A Game with Rules, but Few Regulations: Name, Image, and Likeness in College Athletics

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The financial gap between wealthy and struggling college athletic conferences is widening, deepening a class structure within big-time college sports. Novelty: ClaimNovelty.INCREMENTAL. Consensus alignment: ConsensusAlignment.NEUTRAL.

Cameron Black

doi:10.1177/10957960261473262

August 20, 2026New Labor ForumOpen Access

A Game with Rules, but Few Regulations: Name, Image, and Likeness in College Athletics

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Key Points

To examine financial disparities and regulatory challenges concerning name, image, and likeness across collegiate athletic conferences.
Analyzed NCAA financial reports across eleven Football Bowl Subdivision conferences.
Evaluated revenue generation and athletic department budget distributions over a ten-year timeframe.
Member institutions in the wealthiest conference generated approximately 14 times as much revenue as those in the poorest conference in 2007.
Economic disparities between high-revenue conferences and lower-tier programs have progressively deepened over time.

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Implication

Financial analysis reveals a widening revenue disparity across collegiate athletic conferences, indicating an intensifying economic stratification in college sports.

Abstract

l The wide gap between wealthy conferences and struggling conferences is growing wider, deepening a class structure even within the ostensible "big time."Among the eleven conferences with teams in the bowl subdivision, the richest league's members generated approximately fourteen times as much revenue as those programs in the poorest conference in 2007, according to data provided by the NCAA.l No matter the size of an athletic department's budget, over the past decade

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Cameron Black (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8aadc57677a34114446318 https://doi.org/10.1177/10957960261473262

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A Game with Rules, but Few Regulations: Name, Image, and Likeness in College Athletics

Key Points

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Abstract

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Cite This Study

A Game with Rules, but Few Regulations: Name, Image, and Likeness in College Athletics

Key Points

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Implication

Abstract

Discussion

Cite This Study

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