The importance of boosters in big time college sports

The importance of boosters in big time college sports

Introduction

In most colleges and universities, the star players of the football and basketball teams are almost as famous and popular as local athletes and celebrities. College sports provides colleges in United States with a lot of benefits such as monetary gains, marketing and augmented admissions. Subsequently, it has a lot of benefits for the students as well. Students can apply for scholarships and admissions to universities based on their performance and participation in sports and other extracurricular activities at college. The basketball and football are seen as big time college sports that are functionally managed by the athletics department. The athletic department is financed through the donation that is acquired from the boosters. The paper will discuss the importance of boosters in these big time college sports and the extent to which the athletics department is dependent upon the donation that is provided by these boosters.

Discussion

Review of the Literature

Boosters defined

According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), boosters are the representatives of the universities because they promote the interests of the athletes. Boosters also can be known as the ones that acquire seasonal tickets, which help the universities in getting the finances necessary to run the athletics department. According to the NCAA, they are entities that would promote the athletic programs in order to serve the societal interest of the development of young athletes. It is important to note that the boosters would make financial contributions directly or indirectly to the institutions. Sometimes, they do not want their identities to be revealed, which is why the universities do not reveal their names at the events. There are booster organizations that are dedicated to collect finances for the athletes of a university. These boosters play an important part in collecting the desired level of finances through their connections (NCAA, 2012).

It is not only the financial help that the boosters can provide to the universities but they can also help the athletes in getting jobs. Some may even hire them so that they can finance their expenses and keep their focus on the sports. The boosters may voluntarily ask the universities to let them hire the students. The universities make sure that they provide the lists of the athletes that need jobs in order to finance their expenses. It is the university that has to ensure that the athletes get proper jobs. The universities maintain contacts with these boosters because they not only can help the students but also can help their families. Even if a booster provides financial assistance to the university as a one-time courtesy, he will always be seen as a booster.

Importance of boosters

Sport in the United States is a growing industry. Economic analysis suggests that sports in the United States are a multi-billion industry, ranging between $44 to $73 billion dollars. Analysis revealed that individual involvement in sports in the United States is occurring at significant rates (Coakley, & White, ...