Dr. Hirko's Wide World of Sports --------------------------------------------- Commentary on sports today shirko@defiance.edu |
I found 18 profitable & 211 money-losing NCAA Division-I public athletic programs in 2020
Of available data, a total of 18 of 229 public Division I athletics programs generated more money than they spent in 2020.
This ranged from a whopping $270 million profit (thank you for the
gift, Nike co-founder Phil Knight) at the University of Oregon to a
massive $48.2 million deficit at James Madison University. (Notably,
military academies were not included, and some institutions did not
provide data).
How was this calculated? Link here to read the article on LinkedIn and to access the full data set.
Watch the video interview posted on Matt Brown's "Extra Points" through College Sports Connect:
-SRH-
Dr. Hirko creates free LinkedIn newsletter, "The Wide World of College Sports."
(June 3, 2022) - Beginning in June 2022, Dr. Hirko launched the new "Wide World of College Sports" newsletter on the LinkedIn platform to help bring perspective and understanding of the many issues of intercollegiate athletics. His primary point of view will relate to the finances of college sports, but will also include other articles that involve policy and decision-making. The newsletter will be published weekly throughout the year. You can subscribe for it to be sent to your mailbox when published. SUBSCRIBE HERE. A list of his articles published to date is below:
Edition 4. June 24: A summary of today’s NIL landscape: Learn from those involved.
Edition 3. June 17: How much does it cost to build a new college football stadium? Case study of USF’s new stadium project.
Edition 2. June 12: Part II: The truth about football and college sport expenses
Edition 1. June 6: How does the money work in college sports? Part I: The dominance of football revenue
You are welcome to join at any time.
-SRH-
A list of his articles published to date is below:
Edition 4. June 24: A summary of today’s NIL landscape: Learn from those involved.
Edition 3. June 17: How much does it cost to build a new college football stadium? Case study of USF’s new stadium project.
Edition 2. June 12: Part II: The truth about football and college sport expenses
Edition 1. June 6: How does the money work in college sports? Part I: The dominance of football revenue
You are welcome to join at any time.
-SRH-
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April 2, 2022 - The White-boy leadership of NCAA sports is finally properly shamed in the court of public opinion
An investigation by USA Today was published in the last few days into the spending differences between men's and women's teams of equal sports (not football but, men's/women's basketball, soccer, swimming, tennis, track). It found significantly more funding for men's teams than women's teams... Today's reality is more challenging to allow for a resource disparity in non-revenue/Olympic sports, such as soccer, swimming, or track which the revenue made by men is about the same as women.
About NCAA money: Let's also consider money from the NCAA March Madness tournament beyond the institutional level: the NCAA has much to blame with how it funds its revenue distribution from the men's March Madness tournament. The NCAA awards roughly $160 million per year based on success from the men's tournament, but nothing ($0) based on success from the women's tournament. In addition, for years the NCAA has undervalued the women's side of the March Madness tournament as much as $100 million, and as such as received significantly less more dollars from selling the media rights than possible if properly valued, marketed, and sold (undervalued at $34 M per year instead of possibly $112 M per year). The NCAA states it is enacting changes by showing policy on paper, but unfortunately this does not equate to policy in action. Lack of immediate action by the NCAA is inexcusable.
Congressional action: Unsurprisingly, .... click here for more.
-SRH-
February 22, 2022 -- The Cost of Prestige: Football Ain't Cheap
It turns out, institutions of higher learning spend quite a lot on football leadership. Within the NCAA's most competitive and prestigious division, Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), each school is allowed a maximum of 10 football coaches per NCAA rules. 51 of the public schools in the Power 5 conferences paid $584 million to 510 football coaches in 2020, nearing the amount of nearly $712 million spent on scholarships and cost of attendance for more than 25,000 scholarship athletes in all sports at public schools in the Power 5 (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC).
For instance, how much is the cost to be a CFP semifinalist? From 2015-2020, it cost a total of $979 million in football expenses for this year's four CFP semifinalists (Table 1). According to the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database, total football spending (e.g. the amount it cost to put a team on the gridiron, including coaching salaries, student scholarships and cost of attendance bonuses) over those six years was: $376.2 million at Alabama, $57.8 million at Cincinnati, $296.7 million at Georgia, and $292.9 million at Michigan. About a third of that ($306 million) went into coaches' pockets.
It turns out, institutions of higher learning spend quite a lot on football leadership. Within the NCAA's most competitive and prestigious division, Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), each school is allowed a maximum of 10 football coaches per NCAA rules. 51 of the public schools in the Power 5 conferences paid $584 million to 510 football coaches in 2020, nearing the amount of nearly $712 million spent on scholarships and cost of attendance for more than 25,000 scholarship athletes in all sports at public schools in the Power 5 (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 12, SEC).
What is the cost of prestige through football leadership for an individual school?
For more, click here.
-SRH-
January 29, 2022 -- Ohio State out front in competitive advantage with NIL-centered "Edge" program
The name, image, and likeness industry is still in its infancy, but after six months, early winners are emerging — and Ohio State athletes top the list.
Since July 1, 220 Ohio State athletes have procured a total of $2.98 million in NIL earnings with 608 reported activities, the school announced. All three stats rank first among departments using Opendorse’s platforms.
Now, the school is implementing a program that creates a new athletic department role that could help maintain its standing.
Ohio State’s NIL Edge Team will “assist in connecting and coordinating NIL activities,” senior associate athletic director Carey Hoyt said. The school will also assign operations directors for “virtually” all of the school’s 36 sports to connect athletes with brands.
Read more HERE.
-SRH-
January 19, 2022 -- Remaking the NCAA, Beyond Constitutional Reform
Today there is a very good article published in The Athletic about the very confusing and complicated issues in college sports caused by massive revenue, runaway spending, NIL rights for athletes, and the fact that Division I has institutions with athletics budgets from $2 million to $250 million -- in the same competitive division. The problem is primarily with football, and the money raised from and spent on football impacts all the other sports: the revenue from football (and basketball) impacts the other 14+ other sports and other 200+ athletes at each of the 350+ Division I members institutions, despite the budget size. Read it here.
The discussion is important for the future of college sports. Today, I travel to Indianapolis for the NCAA Convention. I will see some colleagues, and attend a session hosted by the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics on Thursday morning, at 8 am. The session is titled: "Remaking the NCAA, Beyond Constitutional Reform." The Knight Commission is the only organization that has proposed a solution to the mess in college sports, particularly from runaway spending: Its CARE Model: “Connect Athletics Revenues with the Educational Model of College Sports”). No other organization, not even the NCAA, has a plan. I know at least 70 will be in attendance, and nearly 300 have signed up to watch it online. If you can't make it and want to watch online, link here. It should be a fascinating and important discussion.
-SRH-
January 14, 2022 -- What's wrong with the College Football Playoff? There needs to be more for athletes.
A MUST READ to learn about the disconnect of the College Football Playoff from the NCAA and higher education. In USA TODAY by Knight Commission Co-Chair Arne Duncan and member Jacques McClendon: "Put simply, the College Football Playoff should require that most of its lucrative revenue distributions be earmarked, for the first time, to specifically advance athlete health, safety and education."
--SRH--
January 9, 2022 -- Take a Tour of the Stadium: It's Yours
Photo: Protective Stadium at University of Alabama-Birmingham. At $175 million, the new stadium helped UAB to a 9-4 mark and an upset, 31-28, victory over #13 Brigham Young University, in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Photo: CC BY-SA 4.0
Today’s lesson is about athletics debt. I read a very good article from an individual worried about debt at our colleges, and I wanted to share my thoughts as well. I write this as a HUGE college football fanatic.
I’ve spent much of the last decade of my life raising the red flags about the spending on athletics needlessly, warning to anyone who would listen about debt at our institutions of higher learning, specifically debt dedicated to the wonderful spectacle of sports.
Much of my work can be seen at the Knight Commission’s College Athletics Financial Information (CAFI) database. Kudos to Dr. Michael LeRoy, a law professor at the University of Illinois, whose bailiwick is labor and employment relations, who used this database to help to shed a light on the problem with athletics debt. You can read his very good article here. Let us break debt down a bit into its tiny pieces to understand it.
Read more here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/take-tour-stadium-its-yours-scott-hirko-ph-d-/
--SRH--
January 8, 2022 -- The NCAA Is Not A Democracy, But Division III Schools Have An Opportunity To Fight For More
A very good article from my colleague, Dr. Karen Weaver, at University of Pennsylvania. For those of you at Division 3 colleges, like here at Defiance College, this is a must-read about D3 using its leverage to get MORE RESOURCES ($$$) and SUPPORT out of the NCAA for its important championship experiences -- athletics is a cornerstone of the experience in small colleges dependent on tuition dollars.
You can read more here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/karenweaver/2022/01/06/the-ncaa-is-not-a-democracy/?sh=5d1d04e3137c
-- SRH --
