Knight Commission: Americans Split on Pivotal Issues Reshaping College Sports

The survey by the Elon University Poll and the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics was conducted July 7-11, 2025, a month after a landmark legal settlement that permits Division I athletics programs, for the first time, to share revenue with athletes and compensate them for the value of their names, images and likenesses (NIL). The $2.8 billion antitrust settlement, approved June 6 by U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken, ended several class action lawsuits filed against the NCAA and the five prominent athletic conferences that generate the most revenues.

“The results of this public opinion poll are a timely and invaluable resource for lawmakers and leaders in Division I athletics to consider as they shape policies and legislation over the next several months,” said Len Elmore, co-chair of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics. “It is important to know that the public overwhelmingly supports keeping college sports connected to its academic mission, even with the historic shifts on other issues like college athlete compensation.”

Access full survey results, including an executive summary, charts and data for all questions, at bit.ly/collegesportspoll

Summary of several key findings:

No public consensus on college sports governance and the role of federal and state governments

• Only about a third (35%) of Americans believe the NCAA should primarily be responsible for regulating college sports; just 6% of the public support the federal government assuming that role.
• In keeping with doubts about a federal role, most Americans are either skeptical or unsure that Congress should enact legislation to regulate college sports.

Overwhelming support for maintaining academic emphasis

• 8 out of 10 Americans (81%) believe it is extremely or very important for college athletes to be enrolled as full-time students and graduate.
• Nearly 75% of Americans support the current rule requiring teams to be on track to graduate at least half their athletes to remain eligible for postseason competition.

“Americans show lots of uncertainty about the seismic shifts in Division I sports — but they are certain about two things: educational mission matters and athletic participation opportunities should not be limited to only revenue-producing sports,” said Knight Commission CEO Amy Privette Perko. “Prioritizing those goals has long been a cornerstone of the Knight Commission’s work, and it is encouraging to see a clear public sentiment on these issues.”

Americans show strong support for women’s and collegiate Olympic sports and openness to federal funding for collegiate Olympic sports

• Nearly 40% of Americans believe that schools “have not gone far enough” in providing female athletes with equitable opportunities and just 7% think schools “have gone too far.”
• Nearly 7 in 10 Americans said that athletic opportunities in sports not tied to generating revenue – generally referred to as collegiate Olympic sports – are important for universities to offer.
• The survey also found widespread support for Team USA, with three in four Americans saying it is moderately to extremely important that Team USA is successful in the Olympics.
• Nearly half of American adults favored using federal funds to help finance college sports programs to develop USA Olympic national team members and two-thirds of those interested in college sports supported that idea.
• A slight majority of Americans (53%) also supported enacting a fee or federal tax on sports gambling operators to create a national fund to support collegiate Olympic sports.
• Most Americans (81%) erroneously thought that the U.S. government provides funding for Team USA development programs (it does not).

“It is encouraging to see such broad public support for the importance of collegiate Olympic sports and the key role they play in achieving Team USA Olympic success,” said Knight Commission member Beth Brooke. “But acknowledging the importance of these sports is only half the battle – now is the time for both Division I leaders and lawmakers to recognize the urgent need to continue investing in these sports at the collegiate level and to create new mechanisms to make sure that investment is robust.”

Mixed views on athletes’ employment status and seismic shifts taking place

• Most Americans do not support classifying Division I athletes as employees of their schools, although support is significantly higher among respondents who identified as “former college athletes and their families.” Even for revenue-producing sports (like football and basketball), 36% of Americans opposed classifying athletes as employees compared with 30% who supported employee classification. The American public is much more receptive to universities negotiating with athletes on pay, rights and responsibilities, with more than 40% of respondents supporting the idea.
• When asked about the collective impact of recent changes in Division I, including the transfer portal, name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation, and conference realignments, Americans were divided and uncertain in their assessments. Fully half of all Americans think these changes are neither positive or negative or were unsure about their impact.
• By contrast, Americans had definite opinions about the funding sources for the new athlete compensation allowed from universities. They favored raising this money from private and corporate support and media contracts and there was little support for increasing student tuition and fees and dropping non-revenue sports.

“It is clear that many people are still trying to understand new rules on athletes’ compensation, transfers, conference realignments and other issues,” said Jason Husser, director of the Elon University Poll. “Many people who don’t follow college sports closely are still learning about the new environment and forming their opinions based on what they read and hear about these issues. That’s why we see much more definite views among college sports fans and more uncertainty among casual observers.”