How would you remake college sports? See readers' answers. | Letters
Readers suggest their ideas for better administering college athletics in letters published April 12, 2026.
The landscape of college sports has changed drastically in recent years, and President Donald Trump is among policymakers seeking to add new regulations in response. College teams are big time in Iowa. The Register Opinion section gave readers this prompt online: "If you could unilaterally set up new rules for college sports, what would they be?
" Below are a couple of responses. Amateurism left a long time ago; let's start over I would end the NCAA as we know it. College athletics are already professional sports in practice.
Athletes now have the right to profit from their name, image and likeness — and to transfer freely, just like coaches. It’s time to stop pretending athletics and education are meaningfully intertwined at the highest levels. Most athletes will go on to careers outside sports, but the most prominent programs operate largely independent of the institutions whose names they carry.
Major athletic departments are funded primarily through television revenue and donations, not academics. More: Why Kyle Green is the right choice for Northern Iowa basketball coach | Hines The solution is to separate them formally. Spin off major athletic departments into for-profit entities that license university names — paying schools like Iowa and Iowa State for that association.