College sports is a lucrative business that seems to monetarily benefit all stakeholders except for the players. For the 2015-2016 academic year, 28 college athletic departments totaled over $100 million in revenue. This year, the National Collegiate Athletic Association surpassed $1 billion in revenue for the first time ever. Nick Saban, the head football coach at the University of Alabama, is the highest paid college coach at $11 million. Dabo Swinney (Clemson Football), John Calipari (Kentucky Basketball), and Jim Harbaugh (Michigan Football) are not too far behind, earning between 7 and 8.5 million dollars (TheBestSchools). While universities, coaches, and arguably the NCAA are all essential stakeholders within the business of college …show more content…
Title IX reads. “no person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance” (U.S. Department of Education). As understood in the world of college sports, Title IX requires equal participation opportunity for male and female athletes in proportion to overall campus population and interest. Schools do not have to spend the exact same amount of money on men’s and women’s sports (Hruby). They already sign coaches to drastically different contracts, so there is no reason that Title IX should withhold athletes from receiving just compensation. Once again, John Calipari is currently signed to a $7.14 million contract. Matthew Mitchell, the head coach for the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team, is set to earn roughly $825,000 through the year 2022. Mitchell makes about 11.6% of what Calipari makes. If Title IX were about equal pay regardless of sport, then men’s and women’s coaches would be making much more comparable