Athletics’ rise in importance on college campuses has been widely-documented (e.g., Frey, 1986; Putler & Wolfe, 1999; Sperber, 1990, 2000; Trail & Chelladurai, 2000; Zimbalist, 1999) and remains highly scrutinized by popular media outlets and select sport scholars. Increased importance of intercollegiate athletics within the sports landscape has brought heightened scrutiny and calls for reform (Sperber, 1990, 2000). This study utilized stakeholder theory (Freeman, 1984) to look into the reform possibilities focused on the payment of student-athletes, a topic of great importance to the functioning athletic department, and intercollegiate athletics as an entity.
Transcripts from eight focus groups, a combination of participant observation and individual interviews were analyzed to gain perceptions toward the issue of paying student-athletes. Focus groups were chosen as the data collection method because they utilize many of the techniques of individual interviews but without the intrusive, often intimidating atmosphere; instead, replacing it with a small group setting that is more inviting for participants, fostering free expression of ideas, and encouraging all members of the group to speak up (Frey & Fontana, 1993) The following five closely aligned stakeholder groups within a large, Division-IA athletic department were chosen as parties with vested interests in the issues at hand: student-athletes (revenue and non-revenue), faculty members (familiar with sport and non-familiar with sport), coaches (revenue and non-revenue sports), athletic administrators and student-athlete academic support officers.
Themes emanating from the participating stakeholder groups offered valuable insight into their views and perceptions toward athletic reform. For the most part, each stakeholder within the various focus groups, and across stakeholder groups, held similar views toward the reform issue investigated. However, some individual voices viewed intercollegiate athletic departments as businesses and strongly believed that student-athletes should be remunerated for their efforts on the practice field, in the classroom and everywhere else their services are utilized.
Several discussions centered around questions focused on the current state of athletics compared to the situation those more mature participants faced when they were college-aged students or student-athletes themselves. Also, the financial situation of student-athletes, thoughts on the athletic responsibilities, and legislative actions taken in various states were areas that emerged as important to most or all of the groups. A final thematic finding was the view that student-athletes are compensated fairly for their efforts on the playing field. These voices, plus other viewpoints on the issue, as well as implications toward theory and practice will be discussed.