Title IX is a relevant law for schools to consider when providing additional financial assistance to athletes through NIL payments and permissible revenue-sharing.

Title IX requires schools to provide female and male athletes with equitable opportunities to participate and equitable financial assistance and treatment. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Americans believe that schools have 鈥渘ot gone far enough鈥 in providing female athletes with equitable opportunities compared with 27% who said the schools have 鈥渂een about right鈥 in providing equitable opportunities. More than a quarter (27%) of respondents were 鈥渦nsure鈥 but only 7% said schools have 鈥済one too far鈥 in providing equitable opportunities to females. Women (45%) were more likely than men (33%) to say that schools have 鈥渘ot gone far enough鈥 in providing equitable opportunities to female athletes.

Collegiate Olympic sports

With Division I college athletics funding stretched by pressure to compete and fund new athlete compensation in revenue-producing sports, schools are reconsidering the extent of their support for sports that do not generate significant revenue 鈥 generally referred to as collegiate Olympic sports. Over the past 10 months, some Division I schools have announced dropping teams or reducing funding in these sports as adjustments are made in the new financial environment.

Nearly 7 in 10 Americans (68%) said it is important for universities to offer opportunities for students to participate in varsity sports other than those that are tied to generating revenues, like football and basketball. Among those interested in college sports, the support for these opportunities was even higher, with more than 9 in 10 respondents (93%) saying these varsity sports opportunities beyond football and basketball are important.

The survey also found wide support for Team USA, with 76% of Americans saying it is moderately to extremely important that Team USA is successful in the Olympics. Among those interested in college sports, 92% said that college programs such as gymnastics, track & field, swimming, and hockey are important to the success of Team USA in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

Openness to federal funding for collegiate Olympic sports

While Americans strongly support the importance of Team USA鈥檚 success in the Olympics, there is a lack of knowledge about the funding that fuels the development of U.S. Olympians. More than 8 in 10 Americans (81%) erroneously thought that the U.S. government provides funding for Team USA development programs (it does not).

Overall, nearly half (46%) of American adults favored using federal funds to help finance college sports programs to develop USA Olympic national team members and two-thirds (65%) of those interested in college sports supported that idea. A majority of Americans also supported enacting a fee or federal tax on sports gambling operators to create a national fund to support collegiate Olympic sports, with 53% of Americans supporting that idea, compared with 22% who opposed such a fee.

 

(*See methodology page for comparison group sizes)

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