Exploring the Multiple Roles of the Modern National Collegiate Athletic Association Football Bowl Subdivision Athletic Director

To the casual sports fan, a sport is simply an entertainment product. Yet sports, just like any other industry is a business. The competitive nature of member institutions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) has changed dramatically over the past twenty years. This shift has been due to governmental legislation and economic factors, namely, anti-trust legislation, Title IX, Proposition 48, television revenue and the formation of the Bowl Championship Series. As a result, the shifting roles of the Athletic Directors have taken place. The purpose and mission of the athletic departments at these institutions have expanded, creating the necessity to revise the role of the Athletic Director (AD). These factors served as the basis of this qualitative study by which the roles of the modern FBS Athletic Directors was evaluated. In this research; the role of the Big 12 Conference Athletic Directors (ADs) was used as the research subject in exploring the roles of the Athletic Directors at NCAA FBS conferences in the 21st Century.