The Shift from Amateurism to Business

North Carolina State Football Program, 1935

Today, college sports, particularly football programs, face scrutiny and enter the headlines of newspapers daily.  The newspaper articles that surged during the 1936-1937 controversy that emerged at NC State do not look too different from those of today.  Football programs, since their beginning, have had the greatest potential to produce revenue for universities than other sports.  Commercialization issues come to play when schools try to increase ticket sales and create winning teams by recruiting good, but faraway players with scholarships.  The focus on producing successful teams and thereby enriching the schools financially has encouraged the transition of collegiate programs to resemble more of a corporation rather than a school department.  With this transition, sports have become more bureaucratic with strict hierarchy and rules.

For an intercollegiate football program to transition to a big time business sport, players and even coaches including the athletic director must succumb to outside control. This control comes in the form of financial assistance and backing from alumni and businesses.  Such a transition creates an atmosphere where schools compete nationally for money, or the entertainment dollar, and better players.  Obviously such a focus moves the football program away from the academic purpose of the university.