Figure 1 Some college sports teams get bigger crowds than pro teams in the US
There used to be a time when studying at university was free for all students in the UK. The days of free tuition are long gone – and not likely to return – and now we have a system that is far closer to the US version of paid-for education. But there is at least one element of student life that is still very different.
College sports in the US are big business. The athletes are household names and can expect to earn fortunes if they then progress to the professional leagues. The sports programs themselves are multi-million dollar budget affairs and are run in a way more akin to professional leagues in the UK and Europe.
Sport is played at university in the UK. But it is much more of a low-level activity at most institutions. It is very unlikely that we will ever see UK college sports teams featured on the sportsbooks profiled at sites like vegasbetting.com like they are in the US. But why is that? And is the US system better at providing education while, at the same time, producing sports stars?
UK University Sports
Sports do play an important role at universities and colleges in the UK. But it is regarded as an extracurricular activity, rather than the focus of the university experience as with some in the US.
The governing body in the UK is British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS). They organize 54 different inter-university sports on a national level and the representative teams for international competitions. The level of play is very impressive at the highest level but it is still regarded as just a small part of student life for most.
Study Before Sports
Although there are some institutions in the UK that are well-known for their sports courses and teams, they are definitely the exception, rather than the rule. In general, sports is seen as just another activity – or even hobby – that students can engage in through joining a club.
Most university sports clubs rank on the same level as any other “special interest” club that might be advertising for new members at the annual Freshers’ Fair. Most students attend university to study and gain life experiences. Any sports athletes hoping for a professional career will look to the US.
The Growth of US College Sports
The first inter-university events in the US took place in the 1840s but it wasn’t until the 1920s that college sports started to become more widely popular. The interest in university sports programs grew steadily and really took off when games and events began to be televised.
With the US being so vast in size, there are many regions where there are not as many professional sports teams. University teams – especially in popular sports like basketball and football – become the de facto local team. The largest organizations and sports conferences can make billions of dollars in broadcasting rights alone.
Sports Scholarships in the US
A major difference between the UK and US college sports is their place in the hierarchy. As we said, in the UK, university sports are a very amateur affair with most professional sports athletes entering the pro game earlier. In the US, the college level is actually the main stepping-stone from youth sports to the pro leagues.
The majority of professional players in the NFL, for example, will have come through the college sports system, winning a sports scholarship to attend a good university. The original idea here is that these talented athletes will also be able to receive an education to fall back on if they don’t make it to the pro leagues.
With such a high profile, sports has become a much bigger part of university life in the US. The student athletes themselves are treated as bona fide sports stars and are reported on by the sports media as such. With the chance of a highly-paid sports career, a scholarship to attend university is highly sought after.
Figure 2 UK students generally enjoy other kinds of extracurricular activities
Debate Over Paying Students in the US
With so much money in the US college sports system, there has long been a debate over whether the athletes should be paid. The arguments against this have always centered on the fact that sports students already enjoy more perks than other students and that many colleges do not actually make a profit from their sports programs.
But with so much money at the top end of US college sports, it does seem a little unfair that the players making the profits are not compensated. A recent change has been that players now get paid when their image rights and likenesses are being used for profit. This is seen as a fairer way of paying the students who make the most money for the NCAA and the big institutions.
Could the UK System Change?
There is an argument to be made that offering university education to a wider range of students would be a good thing. So anyone who can access that through sporting talent would definitely benefit. But it is difficult to see where the money would come from to pay for the scholarships needed.
The US also does not have a tradition of lower-league sports, using college as the equivalent. That would not be the case in the UK, so it is unclear why a potential pro sports player would join a university rather than a lower league team with the idea of moving up the ladder.
With the systems being the way they are, it seems more likely that there will continue to be talented sports students traveling from the UK to the US on scholarships. The majority of students playing sports at UK institutions will still just do it for fun.
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