purl.stanford.edu/mq677rd9543

Stanford University, Department of Economics, Honors Theses

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