Most Americans have been led to believe that sports programs are an extracurricular activity—an integral part of the fabric of the postsecondary education experience. They have also been led to believe that these programs play a significant role in America’s higher education system with beneficial impacts—helping to knit together the disparate supporters of these enterprises while galvanizing the school and the surrounding community around the spirit that comes with a successful athletic program The general public is apparently unaware of the fact that the impacts of these programs are not all beneficial as they are often mixed with strong debilitating negative components. For one, bigtime college sports are no longer extracurricular activities but rather businesses that provide multi-billion-dollar mass entertainment.
