Can anyone here convince me that college sports are a worthwhile use of state money? I remember reading some articles a few months back that put the whole college sports system in a pretty grim light so I'm interested in seeing if there is something the articles aren't telling me or something that I'm just not seeing.
So if the point of government funded state universities is to create a better educated work force how can the spending on college sports be justified?
http://www.annarbor.com/sports/knight-c … academics/Too much money continues to be spent on college athletics by public universities, according to a Knight Commission report released Thursday that calls for greater transparency and better balance between sports and academics.
...
According to the report, athletic spending rose 38 percent since 2005 while spending dedicated to academics over the same period of time was increased only by 20 percent.
...
Only seven FBS schools, including Michigan, annually generated enough revenue to cover expenses dedicated to athletics. The rest dipped into general fund dollars that could be spent on academic endeavors.
In fiscal year 2011, Michigan projects revenues of $105 million and operating expenses of $100.3 million, according to numbers released by the university Thursday.
The report"The myth of the business model – that football and men’s basketball cover their own expenses and fully support non-revenue sports – is put to rest by an NCAA study finding that 94 [of the then 119 FBS] institutions ran a deficit for the 2007-08 school year, averaging losses of $9.9 million."
So if the point of government funded state universities is to create a better educated work force how can the spending on college sports be justified?
