Sports investigations tipsheets

8/20/2019 Sports investigations tipsheets

1/19

SPORTS INVESTIGATIONS

Tipsheet developed out of IRE 2015 conference by Eric Larsen, Katherine Lymn, John McCarthy,

Amanda McElfresh and Elizabeth Murray

Investigating the money

All papers cover the gamers of high school and college sports, but there’s always juicier stories

behind the scores and player profiles — especially at public schools. Cover sports departments

at public schools as if they were a public agency — being taxpayer-funded, record are public

and leaders must be accountable. And compare what you find with what mission statements

and the general public say are the purposes of these institutions: to educate.

One IRE tipsheet, “Investigating the home team,” recommends looking at the athletics-

academic balance in college athletics departments. Most Division I college athletics spend more

than they earn, leading them to rely on subsidies from tax dollars, higher tuition and higher

student fees. How does this affect academics, and how does that balance compare to a school’smission statement?

Look at how the average student benefits or doesn’t — how much do game tickets cost

students, who often already fund the teams through tuition and fees?

Look closer at sponsorships that seem fluffy but could have secrets behind closed doors — e.g.

in Appleton, an orthopedic and sports medicine institute hosts and annual April Fool’s Day

walk/run to raise money for Appleton’s three high school athletic departments. But how does

the school divide up the money? And who decides how that money is spent? Is it earmarked for

anything? Is there any overlap with who patronizes this particular sports medicine institute?

Think about public records:

Travel manifests: who gets to travel with the team?

Emails

Salaries — and perks. Buyout clauses. How do coaches’ salaries compare to those of

teachers and professors?

Budgets: how much of a high school’s athletic department is made of taxpayer dollars

vs. donations vs. user fees. Could be good explainer piece if nothing else, or a good

online database to refer to. And, within budgets, how much is spent on questionably

extravagant things, like jets for recruiting?

For facilities, check building permits and other contracts — did the company that re-

roofed the basketball arena also re-roof the coach’s home?

http://ire.org/resource-center/tipsheets/854/http://ire.org/resource-center/tipsheets/854/http://ire.org/resource-center/tipsheets/854/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/13577/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/13577/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/13577/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/21590/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/21590/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/21590/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/21590/http://ire.org/resource-center/stories/13577/http://ire.org/resource-center/tipsheets/854/


2/19

College Sports Facilities: What’s the cost and who’s paying?

Despite recession related budget cutbacks, colleges and universities are investing

heavily athletic facilities. According to a 2014 survey by AECOM and Ohio University

found that 84 percent of athletic directors around the nation said they would make

significant investments in facilities over the next five years. One in five said they would

spend more than $50 million.

The spending isn’t limited to flagship public universities (even though they spend the

most money). Even smaller private colleges are upping their facilities.

Why the upgrades? As more and more games are being broadcast on HD digital

platforms, arenas have to upgrade the “fan experience” to get people to come to the

games. At some schools, though, (think Ohio State), every home football game is a

sellout and AD are looking to cram in more seats.

It’s not just football stadiums and basketball arenas. Schools are investing large sums ofmoney in practice facilities and special athlete-only dorms and dining facilities. Often

students help pay for these through the activities fees, though they will never set foot in

them.

Where to start

If your organization covers a local college or a major state university, it’s worth looking

into what it is spending on sports facilities. A good place to start would with the beat

reporter who covers the school. He or she can tell you what’s been built and what’s on

the planning board. Then ask how the school is paying. Often it is through student

activity fees.

The Knight Commission spending database allows you see how much an FBS university’s

debt service on facilities increased or decreased from 2008-2013. The FBS median is up

42 percent during that time. It also allows you to look the overall trend for individual

conferences.

USA Today collects and analyzes the NCAA financial documents every year.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

Bonding. How are stadiums and other sports amenities being paid for? Sometimes it’s

with bonds. Pay attention to credit rating reports (Fitch, Moody’s, Standard & Poor's) for

your university. Stadium financials may be mentioned in connection to the bond rating.For private universities, information on bonds can also be found in 990s and financial

audits. At public universities, financial audits are an option, but you can probably get

more information via an open records request.

To learn more:


3/19

The Kitchen Sink Coverage of College Athletics. IRE Tip Sheet 4489

Campus Coverage: College Sports: IRE Tip Sheet 4168. A good primer on how to “follow

the money” in college sports.

NCAA financials. To get a complete picture of a school without poring through a budget,

request the financial document sent to the NCAA every January. Avoid Equity in

Athletics Disclosure Act data from the U.S. Department of Education – it’s often wrong.

AECOM and Ohio University Study:

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/News/Global%20Sports/ADSurvey/AD%

20SURVEY%20DECK%20FINAL.PDF

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/News/Global%20Sports/ADSurvey/AD%20SURVEY%20DECK%20FINAL.PDFhttp://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/News/Global%20Sports/ADSurvey/AD%20SURVEY%20DECK%20FINAL.PDFhttp://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/News/Global%20Sports/ADSurvey/AD%20SURVEY%20DECK%20FINAL.PDFhttp://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/News/Global%20Sports/ADSurvey/AD%20SURVEY%20DECK%20FINAL.PDFhttp://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/Internet/News/Global%20Sports/ADSurvey/AD%20SURVEY%20DECK%20FINAL.PDF


4/19

Investigating student-athlete misconduct

You’ve seen the one-sentence announcements: a player has been suspended or removed from

one of the local university’s athletics teams for conduct detrimental to the team. Or reasons

wholly unspecified. Nobody in the athletic department is talking on the record. Where do you

go now? Here are a couple quick avenues to check out:

ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT SOURCES

Save yourself a lot of scrambling by identifying and building sources within the programs

you cover. One well-placed call for background or off-the-record confirmation that

you’re looking in the right spot can save a lot of searching.

Understand motivations. Don’t burn your sources by running with something without

confirmation, but don’t put yourself in a place to get burned by a bad tip, either.

LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT

Check the nightly police report and the booking log for the local jail. Both might be

online, or you might have to show up in person. Your cops and courts reporter probably

has the answer.

See any familiar names? Maybe something close? Understand that an athlete’s name on

the roster might be different than the name on his or her birth certificate. (J.R. Smith’s

first name is Earl; Ray Allen’s first name is Walter.) Need a birth name? Request

scholarship documents.

THE COURTS

Your local district court will be the source for some misdemeanor and most felonycharges brought forward by the district attorney. Be sure to check for arraignments, or

first appearances, and make a plan to follow the case through sentencing.

The courts move slow and schedules change (often delayed). Set calendar reminders so

you don’t miss the next appearance or hearing, and revisit schedules after each.

For minor offenses (traffic offenses, civil infractions, some misdemeanors such as

possession of drug paraphernalia), municipal court is an oft-overlooked resource. What

might be a fairly minor civic or misdemeanor offense may be compounded in an athletic

department’s eyes by any past criminal or disciplinary record.

People know there’s money to be had in collegiate athletics. Periodically check names of

the university, athletic department staff, coaches and players as parties in civil cases in

your local courts.

THE UNIVERSITY

Understand your university’s student judicial process and campus disciplinary actions.

Identify forms that are required to be filled out by the university, to guide your requests.


5/19

Clery reports: Annual report about crime on campus must be filed by public universities.

Not likely to focus you in on one act, but can point to trends, etc.

Title IX complaints and investigations (federal lawsuits). Title IX isn’t just about equal

opportunity to play – it’s about preserving equal opportunities to educational

attainment, free of staff or student harassment.

Reporters may get minimal details about sexual or violent crime committed on campus

under FERPA exception (see included tipsheet)

THE VICTIMS

Victims of an alleged crime may have access to records you do not. Understand their

motivations for talking to you and providing, or denying to provide, records that may be

sealed by the courts or withheld by other sources.


6/19

Finding and cultivating sources

As in all journalistic beats, finding the right sources for an investigative story is key.

Sometimes it's a matter of reading through clips or speaking to reporters who last held your

beat to familiarize yourself with the important players. Other times, being present at

meetings or games and talking to people is a great way to find the source you're looking for.Once you find that source, it's important to develop a rapport and, in some cases, a positive

longer term relationship. Here are some tips for doing just that.

Where to look for sources (and stories):

Old stories

Reporters who previously had your beat

Sports games and practices

School board meetings, agendas or minutes

Social media - follow coaches, teams, players, schools and school representatives

Court documents

How to keep those sources:

Be visible in your community . Don't just rely on the telephone to speak to sources -

actually go out to games or engage with others on social media. For example, the

Burlington Free Press sports team does a live chat during games to engage with

audience members. This will help build your credibility and help others trust you as the

"expert" on your beat.

Get to know people as people and fellow community members and not just sources. Find

some common ground with them to show that you're not a soulless reporter constantly

fishing for a story. Treat these people with respect always. And, if they gave you a goodtip or helped you with a story, say thank you.

Be clear about your intentions. Several panel presenters at the IRE conference

emphasized this point. If the story is sensitive, such as a sexual assault case story, and

the source is a victim, help them understand what you are looking for, your goal in

writing the story, and their options in helping you. Explain what "on the record" and "off

the record" mean. Give them the opportunity to ask you questions. Make sure there will

be as no surprises so they do not end up being victimized all over again.

Avoid burning your sources. Give everyone an equal opportunity to comment, and make

the topic of your story clear. This can also help avoid inaccuracies or add another

dimension to your story. For example, with the Rolling Stone story about campus rape,

the reporter did not give several members of the school's administration a fair chance to

address the charges for fear these people would try to spin the story. There is always

that risk, but it is more important to have each source's opinion accurately represented

to prevent appearing one-sided or producing an inaccurate story.

Respect culture and nuance. Do a little research before you go into a situation or

interview a source. This can help you understand and better respect who they are, what


7/19

they may have been through, and potential cultural differences. If you address some of

these things with the source for your story, it can also help enhance the story.


8/19

Ideas for high school sports investigations

Increasingly, sports are a huge part of the high school landscape. Coaches are even identifying

student-athletes in elementary and middle schools who have shown strong potential at a young

age. A successful sports team is often more identifiable with a certain school than its

academics. Here are some ideas of what to look for if you want to delve deeper into high schoolsports:

Recruiting

Coaches want the best athletes possible on their teams. Students want to play at prestigious

schools that can give them a higher profile and a better chance at a college scholarship offer.

What lengths are they going to in order to make that happen?

Are coaches providing benefits to certain athletes and/or their families to ensure they attend a

certain school? Are school districts letting students attend school out of their home zones to let

them play a certain sport somewhere? Are students fudging their home addresses – maybelisting an address of a relative who is zoned for a certain school, staying there occasionally and

using that to play somewhere specific?

Facilities

Do certain schools get more money from the school system for athletic facilities? If so, where

are the disparities? Does it depend on geographic location, the school’s demographics or its

athletic reputation? How does the district decide which schools get that money?

What role do families, sponsors and booster clubs play? Can schools with active support pay for

better facilities and equipment for its athletes? Does that create an uneven playing field withschools who don’t have as much support?

Discipline

What happens if a student-athlete is accused of a crime? Is the punishment, either from the

school or law enforcement, different than it is for non-athletes? Do schools discipline student-

athletes differently for the same infractions committed by other students? Are student-athletes

more prone to commit alleged crimes or discipline infractions than other students?

Coach salaries

Look at the salaries for high school coaches. Many coaches are allowed to teach only one ortwo classes, often P.E. Do coaches make more than teachers at the same school? Do male

coaches make more than female coaches? Which schools pay the most money to coaches?

Handling injuries

What is the district policy for dealing with injuries, especially concussions or head injuries? Can

a student-athlete return to a game if he or she suffers a suspected head injury? What is the


9/19

protocol for dealing with those issues? How many concussions are recorded in a given season

among a team? Is there any evidence that coaches allow student-athletes to return to a game

even if they suspect a concussion?


10/19

CITED RESOURCES

The Kitchen Sink Coverage of College Athletics

Investigative Reporters and Editors

Philadelphia, June 2015

Dan Bauman (Pioneer Press), Steve Berkowitz (USA Today)

Paula Lavigne (ESPN), Jill Riepenhoff (The Columbus Dispatch)

ON CAMPUS:

Complimentary cars. Every major college athletic department has special relationships with cardealers. Give a car to a coach, get a bundle of tickets to the games. At Ohio State, the football coach’s wifegets a shiny new Lexis every six months. The marching band director drives a donated a 1997 Buick

LeSabre with 94,000 miles.

Flight manifests. Travel to the biggest games typically attracts a couple plane loads of people. One will

carry the team, athletic department staff and important boosters. Another will carry the president,dignitaries, politicians and other muckety mucks.

Occasional meal forms. NCAA allows boosters to take a team to dinner as long as they get approvalfrom the athletics department.

Will-call tickets. Most athletes and coaches are allowed to invite people to games. Former Ohio Staterunning back Maurice Clarett had a bookie on one of his lists. Current football players had car dealers anddrug-dealing tattoo artists.

Car registration forms. Most major universities require athletes to fill out forms detailing what kind ofcar they are driving, how much they paid for it, who co-signed for the loan, etc. They often are works offiction.

Summer job forms. The NCAA requires every athlete to fill out a form telling the athletics department what they’re doing for the summer. The most prestigious athletes get jobs arranged by coaches. Fivemonths after winning the national championship, Ohio State football players got jobs for $18 an hour for what records describe as "public relations," visiting nursing-home residents. This arrangement led to anNCAA violation.

President’s box. Who has been invited to the best seats in the house and what do they do up thereduring the game? They eat a lot of expensive food.

Ticket database. Then learn of landmines like this: the largest single ticket holder at Ohio Stadium is

the publisher of The Dispatch.

NCAA violations. Schools are required to report when rules both big (boosters gave quarterbackmoney) and small (coach accidentally sent a text message to a recruit). There are tons of stories there.NCAA publishes the major infractions database on its website (ncaa.org) by school with full report of what went wrong. Be warned, all names have been removed. Most schools also keep a summary sheet of all violations – quick way to see what’s going on. Very limited information, though.

NCAA financials. To get a complete picture of a school without pouring through a budget, request thefinancial document sent to the NCAA every January. Avoid Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data from


11/19

the U.S. Department of Education – it’s often wrong. USA Today collects and analyzes the NCAA financialdocuments every year.

Athletically related outside-income forms. An NCAA rule requires all athletics departmentpersonnel to annually disclose sources – and amounts – of income from things like sports camps;endorsement deals and TV and radio appearances (if not already covered under a contract); instructional books and videos. This document is not filed with the NCAA’s central office, but it is supposed to besubmitted to, and approved, by the school’s CEO or their designee. Sometimes a coach or staffer has nosuch income. Sometimes, these amounts can be in the hundreds of thousands.

Records pertaining to the use of university-owned aircraft by athletics departmentpersonnel for recruiting and other business. Not all schools have these planes, but in March 2015,

the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World published the results of an investigation that found that over a five- year span, the University of Kansas spent $3.5 million flying coaches, administrators and others on some641 trips, mostly on university-owned aircraft but occasionally on state-owned or charter planes. Abouttwo-thirds of the money paid for flights by KU coaches and athletic administrators.

Contracts pertaining to corporate sponsorship deals, shoe and apparel deals, naming-rights deals, marketing and multi-media rights arrangements and non-conference games. The terms for all of these transactions are committed to writing. Corporate sponsorship deals can be

difficult to get in some states, but in April 2015, after months of fencing with university officials and thestate attorney general, the San Antonio Express-News published a look at the University of Texas’ 19corporate sponsorship deals. The Portland (Ore.) Business Journal pretty comprehensively tracks shoeand apparel deals. Games that match theoretically lesser teams player against big-time teams – so-called“guarantee” games – have become big-money deals, as have neutral-site games between big-time teams.

Compliance-department audits. Each D-I school is required by the NCAA to have an audit every four years. Some schools, such as OSU, do them annually. Most recent audit at Ohio State showed problems

with athletes’ car registrations – they were driving cars that didn’t belong to them – and missingequipment and apparel. Federal agents recovered lots of OSU equipment during a drug raid.

Emails and phone records. Who is talking to who. Coach Jim Tressel made lots of phone calls – including two to an FBI agent – when he learned of NCAA violations. He called lots of interesting people –

just not the ones he should have called.

Academic Progress Rate and graduation rates. This is how the NCAA now measures the academicsuccess of college athletics. Teams that don’t make the grade risk punishment. For Division I, there aretwo sets of graduation rates – one compiled by the NCAA and one compiled by the U.S. Department ofEducation. Both have their pros and cons. The NCAA rate measures everyone, regardless of where theygraduate. For example, if an athlete transferred from Ohio State to Ohio University and then graduated,Ohio State is not penalized for a drop out. The federal rate penalizes schools for drop outs even if theygraduate elsewhere.

Coaches’ contracts. Find gems like this: At 175 pounds, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel already is worth more than his weight in gold. The new $2.6 million contract trumped a 2003 agreement that hadguaranteed Tressel $1.6 million this season, roughly the value of his weight in gold. Now, he's platinum.

These days, many assistants at top-tier programs also have contracts.

University police blotters. Find unruly fan behavior inside stadiums and at tailgates during sportingevents.

Media guides. Examine, for example, the majors of football and basketball players to search for clustersof majors. Most guides are online.

Personnel files. They are public records in many states. It’s a good way to find out if a coach has beenadmonished for breaking NCAA rules.


12/19

Public-record requests: FOIA the FOIAs to see who is asking for what because there may be othertypes of documents reporters want that you aren’t familiar with.

eBay. Who is selling what?

Plagiarism Checker. At most universities, staffers get the nice perk of subsidized or free college. Somecoaches and staff will take advantage of this, going on to get their master’s or doctorate. Check their

papers for plagiarism. It can happen, again to a senator (See: http://goo.gl/TKnt0U). I likehttp://www.plagtracker.com/ , but there are plenty of sites out there that check work for you. Search yourcoach’s name at Google Scholar.

Resume Checker. Did your coach/director graduate with the degree they claim? Call the registrar at theuniversity listed on the resume to verify. In Missouri, a candidate for governor said he earned a degree ineconomics from Mizzou. One quick call to the registrar office and a St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporterlearned that the candidate had actually graduated with a home economics degree (goo.gl/HLKPbL)

AT PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES (THOSE, PUBLICS, TOO):

Social Media. Let’s face it: At private universities, there aren’t a lot of open-information channels. What we do have, though, is vanity. Peruse the Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, (etc., etc.) posts of coaches and

players, and see what they are up to. Are coaches taking lavish trips to far off locales? Are they spendingmore time off campus than on it? Perhaps they are endorsing products on the platform without disclosure

or compensation to the university? Don’t forget -- It was vanity that ultimately brought down formerSenator Aaron Schock. (See: http://goo.gl/0N6C1M )

Dept. of Education - Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act. For participating sports, coaching staffand salaries, revenues and expenses, and supplemental info. It can be fraught with errors. But for privateuniversities, it’s the best option. http://ope.ed.gov/athletics/index.aspx

Intellectual Property (Trademark and Copyright). What trademarks or copyrights does theuniversity or athletic department/foundation own? (The Chronicle of Higher Education has a run-down of88 bizarre ones. See: http://goo.gl/brn2tQ) Who has the license agreements to produce those materials?http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4810:n9ma86.1.1

http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

Liquor Licenses and Liquor Revocations for Stadiums. No explanation necessary!

FCC Complaints for College Sports Networks, TV and Radio Broadcasts Associated withCollege Games, Etc. Worst-case scenario, you have a blogpost and a laugh.

Negotiation documents and personnel files for new hires. This only applies to publicuniversities. Also, try to find out where else your person of interest interviewed. If they interviewed at apublic university, those documents can shed light on the deal they reached at your private institution.

Bonding. How are stadiums and other sports amenities being paid for? Sometimes it’s with bonds. Payattention to credit rating reports (Fitch, Moody’s, Standard & Poor's) for your university. Stadium

financials may be mentioned in connection to the bond rating. For private universities, information on bonds can also be found in 990s and financial audits. At public universities, financial audits are an option, but you can probably get more information via an open records request.

UCC Liens. Consider a non-profit that wants lease a product rather than by it -- for our purposes, a caror copier. In my experience, leasing these items requires paperwork to be filed with the secretary of state.Check these UCC liens out. The documents may show you what items are being leased for youruniversity’s athletic department. Personal Property Taxes In St. Louis, Webster University was payingpersonal property tax on a number of vehicles used by athletic department. May be worth a look at otheruniversities.

http://goo.gl/TKnt0Uhttp://goo.gl/TKnt0Uhttp://goo.gl/TKnt0Uhttp://www.plagtracker.com/http://www.plagtracker.com/http://goo.gl/HLKPbLhttp://goo.gl/HLKPbLhttp://goo.gl/HLKPbLhttp://goo.gl/0N6C1Mhttp://goo.gl/0N6C1Mhttp://goo.gl/0N6C1Mhttp://ope.ed.gov/athletics/index.aspxhttp://ope.ed.gov/athletics/index.aspxhttp://goo.gl/brn2tQhttp://goo.gl/brn2tQhttp://goo.gl/brn2tQhttp://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4810:n9ma86.1.1http://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=Firsthttp://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=Firsthttp://cocatalog.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=Firsthttp://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/gate.exe?f=tess&state=4810:n9ma86.1.1http://goo.gl/brn2tQhttp://ope.ed.gov/athletics/index.aspxhttp://goo.gl/0N6C1Mhttp://goo.gl/HLKPbLhttp://www.plagtracker.com/http://goo.gl/TKnt0U


13/19

OFF CAMPUS:

Court records. College athletes get a lot of traffic tickets. Track their routes home and check records inevery county along the way. Whose car were they driving? Athletes also get into other kinds of trouble – i.e. 17 Ohio University football players were arrested in recent years but faced little, if any, discipline fromthe team.

Health-code violations. ESPN’s Paula Lavigne examined food violations at several major professionalstadiums, “What’s Lurking in your Stadium Food,” July 2010. Makes you wanna think twice about thathalf-time dog.

IRS form 990. Check out how the Big 10, Pac 10 and others spend and divvy up gazillions of dollars.Check out how much the conference commissioner is paid each year. Also check out booster clubsfinances. Also, at private schools, look at the highest paid employees – it’s often the football coach. Eventhe football coach at perennial Division III football powerhouse Mount Union in Ohio is among thehighest paid at that school. Check with your local campus library to see if they have an account.

www.Guidestar.org. For a detailed primer, see below.

Extra! Extra! IRE’s story database always has a wealth of ideas. Look under the sports category, see what’s been done and tailor it to your own school. Imitation is the best form of flattery. www.ire.org

NCAA.org. Wealth of information/data on injuries, doping, academics. Some information is broken

down by school; some is aggregated. But it provides a benchmark.

Sex Offender Registries. It can happen with players and staff. (See: http://goo.gl/pqmSbd andhttps://goo.gl/RAHKbf )

Tax Liens. Much like a bankruptcy filing, a tax lien can give you a lot of insight into the financial

responsibility of a coach or player. If your athletic director can’t pay his taxes or electric bill, should he beput in charge of the department’s large checkbook?

Registered Businesses. Does your coach run a lucrative side business? You should check via yourSecretary of State’s Office.

Civil lawsuits against the athletic department. NCAA wrongdoing can be found in seeminglyunrelated civil lawsuits. It happened at Ohio State with long-ago fired basketball coach Jim O’Brien and atthe University of Miami, in which a booster used a Ponzi scheme to pay for access to the Hurricanesfootball team.

Federal lawsuits against athletics/coaches involving civil rights issues. This can involvedsexual and racial discrimination.

Complaints filed with the state attorney general or secretary state. These can be everythingfrom ticket fraud to workers comp issues.

Building inspection reports. Can include fire safety violations, Americans with Disabilities Actcomplaints, poor plumbing, etc. Good to know/have when part of a stadium collapses.

Federal grants and contracts to the athletic department or sports programs fromUSASpending.gov.

OBSTACLES:

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). But more and more courts are finding thatnot every piece of paper on campus is an education record. Word of warning – don’t ever request adocument by an athlete’s name. Cast a wide net. For example, ask for all violations involving the football

http://www.guidestar.org/http://www.guidestar.org/http://www.ire.org/http://www.ire.org/http://www.ire.org/http://goo.gl/pqmSbdhttp://goo.gl/pqmSbdhttp://goo.gl/pqmSbdhttps://goo.gl/RAHKbfhttps://goo.gl/RAHKbfhttps://goo.gl/RAHKbfhttp://goo.gl/pqmSbdhttp://www.ire.org/http://www.guidestar.org/


14/19

team in the past three years not the one related to Terrelle Pryor’s ill -gotten tattoos. Student Press LawCenter is a great resource and can help navigate through the murky ways of FERPA – www.splc.org.

A PRIMER ON FORM 990. The greatest document ever. Guidestar is one place to find Form990s. For 10 years of documents, check out Foundation Center or the Urban Institute.

1. Let’s start with your institution’s own Form 990.

a. Make a note of the filing date on the first page. Next year, go to your university’s business dept. and

request the 990 for the next year.

b. In the top portion of the Form 990 (the portion without a schedule) – Go to Part VIII, AKA the

Statement of Revenue. At the bottom of the page, there is a portion called Miscellaneous Revenue. This

portion may include revenue related to athletics. In the case of Webster, this is true.

c. The next section, a statement of Functional Expenses (Part IX), may also list athletic-related expenses.

d. Schedule J - Compensation for Executives and Key Employees -- See if your coach was awarded

bonuses and other special perks. Definitely read the special notes that accompany the figures. There’s a lot

of good stuff in there.

d. Schedule K - Information on bonds possibly used by university to build/renovate sports facilities.

e. Schedule L, Part II – Does your university give loans to coaches? Check out this schedule to find out. At

Northwestern, Football Coach Patrick Fitzgerald has a $2.5 million loan from the university.

http://www.splc.org/http://www.splc.org/http://www.splc.org/


15/19

f. Schedule G – Part I includes fundraising activities like phonathon events and direct marketing

campaigns. Part II includes chronicles fundraising events, such charity golf tournaments. You can find out

if these events are returning a profit or not.

g. Schedule I – Perhaps your university is donating funds to an athletic foundation. Or perhaps money is

being sent to a coach’s personal charity. Schedule I can show you these things.

h. Schedule R – Chronicles the companies affiliated with your university, such as non-profit foundations

or for-profit athletic companies. Part V will tell you how money is being distributed back and forth

between the affiliated entities and your university.

2. This one goes out to my friends at private and public universities.

There are a number of athletic foundations affiliated with public and private universities. For instance:

- UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION INC

- WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC ASSOC INC

- GRAMBLING UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC FOUNDATION

- TIGER ATHLETIC FOUNDATION

- And on and on…

The documents for these foundations are rich with information. For instance, the University of Alabamaathletic foundation owns the house Nick Saban lives in (see: http://goo.gl/Zmf5Ek ). Take a look. Here’s

http://goo.gl/Zmf5Ekhttp://goo.gl/Zmf5Ekhttp://goo.gl/Zmf5Ekhttp://goo.gl/Zmf5Ek


16/19

my own primer on what to look out for (See: http://goo.gl/ofB7cF and http://goo.gl/70espd). And, ofcourse, consult the tip sheets at the IRE website.3. Some college coaches may have their own charities. Check these charities out. How are they run? Arethey doing legitimate charities or just press release fodder? Use the BBB’s charity accountability standardsas your guide (See: http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/)

4. Citizen Audit – What other boards does your coach sit on? Has your coach made donations to other

non-profits? Has your coach been paid in some capacity to work for other charities outside your

university? Luke Rosiak, the man behind Citizen Audit, has scanned 10 years of 990s and allowed for

quick searching of hundreds of thousands of documents. It’s a terrific resource for following the money.

https://www.citizenaudit.org/

http://goo.gl/ofB7cFhttp://goo.gl/ofB7cFhttp://goo.gl/ofB7cFhttp://goo.gl/70espdhttp://goo.gl/70espdhttp://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/https://www.citizenaudit.org/https://www.citizenaudit.org/https://www.citizenaudit.org/http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/http://www.bbb.org/new-york-city/charities-donors/standards-for-charity-accountability/http://goo.gl/70espdhttp://goo.gl/ofB7cF


17/19

Campus coverage:

Sexual assault and other crimes on campus

Walt Bogdanich, David Donald, Jill Riepenhoff, Samantha Sunne

IRE 2014

Sex assault and other sex crimes are, unfortunately, a topic that will provide a story on any

campus. Even though campus authorities tend to be closed-mouthed when it comes to sexual

assault, there are a ton of avenues open to reporters willing to fight for data and records.

People:! Campus police

! Local police, meaning the city police or sheriff

! The student disciplinary office! Campus sexual violence prevention or counseling centers

! Residence hall authorities and associations

! Authorities outside of your school - prosecutors, women’s shelters, victims’ advocates,

the court system

Records:! Clery reports

• Every public school has an annual report about crime on campus. They can call

this report whatever they want, but reporters usually refer to them as Clery Reports

because they’re mandated by a federal law called the Clery Act. The Student PressLaw Center has a guide to what is in this report, who reports it, and why:

http://www.splc.org/cleryact

! Police reports

• Every law enforcement agency keeps records of its reported crimes, investigations

and arrests. Get these records from your campus and local police. Before you

make the request, consult with the agency to make sure you’re using the correct

term (sexual assault, sexual misconduct, etc.)

! Title IX complaints and investigations

• A school can be sued under Title IX for failing to protect students or staff from

sexual harassment, which can include sex crimes. Because Title IX is a federal law,

the lawsuit will be in federal court, and you’ll be able to find it on

http://www.pacer.gov . You need to register for an account, but it will be free

because PACER only charges you if you download more than 15 pages.

! Outcomes of student disciplinary cases

• There’s a federal law called FERPA that works against reporters: it makes most

student records private. But a narrow exception to FERPA gives reporters an


18/19

opening for finding out what punishments universities deal out for sexual or violent

crimes. Skip to the end of this tipsheet for more details on this FERPA exception.

Data:! FBI UCR statistics

• The FBI collects crime data from just about every law enforcement agency in the

country: http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/ucr It’s a good idea to compare

Clery and UCR numbers because it could signal under-reporting from a law

enforcement agency. Keep in mind, though, the FBI’s requirements are different

from the Clery ones, so make sure you understand the differences, such as each

law’s definition of “sexual assault.”

! Department of Education Clery data

• Each university has an annual Clery report, but all these numbers are fed into a

national database maintained by the DOE, which you can explore here:

http://ope.ed.gov/security

! Department of Justice VAWA data• The Office on Violence Against Women inside the DOJ has data on the kinds of

punishments handed out for sex crimes. This data is limited to about 130 schools

who signed up to receive federal funds to combat sexual violence, but is the only

national database on sanctions for sexual offenses. You will need to FOIA this data

set.

! The courts

• Your local court system and prosecutor’s office will have data on cases, charges

and convictions

! National organizations like RAINN and the NSVRC publish statistics that provide context

Help!The members of this panel, just like any other IRE member, would be happy to help other

journalists working on similar stories. Besides IRE, the following are great sources of assistance

to keep in mind:

! The Student Press Law Center (http://www.splc.org/) are the biggest experts in the

country on stuff like FERPA, Clery and higher education reporting. Their mission is to

help journalists with their reporting, so don’t hesitate to get in touch or use their guides

online.

! The Center for Public Integrity, in conjunction with NPR, did what is probably the biggest

investigation on sex offenses on campus. CPI published a guide to covering it on your

own campus, which includes many of the tips and resources found in this tipsheet as

well as many others: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2009/12/01/9048/reporters-

toolkit-investigating-sexual-assault-your-campus

! The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has a thorough guide to requesting

public records in every state, including a handy fill-in form that writes a letter for you:

http://www.rcfp.org/open-government-guide


19/19

About that FERPA exception" If you ask a school what punishments it gave out to students accused of sex assault, you’ll

probably get an immediate, “No, that’s protected by FERPA.” That’s mostly true, but not totally.

If a case meets the following criteria:

! Reached an final disposition

! Student found responsible (guilty)

! Violent or sexual crime

Then you can get the following information:

! Student’s name

! The violation committed

! The sanction (punishment)

Make sure to cite the law in your request, since many people are unfamiliar with this exception.This excerpt comes from the the Government Printing Office,

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2010-title20/pdf/USCODE-2010-title20-chap31-

subchapIII-part4-sec1232g.pdf . The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20

U.S.C. § 1232g, also known as FERPA, states,

(B) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit an institution of postsecondary

education from disclosing the final results of any disciplinary proceeding conducted by

such institution against a student who is an alleged perpetrator of any crime of violence

(as that term is defined in section 16 of title 18), or a nonforcible sex offense, if the

institution determines as a result of that disciplinary proceeding that the student

committed a violation of the institution’s rules or policies with respect to such crime or

offense.

(C) For the purpose of this paragraph, the final results of any disciplinary proceeding—

(i) shall include only the name of the student, the violation committed, and any

sanction imposed by the institution on that student;

Keep in mind you still need to make a request under your state public records law, and the

university needs to be public for the records to be open to review by the public. This exception

merely stops the university from using FERPA as a reason not to give you the records.

Documents

Sports investigations tipsheets