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America is eager for the upcoming NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Men\u2019s and Women\u2019s Basketball Championships. The Seton Hall Sports Poll finds that among self-described NCAA men\u2019s basketball and self-described NCAA women\u2019s basketball fans, March Madness anticipated viewership is as high as 93 and 91 percent for their respective tournaments. These percentages are even higher than the 69 percent of Major League Baseball fans who reported that they plan to watch the popular World Baseball Classic. Nationally, more than a third (39%) of Americans plan to watch the men\u2019s tournament while just under a third (31%) of Americans plan to watch its counterpart, the women\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Beyond watching, one of the best parts of March Madness is competing against friends and family in a bracket contest. The Poll finds that 15 percent of Americans, 40 percent of NCAA men\u2019s, and 41 percent of NCAA women\u2019s fans will fill out a bracket for the upcoming tournaments.<\/p>\n
In terms of formal betting, ten percent of Americans plan to place a bet or wager on either tournament. In contrast, 26 percent of NCAA men\u2019s and 29 percent of NCAA women\u2019s fans plan to place a bet or wager, indicating how betting platforms have infiltrated sports culture.<\/p>\n
These results are derived from a Seton Hall Sports Poll conducted March 5th-9th among 1,536 adults. The Poll, which is sponsored by The Sharkey Institute within Seton Hall University\u2019s Stillman School of Business, features a national representative sample from YouGov Plc., weighted on U.S. Census Bureau figures for age, gender, ethnicity, education, income and geography with a margin of error of +\/- 3.0 percent.<\/p>\n
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The Changing Landscape of College Sports <\/strong><\/p>\n There is no question that college sports is changing drastically. Athletes are challenging the status quo through the courts. The Poll reveals strong support for college athletes, the one group that conspicuously was not invited to the March 6th<\/sup> special meeting on college sports at the White House.<\/p>\n Americans overwhelmingly agree on allowing athletes their right to publicity via the use of their name, image and likeness (NIL) with 54 percent supporting its fairness. Agreement reaches as high as 70 percent of NCAA men\u2019s and 72 percent of NCAA women\u2019s fans. There is less intense, but still strong support for the fairness of businesses, alumni, and donors pooling their money to offer NIL endorsements to student athletes to attract players. Thirty-two percent (32%) of Americans believe this is fair while 20 percent think it is unfair. The support ratio rises 48 percent fair versus 19 percent among NCAA men\u2019s fans, and 51 percent fair versus 17 percent among NCAA women\u2019s fans.<\/p>\n The Poll also asked whether it is fair to consider college athletes as student employees as claimed in the ongoing Johnson v. NCAA litigation. Forty percent (40%) of Americans, 50 percent of NCAA men\u2019s fans, and 56 percent of NCAA women\u2019s fans agree that student athletes are entitled to minimum wage and overtime.<\/p>\n The major professional sports leagues in the U.S. have all negotiated a collective bargaining agreement. When asked if college athletes should be allowed to do the same, 43 percent of Americans, 58 percent of NCAA men\u2019s fans, and 64 percent of NCAA women\u2019s fans agree that it would be fair. Americans believe by a margin of five to one (51%-9%) that Title IX protections which prohibit discrimination based on sex should apply to the current revenue distribution model.<\/p>\n While there exists overwhelming support for the college athletes in their right to NIL and collective bargaining agreements, that support wanes when presented with the revenue distribution model of the recent House v. NCAA settlement. There is rising opposition to the settlement rule to distribute 95 percent of the required $22 million annually among only the sports of football, men\u2019s basketball, and women\u2019s basketball. While NCAA women\u2019s fans think this is fair by a small margin (39%-34%), overall Americans think this unfair by 11 points (35%-24%).<\/p>\n \u201cThose who feel that athletes should be content with their scholarship and cost of admission is a shrinking class who yearn for the NCAA of a half century ago,\u201d says Charles Grantham, Director of the Center for Sport Management and the Seton Hall Sports Poll at the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business. \u201cMuch like the end of the reserve clause in baseball and free agency in all sports, college athletes are finally being recognized for the assets they\u2019ve become. Whether or not schools are comfortable with the new landscape is not as relevant as the determination of the athlete\u2019s value in the market. It is as American as March Madness and apple pie.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
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