Olympic Sports Hanging on by a Thread

 by Talon Petterson

Since the beginning of college sports, decisions on where money should go has been an issue. When other factors come into play, money still has to be accounted for. Almost 50 years ago, something called Title IX was passed in order to give men and women equal opportunity in sports. Soon after this was put into effect, colleges reacted in a way that wasn’t anticipated. Colleges started dropping teams instead of adding them.

In a New York Times article, “Gymnastics; Colleges Reluctantly Drop Men's Programs”, Frank Litsky says, “Because football takes up such a large part of college athletic budgets, colleges that must adhere to Title IX regulations have two choices: raise enough money to add women's programs or discontinue certain men's programs to maintain balance.” It’s not an easy decision to make but when faced with whether you should save a team or drop one, it seems as though dropping one would be more beneficial. But would it? 

Bob Bowlsby, a member of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Collegiate Advisory Council, says, “I think it’s shortsighted to view the discontinuation of sports as a high-priority way of saving money.” There is more to running a sport than just the costs that go into it, there are plenty that come back. When colleges support sports teams, they encourage people to join their school. This brings in revenue for several reasons. One reason is that, as more people join their sports teams, they are paying to be a part of the school. Another is that the increased size in teams will cause more visitors to come and pay to watch the games. In a Sports Illustrated article titled, “A Collegiate Model in Crisis: The Crippling Impact of Schools Cutting Sports”, the authors Ross Dellenger and Pat Forde said, “The elimination of college sports, they say, hurts the feeder system for American Olympic teams, destroys the motivation of youth athletes and, despite assertions that these are money-saving decisions, actually can cost schools millions in tuition dollars.”

Ron Galimore, the men's senior program director for USA Gymnastics, said “I don't think the intention of Title IX was to eliminate sports for some and provide sports for others, but there has been a knee-jerk reaction.” This “knee-jerk reaction” could cost so many people their futures. Bob Colarossi, the president of USA Gymnastics said, “Every man, except maybe six or seven who has competed for the United States, in Olympic gymnastics has come through a college program.” Without colleges supporting gymnastics, people will have a much harder time having a future in gymnastics. The same likely applies to other olympics sports. As you can see in this graph to the right, after a sport is dropped from college, the popularity of that sport goes downhill. 

In order to prevent these problems, colleges need to make sure that the money they do have is spent on the things they want to keep. For example, football is a very high revenue sport so colleges tend to put more money into that then they would for gymnastics, which is a very low revenue sport. However, sometimes they need to think about other sports before completely getting rid of them. Dellenger and Forde say, “Football, and its 85 scholarships, can throw the numbers off kilter, forcing administrators to slash other men’s sports” (Sports Illustrated). If they were to spread this money out into other sports rather than focusing so much on football, they would be able to keep other sports programs, keeping opportunities open for those who need them. “When there's no interest in gymnastics because there's no opportunities for gymnastics, people just forget about your sport,” Peter Kormann, the coach of the last two Olympic men's teams, said in a recent interview with National Public Radio. “And that affects everything at all levels, from beginning right through to the Olympics, and we're close to that right now.'' This is all going on today, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic has caused so many financial problems. Colleges and universities have to make the choices of whether or not to cut teams. 

Works cited

Litsky, Frank. “Colleges Reluctantly Drop Men's Programs.” The New York Times, 7 Aug. 2001, www.nytimes.com/2001/08/07/sports/gymnastics-colleges-reluctantly-drop-men-s-programs.html.

Forde, Ross Dellenger and Pat. “The Crippling Impact of Schools Cutting NCAA Sports Teams.” Sports Illustrated, 11 June 2020, www.si.com/college/2020/06/11/college-sports-program-cuts-ncaa-olympics.