NCAA plans to recommend reform on athletic spending

INDIANAPOLIS – The NCAA will recommend tighter controls on spending by its member athletic departments, with the reforms coming from the schools themselves rather than through the adoption of national standards.

A reform structure similar to one adopted recently for academic standards won’t work for spending because the NCAA does not have authority to dictate how its member schools should manage their operating budgets, NCAA president Myles Brand said Thursday.

Brand will release a task force report on the future of Division I sports Monday at the National Press Club in Washington.

The 50-member task force found increased spending by athletic departments adds “significant stress” to universities already under financial strain.

“As pressures to win and to generate revenue increase,” he said, “the integration of athletics with the academy, the interference with presidential authority by avid fans or governing board members, and the primacy of education in the student-athlete experience all have been threatened.”