40 years later, Title IX is still fighting perception it hurt men's sports
“When schools have too few female athletes (i.e., the percentage of females enrolled exceed the percentage of athletes), they’re presumed noncompliant. They’re then forced to create the illusion of substantial proportionality by denying men the opportunity to participate,” writes ASC advisory board member Karen Owoc, on the nonprofit’s website.
This means, she continues, that many women’s teams have not been helped, “but rather, men have been hurt.”
The Fairness in Sports Foundation site catalogues a long list of men’s programs that have been cut, it states, due to Title IX requirements.
The numbers however, tell a different story. Regarding collegiate sports, Title IX focuses on access and participation. In a list of FAQ’s on its website seeking to refute allegations that Title IX has hurt men’s athletics, the NCAA points out that since the law's inception, both male and female participation in college sports have increased.
Just between 2002 and 2011, the NCAA says, the number of men in college sports increased by 38,482 between 2002 and 2011. During that same period, the number of females went up by less, some 32,662.
The NCAA also points out that nonrevenue men’s sports are often cut to provide more funds for the two big revenue sports, football and basketball. In 2006, for instance, Rutgers University dropped men's tennis, a team with a budget of approximately $175,000. The National Women's Law Center points out that Rutgers spent about $175,000 in the same year on hotel rooms for the football team – for home games.
