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The business of college sports is a high stakes game where the universities stand to loose more than the championship title. Colleges and universities have built a multimillion-dollar revenue situation that is supported by merchandising and television contracts and a lot of the money is spent on the recruitment, education and performance, both on and off the field, of their athletes. While colleges use many different ways to attract new athletes to their school, ranging from scholarships, prestige, tuition, and the ultimate chance at glory, they have also been found to offer other incentives to their players, ranging from cars, money and excursions. However, has college sports lost sight of the goals of higher education? This paper is going to discuss the business behind college sports and the emphasis that has been placed on a college’s athletic performance rather than scholastic performance. At the current time the NCAA bans players from receiving any financial compensation, except scholarships for their play. However, in the past there are many incidences of players receiving other sorts of compensation. In addition, there are many situations of college’s athletic department officials and trustees giving players money and gifts. Last season, the University of Michigan basketball program forfeited 100 wins and five seasons. In addition, they must repay the NCAA about $450,000 that was received from the postseason revenue, they declared themselves ineligible to participate in the 2003 NCAA tournament and NIT and the program is on probation for the next two years. The president of the University, Mary Sue Coleman, who was the first president in four presidents to investigate the scandal rumors said, "This is a day of great shame for the university”(George, 2002). Coleman was able to uncover the scandal because she had use of the following: the power of the federal government, a grand jury and its subpoenas, and her predecessors did not have these options nor did they seek them.
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