College Footballs $ 1.1 Billion Profit

[MeanGreen61]

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/29/news/companies/college_football_dollars/index.htm

[DeepGreen]

"And, of course, not having to pay your athletes gives big-time college football the ultimate business model."

Guess they don't put a value on the cost of a four year scholarship.

[UNTFan23]

Guess they don't put a value on the cost of a four year scholarship.

Not just the education but room and board as well.

[stebo]

Not just the education but room and board as well.

With the medical insurance and montly stipends added to the tuition, books, room, and board - I would guess that our players "make" about $20K a year. But we don't pay the instructors more to have those players in the classrooms and the room/board is next to nothing as long as they are in the dorms. Actual cost to the school is probably half that. I think that all parties get a good deal.

[Cr1028]

Tuition and Board are benefits for sure but high profile players like Mark Ingram and Terrell Pryor receive nowhere near what they bring in.

[untbowler]

Tuition and Board are benefits for sure but high profile players like Mark Ingram and Terrell Pryor receive nowhere near what they bring in.

At least out in the open. Pryor made some good dough selling his college memoribilia, guess OSU is not important to his life.

[NMBNTC]

Anyone know our bottom line?

[GoMeanGreen1999]

Not just the education but room and board as well.

Or the countless costs to fly them all over the country for games and such.

[KRAM1]

If playing college football on scholarship was not a "good deal" for the players there would be many fewer working their rear ends off to get one, and many fewer walk-on's doing more than anyone could ask to try to secure said scholarship. The idea that scholarship athletes are not "compensated" for their service to the school is just "stupid" AT BEST.

Now, are there some equally "stupid" NCAA rules regarding what players can "earn" and how they can earn it while on scholarship...ABSOLUTLY. How about the NCAA taking a look at some of those stupid rules and maybe athletes could actually be placed on par with what every other student at the school can do regarding "outside" income and "perks" from friends, etc. Seems to me, that is the area that needs some serious updating by the NCAA.

[Got5onIt]

None of that comes close to evening out with the physical stress these student athletes put themselves through. Combine that with the amount of money schools like UT & USC make on their backs and it's not even fair.

[Monkeypox]

They are welcome to more fair ways to earn their college education, if playing football doesn't work for them.

[SteaminWillieBeamin]

None of that comes close to evening out with the physical stress these student athletes put themselves through. Combine that with the amount of money schools like UT & USC make on their backs and it's not even fair.

Welcome to acadamia. The fine students who ran the research labs at UTSW and discovered Statins didn't see dime. NOT FAIR.

[KRAM1]

None of that comes close to evening out with the physical stress these student athletes put themselves through. Combine that with the amount of money schools like UT & USC make on their backs and it's not even fair.

So, how do you rationalize that with all the HS football players placing all that "physical stress on themselves" for free? How about all the money high schools like SLC, Highland Park, Jesuit, etc. make off their football teams, and all the donations that come in to their programs? WOW, those poor kids have no clue how they are really playing for the benefit of their high schools money coffers! They were probably found walking the halls and handcuffed and taken right to the football field and forced to play!

Comments like "make on their backs" pretty much gives your point a nice slant. Those poor kids are just being led down the path to destruction by those big mean universities who force them to play and accept an education in return. Shame, shame. Come on, I don't think I have ever seen a college force a kid to play and accept that scholarship money. Seems to me even this board has discussed all the kids and their parents doing all they can to get one of those scholarship offers.

And, let's see...what about all the players at service academies like Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and the US Merchant Marine Academy? No scholarships for athletics there...why do they play? Division III - no scholarships. Man, those service academies and all those DIII schools are really raking in the bucks on the backs of those poor ignorant kids who were suckered into playing ball. I really never knew!

OK, yes, full of sarcasm, but I just couldn't help it...this argument about making all this money on the backs of these poor kids who are suffering all kinds of physical stress is just laughable to me (father of a college athlete by the way-one of those dumb service academy ones). I wonder if all those who want to play the "these kids are making their colleges rich at the cost of their bodies" card have ever given any thought to the fact that most...if not all...of these kids play for the love of the game, the friendships they make and maintain through playing, the contacts they make that serve them well in their later careers, etc., etc. Some just never get it...playing a sport is not all about money....especially at the high school and college levels.

Does all this ignore the very real possibility that some will be seriously hurt playing the sport they love? No, absolutely not. But, it appears the benefits far outweigh the risks to most who care to don the uniform of a high school and/or college athlete. Believe it or not, most even know that they will NEVER see the field as a professional athlete.

[GrandGreen]

For those of you who think that a "free" education is adequate compensation for what college football players go through, I would guess you never played. The point is however that most would play for nothing but I think the NCAA and universities are threading on shaky ground with the huge coaching salaries that are being paid now. You can half way justify the revenues generated because of the non profit status of college sports. Theoretically all surpluses are plowed back into athletics or education but with four million compensation levels for hc's, it is difficult to justify not paying the players who work very hard and take all the risks. If this is ever taken to court, college athletes as we know it could be a thing of the past.

Edited December 31, 2010 by GrandGreen

[Got5onIt]

So, how do you rationalize that with all the HS football players placing all that "physical stress on themselves" for free? How about all the money high schools like SLC, Highland Park, Jesuit, etc. make off their football teams, and all the donations that come in to their programs? WOW, those poor kids have no clue how they are really playing for the benefit of their high schools money coffers! They were probably found walking the halls and handcuffed and taken right to the football field and forced to play!

Comments like "make on their backs" pretty much gives your point a nice slant. Those poor kids are just being led down the path to destruction by those big mean universities who force them to play and accept an education in return. Shame, shame. Come on, I don't think I have ever seen a college force a kid to play and accept that scholarship money. Seems to me even this board has discussed all the kids and their parents doing all they can to get one of those scholarship offers.

And, let's see...what about all the players at service academies like Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard and the US Merchant Marine Academy? No scholarships for athletics there...why do they play? Division III - no scholarships. Man, those service academies and all those DIII schools are really raking in the bucks on the backs of those poor ignorant kids who were suckered into playing ball. I really never knew!

OK, yes, full of sarcasm, but I just couldn't help it...this argument about making all this money on the backs of these poor kids who are suffering all kinds of physical stress is just laughable to me (father of a college athlete by the way-one of those dumb service academy ones). I wonder if all those who want to play the "these kids are making their colleges rich at the cost of their bodies" card have ever given any thought to the fact that most...if not all...of these kids play for the love of the game, the friendships they make and maintain through playing, the contacts they make that serve them well in their later careers, etc., etc. Some just never get it...playing a sport is not all about money....especially at the high school and college levels.

Does all this ignore the very real possibility that some will be seriously hurt playing the sport they love? No, absolutely not. But, it appears the benefits far outweigh the risks to most who care to don the uniform of a high school and/or college athlete. Believe it or not, most even know that they will NEVER see the field as a professional athlete.

Read the article again. Throwing in high school & service academy athletes is meaningless. No High schools or any academy has even a gnat's ass sized ability to generate revenue with their athletes these power conferences do. I'd put money on all academies operating in the red, funding their athletic programs. Hell, just think about that then look at the amounts cited in the article for those power conference schools. We're not talking Jimmy John living in PoDunk, TX thankin' god he get a chance to learn engrish from a nice school in a big dadgum city. We're talking power hungry assholes, holding FBS football by the balls, making backalley deals, doing whatever they can to get elite athletes to their programs. You honestly believe this has nothing to do with money?????

[GreenMachine]

Tuition and Board are benefits for sure but high profile players like Mark Ingram and Terrell Pryor receive nowhere near what they bring in.

I feel that way about me and my place of employment.

[Eagle1855]

They are welcome to more fair ways to earn their college education, if playing football doesn't work for them.

I'm kind of with you on this one. The school provide the venue and all the support they need to catapult the "superstars" careers and make them household nams, which will most certainly lead to millions of dollars on down the line.

[shaft]

The Pay the Players argument is tired.

1. Players are compensated through their free education.

2. Even on a business model level who have to take into account the "other" costs. Their not just a football team, their an athletic department of a a University.