By Benjamin Davis / The Jambar
Towards the end of last semester, I was invited by a friend to come and watch a football game. I had no interest in it, but they invited me so I thought, “What the heck.” And no, I don’t remember which game it was, so don’t bother asking. But one thing I do remember is just how incredibly dull I found this whole affair to be.
Now children, I apologize for my candor, but I don’t think your Uncle Ben has ever been more demonstrably bored than when I was sitting on that cold metal bench, watching maybe 10-20 minutes of actual live play in a three-hour-long game. I even told my friend after the fact that I regretted coming there to begin with, and I didn’t even go for the game itself.
It’s not all doom and gloom though because walking out of that stadium, I started a’thinkin’ — specifically about the mind-boggling, ludicrous amount of money that must go into college athletics all across this wonderful country of ours. So gather ‘round children, ‘cause I got some concerns that need saying.
Now it’s hardly a secret that universities across the U.S. rake in millions of dollarydoos from sports. Just last year, athletics at the University of Texas at Austin were valued at almost $1.5 billion, with a revenue of $332 million in 2024. Meanwhile, the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, despite being ranked 75th in sports valuation, still had a revenue of $61 million.
It’s the high value and revenue that starts to make me a tad worried. If university administrations see those sky high numbers, that can then incentivise them to put more money into athletics at the expense of other departments and programs. And we all know how universities like their numbers.
And don’t go a’thinkin’ that idea is a hypothetical. As far back as 2014, the American Association of University Professors warned that universities were rapidly increasing spending on sports, even as spending on other initiatives declined. The association also said in their report that this runs the risk of universities losing focus on academic activities as part of their core mission.
It gets even better. From 2021-22, Louisiana State University, University of Arkansas, University of Oklahoma, University of Mississippi and University of Texas, on average, had student-athlete expenses greater than $300,000. Meanwhile, their average annual expenses for an everyday Joe-schmo student was only about $45,000. Now you can see my concern that academic departments may be left with the budget of belly button lint and a nickel.
But hey, at least we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that, expensive as they are, university athletic departments bring in plenty of money, right?
Well, I’m gonna let you in on a secret. A lot of athletic departments actually lose money, not make it. If Inside Higher Ed is to be believed, apparently the athletic departments of several schools, including University of Connecticut, University of Houston, University of Massachusetts and James Madison University, lose around $40 million a year.
There is, however, another secret that your Uncle Ben should probably mention. I do in fact participate in college athletics in club sports, go fencing club by the way.
Now before I’m accused of being a hypocrite, let me defend myself. I love fencing to death, but the primary reason for why I’m here is for my degree. And just because I’m in a sport doesn’t mean I want it, or any other sport, to come at the expense of academics.