POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. — A national poll of sports fans reveals that a distinct minority supports paying college athletes but nearly half think top college coaches should be paid as much or more than their professional counterparts.
Additional results from the poll conducted by the Marist College Center for Sports Communication and the Marist Poll found that 95 percent of fans want college athletes to attend class and 67 percent up 12 points from last year largely believe that college athletics departments regularly break NCAA rules.
“People think even more so than ever that colleges cheat all the time,” said Keith Strudler, director of Marist’s program. “That was driven by a couple of high-profile scandals this year the Harvard and Miami cases. The Harvard one kind of struck at the core.”
Harvard issued academic sanctions against approximately 60 students in February who were forced to withdraw from school for a period of time in a cheating scandal that involved the final exam in a class on Congress. Some athletes became ensnared, including two basketball team co-captains.
The Marist survey asked six questions: if college athletes should be paid; if college coaches break the rules during recruiting; if the NCAA should expand the men’s basketball tournament; if college coaches should be paid as much as pro coaches; if top college athletes should have to attend class like other students or be allowed to focus only on sports; and who should be held responsible when athletes get in trouble athletes, coaches, or college presidents?
Respondents to the poll released Tuesday appeared satisfied 77 percent with the current size of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, while 70 percent would hold athletes responsible for their transgressions, not coaches or college presidents.
Despite the professional aura that surrounds the NCAA basketball tournament, sports fans prefer to maintain some semblance of amateurism, particularly when it comes to compensating the athletes that play big-time college sports.
