A Decade of Referee Bias against College Football Programs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Abstract

The central objective of this investigation was to examine within game penalties that were levied against football programs from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. Previous scholarship that sets an appropriate background on sports science and culture has revealed that referee bias has occurred in many European sports. It was in the methods section of this scholarship that statistical analyses were discussed in terms of game day penalties that occurred within the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) from the 2006 through the 2015 season. The results illustrated that referees penalized football teams from historically black college and universities (HBCUs) significantly more than football teams from predominantly white institutions (PWIs). An interpretation of this quantitative data was subsequently completed and Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) was appropriately spotlighted in the discussion section of this study in an effort to assign meaning to the analytics of interest.

The Non-Sweet Sixteen: Referee Bias Against Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Men’s College Basketball

“…The most notable practical implication from this Division I study was evidence of disproportionate foul calling against HBCU men's college basketball teams. This finding supports a welldeveloped line of sports research that has found that referees call more penalties against HBCU football teams in comparison to PWI football teams (Dix, 2017), found that umpires call more walks per nine innings when the pitcher played for an HBCU relative to when the pitcher played for a PWI (Dix, 2020a), and found that referees call more personal fouls against Division I HBCU women's college basketball teams relative to PWI Division I women's college basketball teams (Dix, 2019). Referees have excessively penalized the in-game sociological behaviors of HBCU sports teams in the field of play.…”

“…There are numerous reasons why this newest iteration of HBCU referee bias transpired in men's college basketball. The majority of the reasons why HBCU men's college basketball teams were disproportionately penalized in comparison to PWI men's college basketball teams are consistent with the conclusions noted in the previous sports science research of Dix (2017Dix ( , 2019Dix ( , 2020aDix ( , 2020b. For example, it is likely that HBCU men's college basketball teams were called for more PFPG than PWI men's college basketball teams due to (a) payback calls for overstated nonverbal behaviors, (b) a different style of aggressive play at HBCUs relative to PWIs, (c) implicit racial bias among some rogue referees, (d) fewer resources existing for HBCUs relative to PWIs, and (e) an inflated number of academic progress rate (APR) sanctions being levied against HBCUs, which includes limited practice time.…”

“…Findings from the Dix (2017) analysis revealed that "college referees in American football flagged football teams from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for team penalties at an above average rate in comparison to football teams from PWIs from the 2006 through the 2015 season" (p. 210). Additional findings indicated that the 13 football teams whom referees called the most penalties against were all HBCUs, whereas not a single PWI football team incurred an average number of penalties that was statistically significant over this 10-year period of time (Dix, 2017). One reason why Dix (2017) concluded these findings emerged was due to isolated pockets of referees who "unfavorably perceive and disproportionately flag football players from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) because of their own adverse perceptions of black identity" (p. 208).…”

“…The current research was based on two sports science studies that centered on referee bias in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The first study by Dix (2017) examined within-game penalties in the space of college football for the historical time period that spanned from 2006 to 2015. Findings from the Dix (2017) analysis revealed that "college referees in American football flagged football teams from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for team penalties at an above average rate in comparison to football teams from PWIs from the 2006 through the 2015 season" (p. 210).…”

“…Previous scholarship that indicated referee bias was not abnormal was appropriately documented. The scholarship of Dix (2017Dix ( , 2019, which revealed that referees called fewer penalties against PWIs relative to HBCUs, was also highlighted. It was along a theoretical line that the underpinnings of whiteness studies were illuminated.…”