Periodically, I hop around on different college athletic sites to look for clues about their recruiting practices. I came across the Recruit Section on one site associated with CSTV (now CBS Collegesports). "Associated" means they pay a fee to have their sites built and managed, or have the site built for free, but allow CSTV to place advertising on the site and retain the revenue. This practice has been pretty commonplace for the past 10 years.
What startled me in looking at this particular site was the following paragraph that popped up when trying to access the online recruiting form that has become standard on nearly all college web sites. Here it is:
The Prospective Student-Athlete (PSA) Database
In addition to providing you with (school) recruiting information, we also encourage you to submit a profile to the athletic program(s) you are interested in.
In order to submit a profile, you must first register for a CSTV Online, Inc. Interactive account. If you have already registered, you may simply log in with your username and password.
Once you are logged in, you will be given the ability to create and maintain your own personal profile which may be submitted not only to one or more (school) athletic programs, but to all participating athletic programs partnered with CSTV Online, Inc. Your profile will consist of "Personal", "Academic" and "Athletic" questions which are found on Prospective Student-Athlete questionnaires used by the majority of the athletic programs around the country. The information in your profile will only be seen by athletic department personnel at the school(s) in which you submit your profile.
If you are a high school recruit, or a parent of a recruit, this recent development should be on your radar. Now, before you can access what has been a streamlined process for providing ONE coach and ONE program, your athletic, personal and academic information may now be shared with every college that CSTV has built a web site for and therefore maintains a business relationship with.
Why should you care? Because CSTV is collecting your name, email and other identifying information from you to market to you and to sell your information to anyone who wants to sell to student athletes like you. Schools like this site are basically selling YOU out to a huge corporation before you even fill out the recruit questionnaire. Is this okay with you? Is this okay with your parents? Is this okay that they are sharing your information with over 100+ schools that are clients of CSTV? Is that what you bargained for?
About Me
- Karen Weaver, EdD
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
- Ivy League-educated consultant, scholar, speaker, and administrator with experience that includes positions as a Director of Athletics, adjunct professor, and head coach for schools at the NCAA Division I, III, and small college levels. As a former All-American and national championship coach, recognized as an expert in broadcast rights and new media, athletic administration, and college recruitment; Athletics Consultant to Senior Leaders in Higher Education. Dr. Weaver has been quoted, published and interviewed by some of the leading news outlets in the world including: BBC, USA Today, Orlando Sentinel, New York Times, Indianapolis Star, Detroit Free Press, Sports Business Journal, Change Magazine, Minnesota Public Radio, Athletic Management Magazine and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Her Twitter feed is ranked as one of the Top 100 for College Sports Fanatics to follow, and her followers include writers and editors from Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Orlando Sentinel, Sports Business Journal, the American Council on Education, the Knight Commission and Reuters.
