Each year at this time, the staff of the Martin Center share our higher-ed-reform dreams for the coming 12 months. Will all of our wishes come true? Probably not. Nevertheless, … Continue reading “Reforms We’re Cheering For in 2025”
The May 2024 settlement in House v. NCAA was the most recent significant step towards an employee model for collegiate athletes. Reactions to the settlement varied widely across sports and … Continue reading “Niche Sports Should Leave Colleges”
The San José State University (SJSU) women’s volleyball team made international news this season, with coverage by the BBC, the Telegraph, Quillette, the New York Times, CNN, and ESPN. The … Continue reading “San José State’s Dispiriting Volleyball Saga”
College administrators and athletic departments, along with the media and much of the broader public, proclaim that college athletics are the “front porch” of the university. If athletics are a … Continue reading “Should University “Books” Be Judged By Athletics “Covers”?”
Perhaps the most exciting NCAA men’s basketball championship game ever played was also one of the biggest upsets. The 1983 North Carolina State University Wolfpack, despite being heavy underdogs to … Continue reading “Why Are the “Cardiac Pack” Suing the NCAA?”
Corporate media owes a lot of its ideological conformity and hubris to journalism schools. Media critics and advocates for reform suggest that journalism needs to return to being a trade … Continue reading “The Cancel-Your-College-Coach Playbook”
Now that sports betting is legal in the Bible Belt state of North Carolina, online gamblers have filled the collection plate with over $1.8 billion in total wagers and about … Continue reading “Who Will Monitor College-Sports Gambling in North Carolina?”
When the men’s basketball team at Dartmouth voted to unionize earlier this year, the college’s president vowed to take the issue all the way to the Supreme Court. Her decision … Continue reading “It’s Time to Build Sports Academies”
Not that long ago, college sports were relatively predictable. Like the U.S. passenger airlines, trucking fleets, and freight railroads regulated by government entities before President Jimmy Carter’s deregulation efforts in … Continue reading “The ACC Lawsuits Won’t Ruin College Sports”
This coming January, the NCAA will convene in Texas to decide the future of standardized testing requirements for student-athletes. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA and universities … Continue reading “The NCAA’s Own Goal”