The Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) database and the USA Today NCAA athletics department finance database are two of the most commonly used databases for scholars, policy makers, and other constituents interested in studying the economics of college athletics. Many in the higher education community, however, question the validity of these databases. This study used Benford’s Law of First Digits as a tool for spotting irregularities in EADA and USA Today college athletics financial data. After reviewing 5 years of data, the findings show that while there was some slight deviation from Benford’s Law, EADA and USA Today data largely conformed to the expectations of Benford’s Law.

中文翻译：

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国家大学体育协会的Benford分析I财务数据

《体育信息披露法案》（EADA）数据库和《今日美国》 NCAA体育部门财务数据库是学者，政策制定者和其他对研究大学体育经济学感兴趣的人员的两个最常用数据库。但是，高等教育界中的许多人质疑这些数据库的有效性。这项研究使用本福德的《第一位数定律》作为发现EADA和《今日美国》大学体育财务数据中违规行为的工具。回顾5年的数据后，研究结果表明，尽管与本福德定律存在一些细微差异，但EADA和《今日美国》的数据在很大程度上符合本福德定律的预期。