College Football: Not as bad as you might think

So, many of you bloggers might be under the impression that very few college football teams make a profit for their athletic departments. In fact, it has been said that only 5 institutions currently make a profit from their college football teams. This just is not true by any means. In fact, most teams, even smaller universities at the Division 1-A level take in more money as revenue than they expend. Although, there is obviously cause for concern in that spending continues to increase for football programs but in and of itself, college football isnt hurting most institutions financially. This particular article outlines a couple points mainly having only to do with USC and Texas, but also other schools in general. (http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/04/commentary/column_sportsbiz/sportsbiz/)

And that's just one instance of simple research that shows football programs thriving becuase of big revenues and big bowl game payouts.

Im not saying that college football is in a perfect and fair state of profitability, but it shouldnt be looked at as some kind of "big-bad-mens-wrestling-womens-programs-Title IX-killer". It makes profit for most schools, and more importantly, most conferences. And until that changes dramatically, its really hard to point a finger at its high expendatures as a reason for Title IX ineffectiveness. If a college football program makes a healthy profit from its activities, shouldnt it have a say in how that money is spent.

In all fairness, college football as an enterprise has come a long way. And until womens lacrosse or mens field hockey pulls in the kind of profit college football does, it will continue to take a back seat. Right or wrong; Fair or Unjust.

David Richter