What is happening to college sports?
(www.foxnews.com)
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Oh I know. I don't believe there is a rule, but good schools will keep the player on scholarship usually. Fan bases can get pissed when someone they root for gives their all, gets injured, and is then tossed away like trash.
All sports have become business. My perspective is limited though. I only follow college football after giving up on baseball and NFL years ago. Since I live in Texas I follow the Longhorns, and even had season tickets for 10 years so I could have daddy-daughter bonding time while she was still a kid and enjoyed going.
Most schools don't make money from their sports, but Texas Football makes enough to fund other sports and kick millions back to the academic departments as well. That is very rare. If it is going to be a big business, at least it is self-sufficient and also paying for other non-football stuff as well. I can get behind that model. That could also be how they can keep injured players on scholarship.
They are a good example! I wonder IF they are one of the exceptions, and not the Norm??
It's hard to tell because the monetary breakdowns from big programs are usually not very clear. Texas' was because they had that Longhorn Network in partnership with ESPN for over a decade, and ESPN would pay them something like $15M a year.
Note - I didn't go to UT. I joined the Air Force instead of college. I just liked going to the football games with my kid when I lived in the Austin area.
If other schools do kick money back, or pay for the other sports, it is likely just a dozen or fewer. There is also often a big year-to-year difference in the amounts depending on things like coaching searches, stadium renovations, bond payments, etc. Texas will be hit by that because they have to shuffle some things around to build a new medical school and complex (UT Dell Medical School).
They just finished demolition on the Erwin Center in May. That was a big concrete bldg (looked like a drum) in downtown Austin where they played basketball for over 40 years. A big medical complex will be built there by 2030. They allocated $25M for a non-explosive demolition and came in under budget. The medical center will dwarf that though with early estimates around $2.5B.
They also scored a deal for a new $300M arena (to replace the Erwin Center) at zero cost to taxpayers, donors, or the school in a special deal. It also gives Austin a new place to have concerts or other things when there are no b-ball games. Very Cool. https://www.statesman.com/story/sports/college/2022/04/19/moody-center-built-300-million-no-cost-taxpayers-boosters/7358394001/
You are correct - they are a good example. If schools can use the business aspect of sports to expand their research, curriculum, and public facilities so that it benefits not only the school but everyone else it is a win/win. If their new medical center is as good as their #1 rated (in the USA) MD Anderson cancer center in Houston it will be huge. It will actually house an expansion from MD Anderson, along with a specialty hospital among other things.
Here is a nice chart on the business earnings topic. The chart shows 2023 earnings and expenses, and as it turns out I nailed the number in the beginning of my comment. It looks like 12 schools didn't take money from the university for sports funding in 2023. I'd like to see more but that is a higher number than I remember from a few years back. I love it when what is often thought of as a nasty business is turned around to do great things.
https://sportsdata.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances
Agreed -dec- Maybe we should put the Longhorns in charge of College Sports..AND especially the BOWL season...You know you have gone too Far..When the Tostitos Bowl game, the 25th game of the day is on!>!?!>!?!
Eh - maybe on a committee. The Longhorns are hated enough by other schools - they don't need more reasons.
As for the bowls - most of them suck bad, but they do give the kids a fun trip, and super fans a reason to travel somewhere they may have never gone. They also give us a reason to not have to sit and make small talk with relatives we can't stand when they visit during the holidays.