The Wake

As the director of athletics at the University of Minnesota, I read with interest Alan Iverson’s piece regarding corporate sponsorships of Gopher athletics. I would like to offer a few of my own thoughts on this subject.

Interestingly, the very first intercollegiate athletics competition, an 1852 rowing match between Harvard and Yale, was sponsored by James Elki of the Boston, Concord, and Montreal Railroad. Although much has changed since that day, to varying degrees, corporate sponsorship has always been a part of intercollegiate athletics. This presence was less obvious prior to 1980 because athletic budgets were much smaller than they are today and the corporate need was not as great. Revenue generated through ticket sales and annual university subsidies of athletics typically met the department’s needs.

Since the 1980s, however, the face of intercollegiate athletics has changed significantly. Athletic expenses continue to rise exponentially as athletic programs continue to expand their administrative services to meet the needs of all student-athletes, coaches, alumni, and fans in the increasingly complex ‘business’ of college athletics. These increasing financial pressures are coupled with shrinking institutional support and rapidly escalating tuition, fees, room, and board expenses. This combination of factors has dictated that athletic departments seek funding from alternative sources, including corporate sponsorships.

I think that it is extremely important to point out that athletics, as a part of higher education, are not exceptional in doing so. For example, American colleges and universities routinely partner with corporations to fund research projects. These partnerships bring in billions of dollars to higher education each year. Given the choice, I would prefer that athletics not have to enter such arrangements. Nevertheless, I refute the premise that these partnerships, in and of themselves, indicate a corruption of the collegiate ideal. Just as the corporate sponsorship of research does not entitle the sponsor to dictate research protocol, neither do athletic corporate sponsors have the power to dictate any element of our athletic program, as Iverson implies.

The real question that I feel compelled to answer is not whether corporate sponsorships should be a part of intercollegiate athletics, but rather how we maintain fidelity to our distinct Golden Gopher collegiate culture, which we refer to as our “Collegiate Way.” I agree with Iverson that college athletics hold a special cultural position because of the historical traditions and the ability to bring diverse constituents together in community through the pageantry, celebration, and drama of intercollegiate athletics. My staff and I are committed to maintaining integrity to these ideas as we face the financial challenges of modern college athletics.

Joel Maturi is the University of Minnesota’s director of athletics.