General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Are University Professors overpaid? [View all]Human101948
(3,457 posts)But its the great lie of college sports that high profile programs generate income. The vast majority of them lose money and have to be subsidized, either through exorbitant student fees or, more often, with money pulled out of the schools general coffers.
Of the 227 public schools that compete at the Division I level, only 22 have athletic programs that bring in more money than they spend.
http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/watchdog/?p=2249
In fact, for half of all bowl games, participating colleges receive less than $2 million. Eleven games do not even pay a million dollarsand one pays a whopping $165,000. That means academics often pays for athletics, not the other way around. In 1991, the University of Michigans creative financing was to use money from a National Science Foundation research grant to pay the bowl bills. The feds found out, and the Wolverines got penalizedso its not a good model for other colleges to imitate.
http://time.com/money/4170907/students-are-biggest-losers-in-college-bowl-games/
Despite raking in billions of dollars in television, ticket, and licensing revenues, all but 14 of the 106 schools in the NCAAs top athletic division (FBS, formerly IA) lost money in 2009. The median loss was over $10 million.
http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/college-athletics-losing-money/