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The Future. In the aftermath of the 2021 ruling that college athletes could monetize their name, image, and likeness, more and more athletes are competing at both the Olympics and NCAA tournaments — an either/or choice in previous years. As the spotlight on top athletes brings them celebrity acclaim, watch for universities to market their programs as “Olympic pipelines.”
University of Team USA
College athletes are now competing at the pro level at the Olympics and the amateur level in the NCAA.
- 1,200 current, incoming, and former NCAA athletes competed in Paris, with 840 of them playing for countries other than the US, per Axios.
- Athletes come from 253 NCAA schools, representing 125 countries… but the US, Canadian, and Australian teams have the largest number.
- The University of Southern California has the most Olympic representation (59 athletes for 22 countries), while Stanford University has taken home the most medals (39 medals, which is more than only seven countries).
And since the US doesn’t have its own centralized sports ministry like many developed countries, American colleges are now seen as training grounds for Olympic athletes, domestically and internationally. That in and of itself is a tricky situation — as colleges face budget contractions, support for sports that don’t bring in significant revenue could get cut.
For example, Stanford got rid of nine sports programs from its offerings with Olympic events in 2020.
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