The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)[b] is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and one in Canada.[3] It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and helps over 500,000 college student athletes who compete annually in college sports.[3] The organization is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Until 1957, the NCAA was a single division for all schools. That year, the NCAA split into the University Division and the College Division.[4] In August 1973, the current three-division system of Division I, Division II, and Division III was adopted by the NCAA membership in a special convention. Under NCAA rules, Division I and Division II schools can offer scholarships to athletes for playing a sport. Division III schools may not offer any athletic scholarships. Generally, larger schools compete in Division I and smaller schools in II and III. Division I football was further divided into I-A and I-AA in 1978, while Division I programs that did not have football teams were known as I-AAA. In 2006, Divisions I-A and I-AA were respectively renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). In its 2022–23 fiscal year, the NCAA generated $1.28 billion in revenue, $945 million (74%) of which came from airing rights to the Division I men's basketball tournament.[5]
Controversially, the NCAA substantially restricts the kinds of benefits and compensation (including paid salary) that collegiate athletes could receive from their schools. The consensus among economists is these caps for men's basketball and football players benefit the athletes' schools (through rent-seeking) at the expense of the athletes.[6][7][8] Economists have subsequently characterized the NCAA as a cartel.[9][10][11] In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously ruled that some of these NCAA restrictions on student athletes are in violation of US antitrust law.[12] The NCAA settled a lawsuit in May 2024 allowing member institutions to pay Division I athletes who have played since 2016.
Intercollegiate sports began in the United States in 1852 when crews from Harvard and Yale universities met in a challenge race in the sport of rowing.[13] As rowing remained the preeminent sport in the country into the late-1800s, many of the initial debates about collegiate athletic eligibility and purpose were settled through organizations like the Rowing Association of American Colleges and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association. As other sports emerged, notably football and basketball, many of these same concepts and standards were adopted. Football, in particular, began to emerge as a marquee sport, but the rules of the game itself were in constant flux and often had to be adapted for each contest.
The NCAA dates its formation to two White House conferences convened by President Theodore Roosevelt in the early 20th century in response to repeated injuries and deaths in college football which had "prompted many college and universities to discontinue the sport."[1] Following those White House meetings and the reforms which had resulted, Chancellor Henry MacCracken of New York University organized a meeting of 13 colleges and universities to initiate changes in football playing rules; at a follow-on meeting on December 28, 1905, in New York, 62 higher-education institutions became charter members of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS).[1] The IAAUS was officially established on March 31, 1906, and took its present name, the NCAA, in 1910.[1]
For several years, the NCAA was a discussion group and rules-making body, but in 1921, the first NCAA national championship was conducted: the National Collegiate Track and Field Championships. Gradually, more rules committees were formed and more championships were created, including a basketball championship in 1939.[14]
A series of crises brought the NCAA to a crossroads after World War II. The "Sanity Code" – adopted to establish guidelines for recruiting and financial aid – failed to curb abuses, and the Association needed to find more effective ways to curtail its membership.[15] Postseason football games were multiplying with little control, and member schools were increasingly concerned about how the new medium of television would affect football attendance.[14]
The NCAA engaged in a bitter power struggle with the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU).[16][17] The complexity of those problems and the growth in membership and championships demonstrated the need for full-time professional leadership.
Walter Byers, previously an assistant sports information director, was named executive director in 1951.[14] The Harvard Crimson described Byers as "power-mad," The New York Times said that Byers was "secretive, despotic, stubborn and ruthless," The Washington Post described him as a dictator, and others described him as a "petty tyrant."[16][18][19][20]”[21][22][verification needed][23]
Byers wasted no time placing his stamp on the Association, and a national headquarters was established in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1952.[14] A program to control live television of football games was approved, the annual Convention delegated enforcement powers to the Association's Council, and legislation was adopted governing postseason bowl games.[14]
As college athletics grew, the scope of the nation's athletics programs diverged, forcing the NCAA to create a structure that recognized varying levels of emphasis. In 1973, the association's membership was divided into three legislative and competitive divisions – I, II, and III.[24] Five years later in 1978, Division I members voted to create subdivisions I-A and I-AA (renamed the Football Bowl Subdivision and the Football Championship Subdivision in 2006) in football.[14]
Until the 1980s, the association did not govern women's athletics. Instead, the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW), with nearly 1,000 member schools, governed women's collegiate sports in the United States. The AIAW was in a vulnerable position that precipitated conflicts with the NCAA in the early-1980s. Following a one-year overlap in which both organizations staged women's championships, the AIAW discontinued operation, and most member schools continued their women's athletics programs under the governance of the NCAA.[25] By 1982 all divisions of the NCAA offered national championship events for women's athletics. A year later in 1983, the 75th Convention approved an expansion to plan women's athletic program services and pushed for a women's championship program.[14]
Proposals at every NCAA Convention are voted on by the institutional members of the NCAA. Each institutional member has one representative: the president/CEO or a representative designated by him/her.[26]Attendance by the actual president/CEO was low; less than 30%.[26] Southern Methodist University President A. Kenneth Pye commented, "In too many cases, presidents have not only delegated responsibility, they have abdicated it."[26] Many presidents designated their athletic director as the institutional representative, something Pye compared to "entrusting a chicken coop to the supervision of a wolf and a fox."[26]Beginning around 1980, a group of college presidents thought there was a crisis of integrity in collegiate sports and discussed ways to transform athletics to match the academic model. The American Council on Education (ACE) proposed a presidential board empowered to veto NCAA membership actions, while the NCAA Council, whose membership was mostly athletic officials, suggested a presidential commission with advisory powers. The Council's proposal may have been intended to block the presidential effort to gain control of the NCAA. The two proposals were voted on by the membership at the NCAA Convention in January 1984. The ACE proposal was defeated by a vote of 313 to 328. The Council proposal passed on a voice vote without ballots.[26]Publicly, the Presidents' Commission (PC) was responsible for establishing an agenda for the NCAA, but the actual language of the proposal stated that their role was to be a presidential forum and to provide the NCAA with the president's position on major policy issues. The PC could study issues and urge action, call special meetings and sponsor legislation. Their one real power was to veto the selection of Executive Director.[26][27] The composition of the commission was 22 CEOs from Division I and 11 CEOs each from Divisions II and III.[28] The true intent of the PC was to shift control of intercollegiate athletics back to CEOs. Graduation rates were an important metric to chancellors and presidents and became a focus of the PC.[29][30]
In June 1985 a special convention was held to review legislative proposals including academic integrity, academic-reporting requirements, differences in "major" and "secondary" violations including the "death penalty" and requiring an annual financial audit of athletic departments. All proposals passed overwhelmingly. Many presidents who did not attend sent a vice-president rather than their athletic director.[26] University of Florida President Marshall Criser stated that "the ultimate responsibility must be assumed by the CEOs because we don't have enough NCAA cops to solve all of the problems."[26]
The regular NCAA meeting in January 1986 presented proposals in regard to college eligibility, drug testing, and basketball competition limits.[31] All passed but matters regarding acceptable academic progress, special-admissions and booster club activities were ignored. Many presidents did not attend and it appeared that athletic directors controlled the meeting. A survey of 138 Division I presidents indicated that athletic directors did control collegiate sports. Despite a moratorium on extending the season of any sport in 1985, the extension of basketball and hockey seasons were approved. Indiana University president John W. Ryan, outgoing chairman of the PC commented, "If the moratorium is vacated, it's being vacated not by the commission, but by this convention."[26] Following the vote, a delegate was quoted, "A lot of Athletic Directors figure they've successfully waited out the presidents...unless the presidents fight back, NCAA reform is flat-ass dead in the water."[26]
The PC proposed just one legislative issue at the January 1987 meeting: applying the minimum academic standards in Division I to Division II. It narrowly passed.[26]
The PC attempted to again push the reform of college athletics by calling another special convention which was held in June 1987 to discuss cost-cutting measures and to address the overemphasis on athletics in colleges and universities. John Slaughter, Chancellor of the University of Maryland served as chairman. He stated, "This represents the second major thrust since our commission was formed three years ago. The first involved academics and infractions. This will be equally momentous and more sweeping. We want to achieve a balance between athletics and other institutional programs."[28]Cost-cutting measures proposed included reductions in athletic financial aid, coaching staff sizes, and length of practice/playing seasons. A resolution was also floated that opposed coaches receiving outside financial compensation if outside activities interfere with regular duties.[28] All the PC proposals were defeated, and two basketball scholarships were restored that were eliminated at the meeting in January. It was apparent that there was an open conflict between college presidents.[26]The president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching Ernest L. Boyer summarized the situation: "There are presidents whose institutions are so deeply involved in athletics that their own institutional and personal futures hang in the balance. They feel they must resist such change because athletics are bigger than they are."[26]
The PC sponsored no legislation at the January 1988 annual meeting, and there was not a vote of confidence.[26]
However, a year later at the annual meeting, financial aid restrictions were proposed for specific Division I and II sports. Following extensive discussions, the measure was withdrawn and a Special Committee on Cost Reductions was formed to study the issue. Once again, a proposal from the PC was circumvented.[26]
The Presidents' Commission met in October 1989 to prepare for the 1990 NCAA annual meeting. Proposals were developed to shorten spring football and the basketball season; grant financial aid based on need to academically deficient athletes; and reporting of graduation rates. Chancellor Martin Massengale of the University of Nebraska was then chairman of the PC insisted that graduation rate data was needed to preclude "further need for federal legislation" that was being proposed by Representative Tom McMillen and Senator Bill Bradley.[26] The proposals demonstrated that the PC was intent on regaining control of college athletics and the opposition was immediate. Commissioner of the Big Ten Confe