Distributive Justice

Based on organizational justice research, Hums and Chelladurai surveyed college athletic personnel to determine which distributive justice principles these leaders believed were most fair. Their results indicated that the principles evaluated highest by all subgroups—National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) divisions, position, gender—were equality of treatment, need, and equality of results. The present study extended the work of Hums and Chelladurai and examined NCAA Revenue and Expense Reports for 1973-1993 to determine whether there was evidence to suggest that equality and need were the main principles affecting distributions. The authors also analyzed the impact of legislation and court decisions on distributions. Based on the analysis of the NCAA reports, distributions appear to be greatly affected by equity related to revenue production and spectator appeal.