A Measure of Competitive Balance: Study of the NCAA

College football is the third most popular sport in the United States. (Harris Poll 2014) this study examines whether there truly exists competitive balance in college football. More specifically, the study measures competitive balance across all of the division I college football playing universities. The study focuses on public universities college football programs; as private institutions are not required by law to provide athletic and academic budget data to the public. In our study, we used both ordinary least squares regression techniques and the most prevalent and widely used measure of competitive balance in the subject of sports economics. The results suggest that over time, competitive balance has decreased among division I college football playing universities. Also, separate tests using a variety of variables relative to the sport indicate a lack of evidence to suggest that athletic department operating revenues, average game attendance and ticket sales do not significantly affect a team’s winning percentage; further widening the competitive balance gap.