Intercollegiate athletics continue to bedevil American higher education. This book explores the complexities of intercollegiate athletics while explaining the organizational structures, key players, terms, and important issues relevant to the growing fields of recreational studies, sports management, and athletic administration.

Featuring a new preface by the author, this book looks closely at college sports and how they shape the athletic and personal landscape for girls and young women. Filled with interviews from female athletes of all ages, this book chronicles how college and youth sports have become more corporate, to the detriment of participants.

​For several decades in America, athletic programs in colleges and universities received financial support and resources primarily from their respective schools and such sources as alumni and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). More recently, however, college coaches assigned to athletic departments and the presidents and marketing or public relations officials of schools organize, initiate, and participate in fund-raising campaigns and thus obtain a portion of revenue for their sports programs from local, regional and national businesses, and from other private donors, groups, and organizations. Because of this inflow of assets and financial capital, intercollegiate athletic budgets and types of sports expanded and in turn, these programs became increasingly important, popular, and reputable as revenue and cost centers within American schools of higher education.​​

Explores the history of college athletics and examines the position of sports relative to academics within the university.

A critical look at the tension between the larger role of the university and the commercialization of college sports Unwinding Madness is the most comprehensive examination to date of how the NCAA has lost its way in the governance of intercollegiate athletics—and why it is incapable of achieving reform and must be replaced. The NCAA has placed commercial success above its responsibilities to protect the academic primacy, health and well-being of college athletes and fallen into an educational, ethical, and economic crisis. As long as intercollegiate athletics reside in the higher education environment, these programs must be academically compatible with their larger institutions, subordinate to their educational mission, and defensible from a not-for-profit organizational standpoint. The issue has never been a matter of whether intercollegiate athletics belongs in higher education as an extracurricular offering. Rather, the perennial challenge has been how these programs have been governed and conducted. The authors propose detailed solutions, starting with the creation of a new national governance organization to replace the NCAA. At the college level, these proposals will not diminish the revenue production capacity of sports programs but will restore academic integrity to the enterprise, provide fairer treatment of college athletes with better health protections, and restore the rights and freedoms of athletes, which have been taken away by a professionalized athletics mentality that controls the cost of its athlete labor force and overpays coaches and athletic directors. Unwinding Madness recognizes that there is no easy fix to the problems now facing college athletics. But the book does offer common sense, doable solutions that respect the rights of athletes, protects their health and well-being while delivering on the promise of a bona fide educational degree program.

The dynamic world of collegiate sports has seen seismic changes since the previous edition of Administration of Intercollegiate Athletics was published. Conference realignments; name, image, and likeness (NIL) advancements; multibillion-dollar media rights deals; expanded bowl games and tournaments; and big-money corporate sponsorships have all been arisen out of the burgeoning popularity of college sports. The growing complexities of the sport administrator’s role necessitate a college text that reflects the times. And that’s exactly what Administration of Intercollegiate Athletics, Second Edition, does. Some of the most informed and experienced professionals in the field of athletics administration have lent their expertise to the updated second edition, making it the most comprehensive resource available today for students aspiring to work in the field and for professionals navigating an increasingly demanding environment. The text offers students a deep dive into the day-to-day operations of collegiate athletics departments. With chapters covering governing bodies and conference governance; leadership and management; rules compliance; academics, eligibility, and student-athlete development; media relations and production; financial operations and budgeting; marketing, ticketing, licensing, and sponsorships; facility and event management; alumni relations; and support services, the text provides students with the essential underpinnings of an athletics administration position. New to this edition is a chapter dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion to provide broader discussions of athlete social justice activism, gender equity, Title IX compliance, feminist theory, and allyship. In addition, the second edition discusses the rise of NIL deals, legalized sports wagering, and esports, as well as the lasting financial impacts of COVID-19 on athletics departments at all levels of intercollegiate sport. While Division I schools grab the spotlight, administrators in Division II, Division III, junior colleges, and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) athletics departments share the same responsibilities as their Division I counterparts. Throughout the text, Administration of Intercollegiate Athletics, Second Edition, takes care to address the needs and concerns of administrators at these levels, even more so than in the previous edition. New and updated features include Leadership Lesson sidebars, discussion questions, learning activities, and case studies designed to enhance learning and provide practical application of the concepts presented. Also included are Industry Profile sidebars that highlight prominent athletics administrators, Technology Tools sidebars that showcase the latest advancements assisting administrators in their roles, and Professional Development sidebars that provide students with direction on how to enter and succeed in the industry. Administration of Intercollegiate Athletics, Second Edition, is an essential textbook for courses on intercollegiate athletics, sport management, or sport marketing and is a relied-on resource for current sport administrators.