The NCAA News Digest

February 24, 1997

• RESEARCH -- Total participation numbers up; overall rate may be down slightly
• MARKETING -- NCAA to administer fan festivals beginning at 1998 Final Fours
• TELEVISION -- Members have until February 28 to comment on closed-captioning
• FOOTBALL RULES -- Committee approves change to reduce overtime periods

RESEARCH

Total participation numbers up; overall rate may be down slightly

The average Division I institution showed a slight increase in participation in 1995-96, climbing to a per-institution average of about 426 from 420 the previous year.

The men's Division I participation rate was almost static, declining less than one percent, while the rate of women's Division I participation climbed almost five percent.

For Division I women, the average squad size for every sport was up over the 1994-95 study, except for tennis, which was unchanged. In addition, women's rowing, which became an NCAA championship sport in the 1996-97 academic year, showed dramatic increases in sponsorship and participation, going from 27 sponsoring institutions with 1,112 Division I participants to 50 sponsors with 2,426 participants.

For the first time, the report included provisional members, almost all of which are smaller programs in Divisions II and III. As a result, participation in the average NCAA program declined in 1995-96, dropping from about 325 participants per program to about 317.

The raw numbers for 1995-96 increased to 323,226 from 299,608 in 1994-95, but the increase is strictly the result of more schools being counted in the study.

Staff contact: Ursula R. Walsh

MARKETING

NCAA to administer fan festivals beginning at 1998 Final Fours

The NCAA will administer "fan festivals" at the Division I Men's and Women's Basketball Championships beginning in 1998.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches has administered a "Fan Jam" at the Men's Final Four since 1993 and will conduct one this year. For next year's event in San Antonio, however, the NCAA and the NABC have agreed to transfer administration of the men's fan festival to the NCAA.

The NCAA compensated the NABC for the acquisition of its "Fan Jam," providing the coaches association with $1 million, as authorized at the August 1996 meeting of the NCAA Executive Committee. In return, the NABC agreed that its coaches will continue to participate in youth clinics at the Final Four sites and that the NABC will make every effort to make top coaches available.

In addition, as part of the agreement, the NABC will join the NCAA and other groups in forming a national marketing and promotional enterprise for college basketball similar to the NCAA College Football USA program that was announced February 13.

Staff contact: Thomas W. Jernstedt

TELEVISION

Members have until February 28 to comment on closed-captioning

NCAA member institutions and conferences have until February 28 to comment on a proposal by the Federal Communications Com-mission that would implement a more demanding standard for the closed-captioning of telecasts, including those of athletics events.

The NCAA plans to respond to the FCC's proposed rules, which could affect women's sports, nonrevenue sports and all sports at the sub-Division I level. Athletics administrators and conference commissioners may also wish to comment to the FCC, said Doris A. Dixon, NCAA director of federal relations.

Staff contact: Doris A. Dixon.

FOOTBALL RULES

Committee approves change to reduce overtime periods

A measure to reduce the possibility of a game going into four or more overtimes was among several safety-related rules changes approved by the NCAA Football Rules Committee during its annual meeting February 11-13.

Other significant changes related to blocking rules and a move to protect punt returners from violent hits after receiving the ball.

After hearing reports on the effect that lengthy overtime games had on players last season, the committee approved a rule requiring a team that scores a touchdown to attempt a two-point conversion, beginning in the third overtime period. Extra-point kicks will be disallowed.

Because two-point conversion attempts are approximately half as successful as extra-point kicks at all levels of college football, the committee believes that requiring two-point attempts will reduce the number of times both teams score the same number of points in a period after the second overtime. Staff contact: J. Gregory Summers.