Gender Equity Regulation and Profitability in College Athletics (Report‪)‬

ABSTRACT Title IX has become a central figure in the profit structure of college athletics. The empirical results from this study provide evidence supporting the prevailing notion that men's college football on the Division 1-A level is the dominant source of profits for collegiate athletic programs. Women's programs are shown to earn significantly less than all men's and gender neutral programs. On the other hand, standard regression analysis reveals a positive relationship between overall profits for a college and the profitability of women's programs, holding constant factors that include football profits, total school enrollment, percent of student athletic aid allocated to women, and conference affiliation. The results provide support to the notion that Title IX regulation is having a positive impact on the financial growth of women's athletic programs.