What is title IX?   Title IX is a federal civil rights law in the United States of America that was passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972.   

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Let's take a closer look at how this law has evolved over the past 45 years and it's direct consequences over time.

NCAA- 

For the sake of time lets just focus on the NCAA's enforcement of Title IX; more closely, scholarships.   Scholarships: Title IX requires that female and male student-athletes receive athletics scholarship dollars proportional to their participation. 

What EXACTLY does this mean? On paper it seems fair and equitable to divide scholarships between men and women.  The problem is, as of 2018; 45 years later, women's desire to play sports has not risen proportionately to that of men's.  

The cascading effect over the years is simple. Every single year a school has no choice but to drop a "small" sport. If you look at the stats below of each sport and how many schools participate in that sport, you can then compare that number 20 years ago. Clearly, small sports are dying! WHY?

PROBLEM #1

The rules say that scholarships must be divided evenly but society can't find enough women around the country to fill the scholarships. So, even though we have the ability and the allotment to give more scholarships to men, since the women's amount of scholarships was lower than expected, men have to have their allotment lowered as well.(completely UNFAIR!)We literally can't invent enough sports or games for women to entice them into playing at the collegiate level. Sad but true.

Problem #2

Football! Yes, as much as I love football, the only problem bigger than Title IX itself is how many scholarships football receives as their allotment. You can see the stats below but clearly the almighty Dollar that the sport of football generates dictates that they receive an non-proportional amount of scholarships.

SUMMATION- I believe that with the way the law was written, compounded with the football cronyism-favoritism the cascading effect of small sports will continue to die a slow death over time until there not much left of smaller sports. 

Ok, let's break the stats down: You will notice that almost every men/women sport has more scholarships allotted for women.

MEN 

Basketball-337 Schools give 4381 scholarships Where there are 13 scholarships available per team.

Baseball- 293 universities have baseball teams. There are 11.7 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 3,428.1 scholarships.

Cross Country-307 universities have cross country teams for men. There are 12.6 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 3,868.2 scholarships.

Fencing-20 universities have fencing teams for men. There are 4.5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 90 scholarships.

Football-237 universities have football teams. There are 85 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 20,145 scholarships.

Golf-292 universities have golf teams for men. There are 4.5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,314 scholarships.

Gymnastics-16 universities have gymnastics teams for men. There are 6.3 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 100.8 scholarships.

Hockey-58 universities have hockey teams for men. There are 18 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,044 scholarships.

Lacrosse-60 universities have lacrosse teams for men. There are 12.6 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 756 scholarships.

Rifle-3 universities have rifle teams for men. There are 3.6 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 10.8 scholarships.

Skiing(snow)-13 universities have ski teams for men. There are 6.3 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 81.9 scholarships.

Soccer-201 universities have soccer teams for men. There are 9.9 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,989.9.

Swimming-136 universities have swim teams for men. There are 9.9 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,346.4 scholarships.

Tennis- 256 universities have tennis teams for men. There are 4.5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,152 scholarships.

Track & Field-274 universities have track teams for men. There are 12.6 scholarships available per team to be divided among the athletes. A total of 3,452.4 scholarships.

Volleyball-23 universities have volleyball teams for men. There are 4.5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 103.5.

Water Polo-22 universities have water polo teams for men. There are 4.5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 99 scholarships.

Wrestling-80 universities have wrestling teams. There are 9.9 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 792 scholarships.


WOMEN

Basketball-335 universities have basketball teams for women. There are 15 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 5,025 scholarships.

Cross Country-333 universities have cross country teams for women. There are 18 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 5,994 scholarships.

Equestrian-18 universities have equestrian teams. There are 15 scholarships available per team to be divided among the riders. A total of 270 scholarships.

Fencing-23 universities have fencing teams for women. There are 4.5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 103.5 scholarships.

Field Hockey-79 universities have field hockey teams. There are 12 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 948 scholarships.

Golf-249 universities have golf teams for women. There are 6 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,494 scholarships.

Gymnastics-63 universities have gymnastics teams for women. There are 12 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 756 scholarships.

Hockey-35 universities have hockey teams for women. There are 18 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 630 scholarships.

Lacrosse-90 universities have lacrosse teams for women. There are 12 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,080 scholarships.

Skiing(snow)-15 universities have ski teams for women. There are 7 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 105 scholarships.

Soccer-315 universities have soccer teams for women. There are 14 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 4,410 scholarships.

Softball-283 universities have softball teams. There are 12 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 3,396 scholarships.

Swimming-194 universities have swim teams for women. There are 14 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 2,716 scholarships.

Tennis-314 universities have tennis teams for women. There are 8 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 2,512 scholarships.

Track & Field-312 universities have track teams for women. There are 18 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 5,616 scholarships.

Volleyball-321 universities have volleyball teams for women. There are 12 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 3,852 scholarships.

Water Polo-33 universities have water polo teams for women. There are 8 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 264 scholarships.

UNISEX

Bowling-34 universities have bowling teams. There are 5 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 170 scholarships.

Rowing-85 universities have rowing teams. There are 20 scholarships available per team to be divided among the players. A total of 1,700 scholarships.