Walter Byers and the NCAA (eBook)

Power, Amateurism, and Growing Controversy in Big-Time College Sport

Ronald A. Smith (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2025 | 1
346 Seiten
University of Tennessee Press (Verlag)
978-1-62190-951-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Walter Byers, the first executive director of the NCAA, oversaw the organization's transformation from a small rule-making body into a billion-dollar enterprise that wielded immense power over collegiate athletics. In Walter Byers and the NCAA, historian Ronald A. Smith delves into the complexities of Byers's leadership during a period of great cultural and institutional change. Under Byers's guidance, the NCAA navigated significant milestones, such as the racial integration of college sports and the passage of Title IX, which mandated gender equality in athletics. At the same time, the commercialization of college football and basketball during his tenure led to skyrocketing coaching salaries and television contracts, pushing the NCAA into a new, profit-driven era. Smith provides a nuanced portrait of Byers, showing him as a man who remained committed to the ideal of the nonprofessional athlete, even as college athletics evolved around him. Yet Byers's perspective shifted later in his career, as he began to question the fairness of this system. In his book, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, Byers publicly criticized the exploitation of student athletes, a stance that foreshadowed today's debates about athletes' rights and NIL compensation. Smiths work not only offers an in-depth look at Byers's role in the NCAAs expansion but also critiques the institution's long-standing emphasis on amateurism. The book underscores how the tension between amateur ideals and the increasing commercialization and professionalization of college sports has persisted, both during and after Byers's tenure. Ultimately, Smith provides a compelling study of one of the most influential and controversial figures in the history of American sports governance.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 16.5.2025
• Reihe/Serie: Sport & Popular Culture
• Sprache: englisch
• Maße: 150 x 150 mm
• Themenwelt: Literatur ► Biografien / Erfahrungsberichte
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport
• Themenwelt: Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918)
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Geschichte ► Regional- / Ländergeschichte
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Pädagogik ► Erwachsenenbildung
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung ► Staat / Verwaltung
• Themenwelt: Weitere Fachgebiete ► Sportwissenschaft
• Schlagworte: amateur ideals vs. commercialization • coaching salaries in NCAA • college athletics governance • college basketball profits • college football commercialization • college sports amateurism • gender equality in athletics • history of collegiate sports • NCAA commercialization • NCAA cultural change • NCAA executive leadership • NCAA expansion history • NCAA history • NCAA milestones • NCAA profit-driven era • NCAA racial integration • NCAA television contracts • NIL compensation debates • Ronald A. Smith author • sports history governance • student-athlete exploitation • student-athlete rights • Title IX in college sports • Unsportsmanlike Conduct by Walter Byers • Walter Byers biography
• ISBN-10: 1-62190-951-4 / 1621909514
• ISBN-13: 978-1-62190-951-4 / 9781621909514