Is broadcasting all games good for the NCAA?

With all of the NCAA basketball action going on during March Madness, many schools are seeing the benefits to having their games broadcast on national television. In recent weeks, many teams have opted to change their schedules around just so that they can play in front of a national television audience. The question becomes one of should the switch schools be allowed to swap their schedules around in order to get a bigger audience? As much as a big television audience helps the NCAA and each individual school athletic program, it can also hinder it to some degree. How is this possible? If a fan knows that they can watch the game on television instead of having to go to the game and witness it in person, then they won’t spend the money to buy a ticket. By the fan not buying the ticket, this means that the school gets less money in ticket sales. Most of the money that comes from ticket sales goes right back into each school’s athletic program to keep the teams competing for championships. The less money a team has, the more it will struggle to remain competitive.

I believe that the schools could put a few more games on television in order to introduce new fan to the world of collegiate sports. However, I also believe that a majority of the games should only be played in the school athletic complexes around the country in order to guarantee that ticket sales remain strong. There are still many fans out there that enjoy going to an athletic facility to watch a sporting event.

Mark Zadakis