Influences of Business on College Sports

It is important to realize the influences of business on college sports as money in college sports is nothing new. It’s a big business. When values in one environment contradict those in another, growth is limited by confusion and inconsistency.

As an example of influences of business on college sports, was the decision to play during school nights made in the interest of economics or student athletes? If alcohol ads do not cause non-drinkers to start drinking alcohol, then what’s the harm?

2 Examples of Influences of Business on College Sports

Here is your delicious A-list of top 2 influences of business on college sports. Let’s look at them from the point of interest of economics:

1. From Gaming Point of View (Betting)

Though sports betting may not be your cup of tea, you will find that there area thousands of people out there who pick college football games every week for one reason or another.

By learning what the betting lines are, what the point spreads are, and by understanding how a pool works and how much many people enjoy straight up gambling on college football picks, you will not only have a better idea of how the process works but also how big of a market with economic benefits been created, under the name of capitalism.

2. Alcohol Advertising and College Sports

Advertising during college sporting events is seen as smart marketing – many of those in their target audience are sports fans, and alcohol advertising is pervasive in college sporting events.

“NCAA tournament games led all other sports events in alcohol-related TV advertising in 2002, with 939 ads costing $28 million. That compares with a combined 925 ads aired during the Super Bowl, World Series, college bowl games and the NFL’s Monday Night Football.” ~ a recent report in USA Today.

In the alcohol industry, a company can make far more profit by stealing a few percent of the market away from a competitor than by causing a few abstainers to become drinkers. Gaining just 0.5% of a $50 billion dollar market would generate an extra $250 million dollars for a company (from the fact that Americans spend more than $120 billion on alcohol every year, where $50-$70 billion on beer alone).

As you can see from above, by putting their hands into college sports, businesses does has good advantage over competitors and it proves to be a very big and lucrative market.

In this article about the influences of business on college sports, it is a debate of whether it is for the good for college athletics (or the games) or for the good of the businesses involved in the overall sports events (i.e. business behind business).

Why Influences of Business on College Sports Need to Be Monitor

This is quite a controversy discussion. Many people aware of the bad impact or consequences when someone is too addicted to gambling or alcohol. And yet, it is the money from these businesses that makes most of the games able to continue and “survive” in the market place.

First of all, although universities are educational organizations, they must be economically healthy in order to exist. So, it all goes back to the fight between angel and demon, huh?

When viewed exclusively as an entertainment business, it is difficult to justify the economics of an athletic department within higher education. To offset deficits, many athletic departments are creatively recruiting corporate sponsors. These arrangements have raised questions regarding regulation, tax exposure, and the commercialism of intercollegiate athletics.

As athletic departments attempt to balance budgets, television networks and corporate sponsors are acquiring greater influence over athletic decisions. For example, men’s basketball contests are played before televised audiences each weeknight. Was the decision to play during school nights made in the interest of economics or student athletes?

Another debate able example was the alcohol advertisement. If alcohol ads do not cause non-drinkers to start drinking alcohol, then what’s the harm?

Some believe that alcohol ads transmit and reinforce socially inappropriate messages that society could do without. Beer commercials, for instance, promote the expectation that alcohol and sex go together perfectly at a time when campuses are attempting to deal with sexual assault and the spread of STDs. While the commercial might not influence a student’s choice to drink, the message could affect how male students view and treat women, or how female students view themselves. In many ads, women are invariably shown as the prize that men will receive for drinking a particular brand of beer.

It appears that the economics of sports are establishing a context for prostituting higher education and ultimately exploiting student athletes, and this may contribute to the current ethical issues in business. The influences of business on college sports should really be taken care of, to avoid unethical business practices into higher learnings garden.

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