Just watched a fascinating one-hour program on PBS called "Big Time Losers" about collegiate athletics and it's impact on the colleges and academics. It's a real eye-opener especially if you have a child playing a high-level college sport and/or have a child who is in those recruiting years. It is a must watch. I hope it will be on again. I was amazed at what a big $$$ business it is especially in football and basketball and how most colleges athletic departments spend more than they take in and this is one of the reasons tuition keeps going up. Did anyone else watch and thoughts?

Just watched a fascinating one-hour program on PBS called "Big Time Losers" about collegiate athletics and it's impact on the colleges and academics. It's a real eye-opener especially if you have a child playing a high-level college sport and/or have a child who is in those recruiting years. It is a must watch. I hope it will be on again. I was amazed at what a big $$$ business it is especially in football and basketball and how most colleges athletic departments spend more than they take in and this is one of the reasons tuition keeps going up. Did anyone else watch and thoughts?
I didn't see it but football and basketball may be profit centers or break even. I am amazed at the scholarships given out for the non-profit sports. I was at a Pac 10 soccer game last year and they announced it was a record crowd of 1200, most of which were children's soccer teams. I expect their gate receipts wouldn't pay for but one or two of the scholarships given out. The same school probably pulls in a few million on a good Saturday afternoon from the football program.

I didn't see it but football and basketball may be profit centers or break even. I am amazed at the scholarships given out for the non-profit sports. I was at a Pac 10 soccer game last year and they announced it was a record crowd of 1200, most of which were children's soccer teams. I expect their gate receipts wouldn't pay for but one or two of the scholarships given out. The same school probably pulls in a few million on a good Saturday afternoon from the football program.

At almost all schools, football loses money at the gate, but makes it up in TV revenue and goodwill that translates into alumni contributions. Many schools make money on basketball because of the smaller team size, especially if they play in a constrained area and thus minimize travel costs.

Let's face it, if a large school is up and running with 30,000 students, the "cost" of the academic portion of the athlete's scholarships is negligible, no matter what artificial value the school may declare for it. The real costs are in coaches' and suppport staff salaries, infrastructure, marketing, and travel.