When she ponders the topsy-turvy state of college sports, Kelly Barsky confesses, “My head spins some days.” But UCSB’s athletic director keeps her feet on the ground as she forges a path for the Gauchos to keep up with the competition while adhering to traditional values.
There is no disputing that intercollegiate athletics at the Division I level is a money-driven business. Would four West Coast schools, including UCLA and USC, cast their lot with the Midwest/East-centered Big 10 Conference if it were not for the TV dollars they could scoop up?
The landscape is further shaken up by changes that will put college athletes more deeply into the money-making side of things. A legal settlement with the NCAA to be finalized next April is expected to result in a school spending as much as $22 million a year (if it has a football team) to pay its players, repaying lost income going back to 2016, and implementing revenue-sharing in the future.