Content area
Abstract
Division I athletics departments often face legal matters and must manage these issues. This study conducted a survey of two populations, Division I athletics directors and general counsels, soliciting responses about how frequent athletics departments encounter various legal issues and the structure utilized to manage those issues. The survey also asked respondents to provide information on the positives and negatives of various management models.
Previous research in this area focused on the presence of Juris Doctor degrees in athletics and looked at the advantages of hiring those with law degrees. An older study investigated the sources of legal counsel for departments, but was performed before the exponential growth in college athletics. This study furthered findings from previous studies, but specifically showed that university counsel is the most common legal resource for athletics departments. Furthermore, results indicated that athletics encounter a full list of legal issues with NCAA matters and contracts being more common.