The Governance Challenge in College Athletics

This federal policy overview examines congressional activity and proposed legislation shaping the future of college athletics. Trustees, presidents, and chancellors will explore key policy developments, assess their potential institutional impact, and consider the governance questions boards and senior leaders must address as the federal landscape continues to evolve.

College athletics can advance institutional mission, strengthen community, and support student success—but only when governing boards provide focused, informed oversight. How can trustees ensure athletics programs align with institutional values, academic priorities, financial strategy, and long-term goals? Participants will explore the governance questions boards should ask, the risks of mission drift, and the need to balance competitive ambitions with fiduciary responsibility.

The business model for major college athletics is broken. Rising costs, revenue sharing, facilities demands, legal exposure, and competitive escalation are straining institutional budgets. Boards must weigh competing priorities, assess financial and reputational risks, and determine what level of investment is sustainable. This session will examine the forces driving athletics spending and the governance decisions needed to protect institutional mission and long-term financial health.

The economics of college athletics demand new approaches to revenue, investment, cost management, and institutional support. This session will examine how boards can evaluate alternative business and financing models that reduce financial vulnerability while preserving mission, competitive opportunity, and student-athlete well-being. Participants will explore strategic partnerships, shared services, new revenue structures, capital priorities, and other options for building a more sustainable athletics enterprise.

Boards are governing intercollegiate sports in an era of profound uncertainty, making effective oversight, sound decision-making, and risk management increasingly difficult. Name, image, and likeness, the growing influence of agents, multimedia and broadcast rights, financial instability, and the expanding threat of sports gambling require boards to assess institutional liability, reputational exposure, student health and well-being, mission alignment, and long-term financial sustainability while meeting their fiduciary obligations and protecting the institution’s future.

Presidents stand at the intersection of institutional governance and sports governance. They work with athletics leaders, conferences, the NCAA, and other external stakeholders to align athletics with institutional mission and manage financial and reputational risk. In theory, boards oversee the president’s engagement with these entities, clarify decision-making authority, and ensure institutional positions and commitments reflect strategic priorities, fiduciary obligations, and long-term sustainability amid continuing uncertainty. What do presidents and boards need from each other to effectively meet their mutual obligations?

Three trustees will share the most consequential lessons they took from the conference and connect those insights to boardroom action. Drawing on discussions of institutional governance, presidential leadership, financial and reputational risk, student well-being, and the changing intercollegiate sports landscape, they will highlight the questions boards must ask, the risks they must oversee, and the priorities they should advance when they return to their institutions.