I don't know about that, and I'm not trying to be argumentative. I went to Cornell--hardly a revenue generating sports factory--and every athlete I knew got preferential consideration for enrolling in classes, academic support, latitude on missing assignment due dates / exams due to their travel schedule, etc.
Not to split hairs, but I think how you define "special treatment" is important here, because there were numerous ways where they get treated differently than rank-and-file students, even at a school like Cornell.