NCAA votes to approve new constitution: What changes are coming for collegiate athletics?

On Jan. 20, 2022, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) voted to approve a new constitution that will be effective Aug. 1, 2022. In its most notable change, the NCAA provides the divisions (i.e., Division I, Division II, and Division III) with greater authority to reorganize and restructure. Among other updates, each division will have oversight of its own budget, expenditures and financial distribution to its members.

The principles outlined in the new constitution include:

• An emphasis on the academic experience and intercollegiate athletics as a component of an institution’s broader educational program
• Continued prohibition on pay-for-play but allowance for additional educational and other benefits, such as those for name, image and likeness (NIL) in accordance with guidelines established by each division
• The responsibility of member institutions to conduct programs that demonstrate fundamental values, including respect, fairness and ethical conduct
• Support and enhancement of the physical and mental health and safety of student athletes
• Affirmation of an institution’s responsibility to maintain institutional control of its athletics programs
• Promotion of diversity, inclusion and gender equity in athletics activities, hiring practices, coaching and professional relationships and leadership and advancement opportunities
• Relegation of recruiting standards to the divisions

Under its new constitution, the NCAA assigns a great deal of its authority to the individual divisions while retaining responsibility for activities, such as liaising with the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committees and conducting all NCAA championships. By retaining the responsibility for conducting all NCAA championships, the NCAA retains the ability to collect and distribute revenue from the Division I Men’s Basketball Championship (i.e., March Madness), the main source of revenue for the NCAA, to its member institutions. The new constitution does not change the revenue Division II and Division III allocations that it established more than 25 years ago. While the new constitution does not expressly discuss revenue sharing, which is a point of contention for its critics, it does state that Divisions II and III will receive 4.37% and 3.18% of all operating revenue sources respectively.