By Bri Brands

Dan Matheson, director of the Sport and Recreation Management program in the Department of Health, Sport, and Human Physiology, spoke with three Big Ten leaders about the future of college athletics during a panel at the Big Ten Development Conference. 

The University of Iowa hosted the Big Ten Development Conference in July, which included various learning sessions and discussions on fundraising and development in the Big Ten. 

The UI Center for Advancement invited Matheson to moderate a panel with UI President Barb Wilson, UI Director of Athletics Beth Goetz, and Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Petitti, in which the four discussed how college athletics are changing.  

The UI Department of Athletics, as a Big Ten Conference member, is a participant in the NCAA House settlement—a negotiated resolution of litigation that will allow all Big Ten schools to share $20.5 million in revenue with student-athletes in the upcoming academic year. 

The panelists highlighted the importance of athletics to a Big Ten Institution beyond the athletics department, and how the NCAA House settlement will have impacts beyond just sports. 

“One of the points of emphasis was that this is a new $20 million expense for all our institutions, and that impacts everybody on campus that's raising money, whether you’re raising money in athletics or not,” Matheson said.  

Matheson said there are many benefits beyond what happens on the field and the court, which can lead to increased donations across all areas on campus. 

“It certainly provides events that alumni return to campus for and that alumni stay connected to campus for,” Matheson said. “Alumni are obviously a major part of the donor base for all schools, so having that built in call to action is one of those benefits that athletics provides.” 

Matheson shared that research shows a large percentage of donors who made their first gifts to athletics went on to contribute to other areas of the university.  

“That’s evidence that athletics may help a donor make that first contribution back to the university,” Matheson said. “Then that opens the door for discovery of other areas of campus that could also use their support.”  

Matheson and the panelists also spoke about how the Big Ten Conference is expanding west to include schools in California and Washington. 

“The expansion provides new opportunities for all of our schools in the Midwest and the East to travel west and stay connected to alumni that have relocated,” Matheson said. “It keeps them feeling a part of the Iowa experience even though they’re in a very different part of the country.”  

As Matheson spends most of his time teaching, studying, and preparing his students for the future of college athletics, he found the experience of collaborating with leaders in the college athletics industry very special.  

Moving forward, he plans to incorporate the insights he gained during the panel into the content he teaches his students.  

“Those insights are great to share with students and are always more impactful when you’re able to back them up with what Big Ten Conference leaders are saying,” he said. “That is just a further demonstration to students that this topic matters."