There’s a connection between how much money schools spend and how they perform on the football field. And it’s taking more and more money be a top performer.
The college football season began in earnest Thursday night with a high-profile clash between conference foes Ohio State and Indiana. The Buckeyes–ranked #2 nationally (AP) going into the season–were a prohibitive favorite (-20.5). They won the game, 49-21.
Courtesy: Washington Monthly
But make no mistake about it. The Buckeyes aren’t simply a gridiron force. They’re a money-making, money-spending juggernaut as well. The Buckeyes spent nearly $170 million on all sports in 2016 according to data reported by USA Today.
IU spent a not-too-shabby $94 million.
But wait a minute! IU’s financial profile is shabby in today’s big-time collegiate reality. $94 million ranks IU 32nd in the country and 10th in the Big Ten conference—alongside another consistent football loser, Illinois. OSU’s spending, on the other hand, ranks 3rd in the country and 1st in the Big Ten—right next to gridiron power, Alabama.
Surprised? Don’t be. There’s a connection between how much money schools spend and how they perform on the football field. And it’s taking more and more money to maintain high performance.
According to USA Today data, America’s 230 public universities spent $9.5 billion dollars on college athletics last year—up about $1 billion from 2014. And they spend pretty much all the money they generate. That’s the rule in college sports: schools need more and more money to operate, and they spend just about all the money they bring in.
And there’s a pattern to that spending: “The Rich Get Richer … and….” In athletics, that means Power 5 conferences and schools generate a ton of money while just about everybody else has to huff and puff to make ends meet. Wanna-be’s schools can’t make it financially on athletic revenues alone. They have to dip into other sources—allocations from school general funds and from student fees—to stay out of the red.
In previous years I’ve reported in detail on what I call “subsidies in sports.”
It’s typical for non-Power 5 schools to subsidize athletics—often to the tune of 65-80% of the total athletic budget. That means only 20-35 cents of every dollar comes from sports.
The bottom line is clear: college sports require a big-time expense. And the money required doesn’t just go for coaches’ salaries, recruiting, travel, media promotion, and other expenses. Big-ticket allocations are made for facility renovations and new construction.
It’s fair to say there’s an ‘arms race” on the facilities side. It’s a way for schools to keep up with the Joneses. “In 2015-16” write Steve Berkowitz and Christopher Schnaars, “$1.3 billion…was spent (combination of cash and debt financing)…and…about two-thirds came from Power Five schools. Those schools comprise less than one-fourth of all Division I public schools.”
Courtesy: projects.huffingtonpost.com
Over the years I’ve searched for words to describe how I feel about all of this. The word concerning comes to mind. Ridiculous seems appropriate, too. I say concerning because so much money is being poured into athletics. I say ridiculous for definitional reasons: worthy of ridicule or derision, absurd, and preposterous.
The amount will continue going up, too. And it’s all for what? School pride? Having fun on Saturdays?
The same pleasures are available in Division III sports. Yes, the lion’s share of athletic funding is subsidized at D-3 schools, but – let’s face it – the lion is much, much smaller, more like the size of a pussycat.
This year my wife and I dropped our season football tickets. It’s the first time since 1970 we’ve been without two tickets for major college football. It took a bit of time to make that decision—I was hooked on football, I must admit. But now that we’ve made it, the feeling I have is “relief.”
Why? We’re taking a stand. For years I’ve written about social responsibility in college sports. Truth be told, though, personal responsibility must come first.
People can spend money any way they choose. But with all the problems in this country, including the high cost of public higher education, it seems immoral to spend billions on college games.
Absolutely on target!Thanks for the article.