College athletics bigger than ever
Posted by ZA on September 2, 2010
Good article by the New York Times that talks about the big time money that is now a part of college athletics. They got it right that there are few programs actually making money, but I thought they might have talked about some of the notable programs that have gone into debt in an effort to compete. Texas A&M has one of the most successful athletic departments in the country, but that didn’t prevent them from needing to take a $16 million dollar loan from the schools general operating funds. These days schools are forced to spend to keep pace, even if they are losing money. Those that don’t will fall further behind and in the long-term they cannot afford to do that.
A common characteristic among the richest programs in college sports is they are all have successful football programs. Texas, Florida and Ohio State are not just the richest athletic departments, they are 3 of the top schools in college football over the past decade. Here’s a recent list of the richest athletic departments in college sports.
