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To me, college sports are a real anomaly. Watching the highlights of student matches in the USA, I just can't stop being amazed: stadiums filled with thousands of people, screaming and cheering from the fans in the stands, and a real battle going on on the pitch! It’s almost as exhilarating as scoring a no deposit bonus at a casino—just like the thrill of finding a Wanted win casino no deposit bonus can give you an edge. Today we tell you about the uniqueness of college sports in the United States.
Sports associations like the NBA, NHL or NFL are known around the world, but behind them is also the NCAA - or the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The NCAA was born in the 20th century and the main reason for its creation was American football: in 1905, 19 football matches ended in tragedy. Then there was a question about the safety of athletes and it was solved at the highest level: in December of the same year, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, convened the heads of major U.S. universities, which organized the Intercollegiate Athletic Association - IAAUS. And in 1910.
It was renamed the NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Initially, the association held competitions exclusively in American football, but over time began to hold championships in other sports such as baseball, basketball, wrestling, boxing, athletics, as well as many other disciplines. For the convenience of the competitions, it was decided to divide the universities by area.
A century later, the association has grown to insane proportions: it has more than 1,000 colleges and universities from the United States, Canada, and even Puerto Rico, with a total of more than 500,000 students.
The NCAA covers 90 championships in 24 different sports, which are divided into three seasons of competition. It is more convenient to divide the territory of university campuses between athletes, as well as to divide broadcasts in the schedule of local and national TV channels.
Depending on the level, the teams are divided into three divisions, which increases competitiveness and adds to the spectacle!
Division I consists of universities with the largest budgets, which allow them to give athletes the best training conditions and the most scholarships. Sport is a main activity of such universities, and a lot of money is poured into achieve and maintain success.
Division II includes universities that can only provide athletic scholarships to their best athletes. These institutions help their athletes grow to the professional level, but are much more focused on the academic process.
Division III is for universities where sport may be more recreational, and less for profit. Scholarships are less plentiful, and so are the superstars.
Regardless, success and promotion can be realized from any level.
Advertising contracts. Spectator interest in the final stages of college tournaments converts into a lot of money. The NCAA has many sponsors, ranging from AT&T and Coca-Cola, to Capital One Bank. There's also Nissan, Pizza Hut, LG, Marriott and Hershey's, among others.
Collectively, the contracts generate about $1 billion for the association, $600 million of which is distributed to the universities. This money is spent on improving the quality of conditions for sports activities in the institutions and on scholarships.
TV broadcasts. American college football is insanely popular in the United States. Alabama and Virginia Tech drew 6.6 million average viewers with a peak of well over 7 million, and that was in 2009. .
In America, the most popular college sports are American football and basketball, so 80% of TV sports revenue comes from those two sports.
Universities earn money from the sale of broadcasting rights and that has been the biggest impetus behind the latest rounds of conference realignment. The PAC-12, for instance, essentially folded because the TV deal paled in comparison to other conferences. The ACC is fighting the same battle now as Clemson and Florida State have been working to get out of the deal with reduced penalties and relocate to the more lucrative SEC or Big Ten (B1G). .
Without this TV revenue, athletic budgets will have tremendous shortfalls. USC and UCLA and were faced with the possibility of eliminating a host of non-revenue sports, which is why both moved from the PAC-12 to the Big Ten.
One problem is that the schools spend this money as fast as they make it, mainly through escalating coaches' salaries and capital improvements.
Ticket sales. Sold-out games produce huge revenue for the schools, as well, especially after parking and concessions are factored in. Not to mention the boom that fans bring to the local economy on game weekends with hotels filled to capacity, while restaurants and bars are overflowing.
And in recent years, the transformation of the postseason from bowl games to the College Football Playoff, have increased total postseason revenue nearly ten-fold. That money is spread across virtually every school that plays football, whether or not they personally made the playoff.
In basketball, seats in the middle of the arena cost up to $10,000 (931,300 ₽). It was almost impossible to buy tickets in the front rows which were mostly filled by celebrities.
The love for college sports is partly about mass appeal. Plus the principle of "support your local team". Almost everyone has a friend, neighbor or former classmate playing for some college team. There are also wide swaths of geographical territory with no professional teams of any kind. College sports are all they have.
The digital age has helped, too. Every top college team has its own production company and its own mobile app.
During the season, teams and individual athletes compete within their conferences. At the end of the season, the top local representatives compete in a national playoff. Virtually every sports now has its playoff on national television or streamed on popular platforms.
The aforementioned College Football Playoff and March Madness lead the pack, but the College Baseball and Softball World Series have grown tremendously in popularity. So, too, has almost every women's sport.
The sports are spread across the seasons with football in the fall and winter, basketball in the winter and spring, and baseball and softball from spring to early summer.
Until 2021, students were forbidden to earn money on their name in commercials and social media - it was considered that it spoils the image of the association. Students were not happy with this at all: they were being prevented from making money!
All misunderstandings and hatred are in the past. Since 2021, students have been allowed to reap the benefits for the use of their name, image and likeness, and collectives have been established to create even more revenue across the board. Some college stars have gone from making nothing, to landing million-dollar contracts with such advertisers as State Farm Insurance.
Bronny James, the son of LeBron was said to have made between 6 and 8 million at USC. Now, he has joined his dad with the Lakers.
Gymnast Olivia Dunn had reported earnings of $3.4 million, and football player Arch Manning of the Texas Longhorns was in the $2.8 million range.
These are impressive sums considering that these are just students, and some are starting to earn money before they are even 18. Show a great game, and you're ready to get a contract from Nike or Beats. There's no other way.
The list below shows the top college teams in the NCAA. You won't fall asleep watching these teams!
The Cardinal, Stanford University. If you like to cheer for a true hegemon, the Cardinal are that team. By far the most decorated team across all sports disciplines, with 134 championships to their credit.
The Blue Devils, Duke University. The premier source of basketball talent in the 21st century. The basketball team had 1,129 wins under Mike Krzyzewski who retired after the 2022 season as the all-time winningest coach. (1,202 including his time at Army).
Crimson Tide, University of Alabama. Demonstrates absolute dominance in Division I American football. Nick Saban had 6 national champions at Alabama and 7 for his career (1 with LSU) while recruiting and molding a host of star alumni. He retired after the 2023 season,a year after signing an 8-year extension that would have paid him $93.6 million at an average of $11.7 million a year.
College sports in the US are top! It's a mix of a cool atmosphere with show elements, as well as spectacular and fiery play on the field. It is a cool opportunity for young talents to prove themselves and make it to the professional level, while also participating in various shows and commercials, thus developing themselves as individuals.