Title IX - Curse or Blessing?

Yesterday was the 38th anniversary of the passage of Title IX.  As a fan of Ohio State sports I spend 99% of my time on men's football / men's basketball and very little else.  I hear about the success of the men's wrestling team or the women's synchronized swimming team but in all honesty I really don't care.  And while I am proud that Ohio State is currently ranked 6th in the Director's Cup, I might not even notice if we improved that ranking to 5th or fell to 20th.  I would feel much differently if that same happened to men's football or basketball.

I wrote the first paragraph to illustrate the point that Title IX has had very little bearing on my life and the sports I watch.  I do know that before this legislation was passed many people believed that not only that women shouldn't participate in sports but that it was physically impossible for them to do so.  Title IX has allowed colleges to give women opportunities that never would have existed if it weren't for this legislation.  The rule is simple,

"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."

The hammer in the legislation is that any school in violation of the standard would not be eligible for any federal funds.  Since just about every university in America receives federal funds in some form this was a huge hammer.  In 1972 when this legislation was passed the government realized that this was a long term project and not something that could happen overnight.  They have expected the universities to make steady progress toward this goal.  Under the guidance of the Department of Education and the NCAA the results have over the least 38 years have been remarkable.  In 1972 the ratio of women to men playing collegiate sports was about 15% : 85%.  Today that number has increased to 45% : 55% in Division I-A.

If you listen to critics you will hear many people complaining about Title IX.  You will hear women's groups complaining that they don't get equal funding comparable to men's sports and the other side complaining that men's sports are being cut to make room for women's sports that have little demand.  They are both correct.

The Office of Postsecondary Education puts out an annual report based on the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act passed in the mid-90s.  The latest report is from the 2008 school year and the truth is only 3 sports make money - Men's Football, Men's Basketball, and Men's Hockey.  In fact, very few sports even come close to covering half of their expenses and none of them are women's sports (this statement is about total Division I-A finances, there are some individual women's teams that are profitable).  If you back out the 3 revenue sports, Division I-A schools have to fund $940 million in costs for the non-revenue sports.  The costs can be paid in only two ways:  from the revenue sports or by fees paid by students.  Students have always paid a portion of the athletic costs with their tuition but as costs have risen it isn't feasible to get much money from this area.  That means most Division I-A programs have only one real place to fund their athletic programs and that is with the programs that actually make money.

Note: You could claim that another source would be state funding but I'd argue this is the same as coming from student fees since this money should go to academics and not athletics and in theory should lower the cost of tuition.  Also some might claim that boosters are another source of funding but I'd argue that most of them donate because of the revenue sports.  As with everything there are exceptions. 

To do this universities spend a disproportionate share of their athletic budgets on the 3 moneymakers ($122k per student than they do on the non-revenue sports ($28k per student).  It is this disparity that upsets women's groups and while I understand their principle I disagree with the reality.  As costs have gone up many universities have felt compelled to increase their revenue sports spending to ensure their revenue stream.  A look at Ohio State's recent renovation of Ohio Stadium for football and the building of Value City Arena for basketball / hockey are prime examples of this fact.  This has happened all over the country as schools are scrambling for every dollar available to fund their athletic departments.  To ignore this fact isn't being realistic.  If look at the non-revenue sports women are given more opportunities than men by a wide margin (29.6k participants to 21.4k) and in funding ($742MM to $467MM).  It is because of this fact that opponents of Title IX claim that men's programs are being cut in favor of women's programs.  It is at this point that I agree with the women.  The truth is that men's programs are being cut to make opportunities for women and I'd make the claim that some colleges should go a bit further.

There is only one non-revenue sport that women don't have higher numbers than men and that is in baseball/softball.  There are currently 3,673 participants in Division I-A baseball while only 2,145 for softball.  Baseball has historically been America's past time and I know that many colleges have long baseball tradition but there is no reason that any school that has a baseball team shouldn't have a softball team as well.  If finances at a university are so tight that they can't afford both a baseball and a softball team then I'd make the argument that they really can't afford either.  I feel the same way about women's hockey.  Beyond that however I think that American universities have made amazing progress over the last 4 decades and should be applauded for their efforts.

Throughout this post, I've kind of ignored the topic which was  "Title IX - Curse or Blessing".  If you haven't figured it out by now -- despite the fact that I don't watch any college sports other than football or basketball I am very happy for Title IX.  When colleges added women's programs in the 70s and 80s high schools soon followed suit and youth programs for girls weren't far behind.  All you have to do is look at the Olympic medel stand over the 20 years to see the impact.  This impact wasn't limited to the women that participate as I've known fathers that railed against Title IX when we were in college feel much different later in life as they watch their daughter compete in a soccer match.  Seeing women compete with men in sports is no longer an oddity but a normal part of everyday life and that is the ultimate legacy of Title IX.  In that sense it has done more to bring equality to the sexes than any other legislation in in US history.