Athletic Scholarships in Intercollegiate Football

Joshua Pitts and Jon Rezek

Journal of Sports Economics, 2012, vol. 13, issue 5, 515-535

Abstract: Despite the financial and cultural importance of intercollegiate athletics in the United States, there is a paucity of research into how athletic scholarships are awarded. In this article, the authors empirically examine the factors that universities use in their decision to offer athletic scholarships to high school football players. Using a Zero-Inflated Negative Binomial (ZINB) model, the authors find a player’s weight, height, body mass index (BMI), race, speed, on-the-field performance, and his high school team’s success often have large and significant impacts on the number of scholarship offers he receives. There is also evidence of a negative relationship between academic performance and scholarship offers. In addition, the authors find evidence of a scholarship premium for players from Florida and Texas. The results also show that running backs, wide receivers, and defensive backs appear to generate the most attention from college football coaches, other things equal.

Keywords: college; football; recruiting; scholarship; athletics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2012
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:jospec:v:13:y:2012:i:5:p:515-535

DOI: 10.1177/1527002511409239

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