What would happen if the major revenue generating football programs in the NCAA decide to change their designation to semi pro?
In his opinion piece published in Forbes, “Will Paying College Athletes Ruin Everything We Love About College Sports? Not If We’re Smart About It,” ASC Director, H. Clay McEldowney offers insight into that question.
“As a matter of law, the Title IX statute is specifically designed to govern educational matters, and established regulatory precedent shows that Title IX does not apply to professional sports.”
One example of a semi pro college team that is free from Title IX compliance restriction is Brigham Young University’s men’s soccer team. The school fields a team in the Premier Development League, a division of the United Soccer League. As you can see below, BYU does not list the men’s soccer team as part of its Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act report.
As the ASC’s NCAA soccer study revealed, there is a huge opportunity gap between male and female soccer players in the NCAA. Male players have far fewer opportunities to play and earn scholarships than their female counterparts thanks to the limits created by Title IX’s gender quota. Maybe BYU’s soccer team is paving the way to a new world of college athletics, which meets the underserved interest of male players.
