Bias Seen In Funding, Poll Shows

An overwhelming majority of Americans believe there is gender bias in the funding for college sports, according to a CBS News poll.

Eighty-six percent of respondents say funding for men’s and women’s sports should be equal.

Seventy-seven percent say funding should be equal even if it means cutting men’s sports.

Though female undergraduates outnumber men, they are awarded only one-third of all athletic scholarships. And for every $1 colleges spend on female athletes, $3 is spent on men, according to an NCAA study of Division I athletic programs.

One in 10 Americans, 18 percent of men and 4 percent of women, believe funding shouldn’t be equal. The most popular reason given for unequal funding is that men’s college athletics generate more revenue and interest.

Majorities of both men and women say they regularly follow men’s sports, while only about one-third of both men and women regularly watch women’s sports.

About half the public, 47 percent, believe the role of college sports is overemphasized. Another 43 percent say it is just right.

The telephone poll was conducted among a nationwide random sample of 1,307 adults.