Criminology and NCAA Football: Does criminal activity by student athletes impact wins and revenue in college football?

Abstract

Arrests occur all across collegiate athletics, and the media gives society a negative perception of these athletes. These arrests could potentially hurt the reputation of the individual as well as the institution where they attend. In order to see if this is true, we use a panel data method in order to determine if arrests of college football players impacts the winning percentage of a school and their revenue. Literature looking at reasons for arrests and on field performance were used to help identify control variables needed in the study. Overall, the relationship between winning percentage and arrests of football players has little to no effect, but the revenue is somewhat effected by the number of arrests by a program.