Cutting Sports and Cutting Corners: The Effect of COVID-19 Sport Cuts on Title IX Compliance

Authors

  • Katherine E. Hallahan University of Massachusetts Boston
  • Barbara Osborne University of North Carolina at Chapel HIll

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18060/28393

Keywords:

Title IX, participation opportunities, cutting sports, NCAA

Abstract

College sports changed in March 2020 due to the fiscal impact of multiple seasons of lost revenue and increased health and safety costs created in part by a global pandemic. In the year following, NCAA institutions often looked to eliminating sponsorship of athletic teams to cut costs during a time of such financial instability. This article examines the impact of sport cuts during the COVID-19 pandemic on equity in participation opportunities, ultimately noting whether each institution that eliminated sports would likely be compliant with Title IX. Title IX was passed more than 50 years ago, and many colleges and universities are still non-compliant in providing equitable participation opportunities. College athletics is currently in a period of rapid change and fiscal uncertainty; this research provides a reminder and a road map for institutions to make programming decisions that will be compliant with Title IX in the future.

Author Biographies

Katherine E. Hallahan, University of Massachusetts Boston

Katie Hallahan, MA, is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Master of Sport Administration program. Hallahan is a former Division I student-athlete and currently serves as a college athletics administrator at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Barbara Osborne, University of North Carolina at Chapel HIll

Barbara Osborne, JD, is a professor of sport administration in the Department of Exercise and Sport Science, with a joint appointment at the School of Law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interests include legal issues in intercollegiate athletics, women’s issues in intercollegiate athletics, and medical safety issues in sport.

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Published

2025-02-21

Issue

Section

Original Research