Intercollegiate athletic programs, university brand equity and student satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore relationships among three primary variables: sports spectatorship of intercollegiate football, university brand equity and student satisfaction. The primary purpose is to understand the extent to which athletic programs influence campus culture, sense of community and the satisfaction of undergraduate students. A secondary purpose is to probe the factor structure, reliability and validity of a recently developed sports spectatorship scale. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data through an online survey of 419 undergraduate students enrolled at three separate Midwestern universities, using previously developed and validated survey scales. Findings Relationships between brand equity and student satisfaction suggest that athletic programs provide a benefit to universities by improving students’ psychological sense of community and emotional connection to the institution. Furthermore, correlations between sports spectatorship and brand equity measures suggest an internal advertising effect. Originality/value The results contribute to the understanding of the role of intercollegiate athletic programs, in this case from the perspective of enrolled undergraduate students. Additionally, the findings recommend ways that universities might maximize some of the benefits by emphasizing the emotional connection of the student body to the teams. The paper also contributes to the validation of the sports spectatorship scale as a tool for further research.

Title IX and Campus Recreation: Guidelines to Increase Gender Equity in Club and Intramural Sport Programs

Title IX legislation seeks to prevent sex discrimination in club and intramural recreational activities; yet guidance to encourage compliance with the law is limited. Hence the purpose of this investigation was to critically assess the applicability of Title IX athletic guidance and advance gender equity guidelines specific to intramural and club sports. Campus recreation directors from six NIRSA regions were sent an online survey with recommended gender equity guidelines. Eighty-two directors appraised the guidelines in relation to their effectiveness in evaluating gender equity in intramural and club sport programs. This investigation found the majority of the guidance for intercollegiate athletic programs to be relevant to club and intramural sport programs, but differences were found concerning provisions and participation opportunities. Similarities and differences are discussed and twenty guidelines are advanced to provide institutions with ways to provide men and women with nondiscriminatory participation opportunities.

Forecasting sponsorship costs: marketing intelligence in the athletic apparel industry

Purpose – Due in large part to the proprietary nature of costs, there is a dearth of academic literature investigating the factors influencing the costs for sport marketing investments, such as sponsorship. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to provide an analytical framework for market intelligence that enables managers to better predict and forecast costs in today’s ever-changing sport marketing environment. Design/methodology/approach – Given the dynamic and ultra-competitive nature of the athletic apparel industry, this context was chosen to investigate the influence of four distinct factors on sponsorship costs, including property-specific factors, on-field performance, and market-specific factors. A systematic, hierarchical procedure was utilized in the development of a predictive empirical model, which was then utilized to generate predicted values on a per property basis. Findings – Results demonstrated that both property-specific and performance-related factors were significant predictors of costs, while variables reflecting the attractiveness of the property’s home market were non-significant. Further analysis revealed the potential for agency conflicts in the allocation of resources toward properties near the corporate headquarters of sponsors, as well as evidence of overspending by challenger brands (Adidas, Under Armour) in their quest to topple industry leader Nike. Originality/value – Though the context of apparel sponsorships of US-based intercollegiate athletic programs limits the generalizability of the results, this study represents one of the few in the literature to empirically investigate the determinants of sponsorship costs, providing much-needed guidance to aid decision making in a highly volatile, unpredictable industry.

An Exploratory Study of the Transportation Practices Utilized by NCAA Universities: Preventative Measures for Coaches and Administrators

Currently more than 1,000 NCAA member institutions have intercollegiate athletic programs. The athletic teams from all of these institutions must travel in order to participate in sanctioned competitions as well as some training sessions. Transportation methods vary and consist of airplanes, chartered buses, 12 and 15-passenger vans, university-owned vehicles, minibuses, and student-athlete vehicles. The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine and compare the current transportation practices of Division I, Division II, and Division III teams, in particular those transportation practices involving teams for sports which are typically non-revenue producing. A total of 120 colleges were randomly selected for this study, and 43% of these institutions responded. Results indicate that many teams are not using the safest methods to transport their athletes. Coaches are frequently called upon as drivers and 15-passenger vans are used at a high rate. Schools also failed to implement the majority of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommendations for the transportation of student-athletes.

Travelers on the Title IX Compliance Highway: How Are Ohio’s Colleges and Universities Faring?

As a measure of progress, the experiences today of women athletes in the state of Ohio are far different from those attending institutions of higher learning just after the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972. But how different, and how much progress has been made? The purpose of this study was to assess the level of progress made by compiling and analyzing data available through the Equity in Athletics Disclosure reports filed by 61 junior colleges, four year colleges, and universities in the State of Ohio over a four year span of time for the academic years 2002-2006.2 The template for this study was the report completed by the Women’s Law Project examining gender equity in intercollegiate athletics in colleges and universities in Pennsylvania (Cohen, 2005), the first study of its kind. Similar to that effort, this study assesses the success with which intercollegiate athletic programs in Ohio have collectively responded to the mandates of Title IX in areas of participation opportunities and financial allocations in the form of operating budgets, scholarship assistance, recruiting and coaching.3

Perceptions of Intercollegiate Athletic Programs: Priorities and Tradeoffs

Considerable controversy exists concerning university athletics. Depending upon one’s perspective, athletic programs are seen as having important positive, or negative, effects on universities. The objective of the research reported here is to determine whether perceptions of intercollegiate athletic programs differ as a function of issues such as winning, profits, ethics, and the education of athletes. Our analyses indicate that: (a) ethics and winning, and education and revenue, tend to be competing athletic program priorities; (b) individuals cluster in four groups that emphasize athletic program revenue, winning, education, and ethics; and (c) the extent to which cluster membership is related to constituency group (e.g., alumni, students, faculty) membership depends on the constituency group being considered. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of our findings for both theory and practice.

Developing an Initial Marketing Plan for Intercollegiate Athletic Programs

This paper recommends an approach to the development and implementation of marketing plans with regard to intercollegiate athletic programs The thoughts expressed herein are based upon marketing theory and research advertising, and promotional management principles commonly used in mainstream business and industry but often overlooked in sport and athletics The author provides a series of steps to serve as guidelines for the sport manager/athletic director. By incorporating the theories and ideas set forth in this paper, the sports practitioner would be better equipped to develop a marketing plan applicable to the uniqueness and requirements of his or her particular institution or service area.