By: R.J Swartz
In this article it discusses how colleges and universities at the D1 level are able to cover their budgets for the athletic season. This shows that although some of the "big name" schools such as Alabama, Texas, and Michigan do generate profit, it is due to them taking subsidies from places such as the university or student fees to help cover their expenses through out the year. The article talks on how the just 23 of the 228 D1 school generate enough to cover their own expenses. Of the that group of 23 schools, 16 took some sort of subsidy. What can be seen as even more terrifying is 10 of the 16 school that did report receiving extra money from the school, state, or student fees actually received more money in 2012 then they did in 2011. We talked in class on how only 1 in 5 school at the division 1 level make a profit at the end of a fiscal year. We continued the discussion by talking about how this contributes to the schools being such big spenders. Dr. Higgs used the example of her being in Las Vegas one Summer and there was a big off season hoops tournament going on. She explained how she was staying in a hotel that cost roughly $400 a night, every school that was apart of this tournament was also staying in her same hotel. Clearly these schools needed multiple rooms and were staying for multiple nights. In Coakley's text on page 380 he discusses how athletic programs try to "sell" their departments in order to gain sponsorships to assist in paying for money, scholarships, equipment, and apparel.
The "sad" truth of collegiate athletics is that although these programs make a killing it simply isnt enough for the schools to cover their expenses on their own. It is only a "sad" situation because of how much the school is willing to spend to make sure athletes enjoy stays in the best hotel, have the best meals and have the most prestine facilities to use.
No comments:
Post a Comment