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Ncaa Scholarship Limits and Competitive Balance in College Football

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  • Daniel Sutter
  • Stephen Winkler

Abstract

Conventional wisdom holds that parity has increased in college football in recent decades due largely to limits on the number of scholarships teams can offer. The authors find that competitive balance has not increased in college football since the end of World War II, and they find mixed evidence of scholarship limits’ effect on a range of measures of parity, including the standard deviation of winning percentages and Associated Press rankings. They also examine the 1991 NCAA roll-call vote to reduce the scholarship limit and find some evidence that stronger teams were more likely to vote for the lower limit.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Sutter & Stephen Winkler, 2003. "Ncaa Scholarship Limits and Competitive Balance in College Football," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 4(1), pages 3-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jospec:v:4:y:2003:i:1:p:3-18
    DOI: 10.1177/1527002502239655
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    Cited by:

    1. Jaret Treber & Rachel Levy & Victor A. Matheson, 2013. "Gender differences in competitive balance in intercollegiate basketball," Chapters, in: Eva Marikova Leeds & Michael A. Leeds (ed.), Handbook on the Economics of Women in Sports, chapter 12, pages 251-268, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Rodney Fort, 2018. "Modeling Competitive Imbalance and Self-Regulation in College Sports," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(2), pages 231-251, March.
    3. Brian Mills & Jason Winfree, 2018. "Athlete Pay and Competitive Balance in College Athletics," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 52(2), pages 211-229, March.
    4. Aju Fenn & Peter Allmen & Stacey Brook & Thomas Preissing, 2005. "The Influence of Structural Changes and International Players on Competitive Balance in the NHL," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(2), pages 215-224, June.
    5. Trevon Logan, 2011. "Econometric tests of American college football's conventional wisdom," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(20), pages 2493-2518.
    6. Kahn, Lawrence M., 2006. "The Economics of College Sports: Cartel Behavior vs. Amateurism," IZA Discussion Papers 2186, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Kathleen Carroll & Brad R. Humphreys, 2016. "Opportunistic Behavior in a Cartel Setting," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 17(6), pages 601-628, August.
    8. Steven Salaga & Rodney Fort, 2017. "Structural Change in Competitive Balance in Big-Time College Football," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 50(1), pages 27-41, February.
    9. Mark D. Groza, 2010. "NCAA conference realignment and football game day attendance," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(8), pages 517-529, December.
    10. Brian M. Mills & Steven Salaga, 2015. "Historical Time Series Perspectives on Competitive Balance in NCAA Division I Basketball," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 16(6), pages 614-646, August.
    11. Trey Dronyk-Trosper & Brandli Stitzel, 2017. "Lock-In and Team Effects," Journal of Sports Economics, , vol. 18(4), pages 376-387, May.
    12. Pelnar, Gregory, 2007. "Antitrust Analysis of Sports Leagues," MPRA Paper 5382, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Joseph P. McGarrity & Brian Linnen, 2010. "Pass or Run: An Empirical Test of the Matching Pennies Game Using Data from the National Football League," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 76(3), pages 791-810, January.
    14. Lawrence M. Kahn, 2007. "Markets: Cartel Behavior and Amateurism in College Sports," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(1), pages 209-226, Winter.

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