06-22-2021, 11:31 AM
(06-22-2021, 09:42 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: So, I provide to you a wrench in this. Yes, men's sports tend to bring in more revenue because people, stupidly I might add, are not as interested in women's sports. However, what it you have an athletics program where the men are more profitable, but the women's teams are more successful? What if your men's basketball team brings in the money but the women's team is the one that makes it to the dance? What if your football team brings in money, but your softball team makes it to the WCWS and the football team doesn't sniff the playoffs/a bowl game?
I don't think this really provides a wrench at all. People have long argued that athletes that generate millions upon millions of dollars for their respective universities and conferences deserve to be fairly compensated.
So that leaves one with a very simple question; Do you believe this to be true or not?
The problem is that too many people look at these debates on the surface level. It's easy, and it feels good to to say "Yeah, these players make so much money, they're getting ripped off. They deserve to paid a decent amount."
It's also easy and feels good to say "Yeah, I think women's sports are just as important as the men's and they deserve support too." (Flying on chartered planes and playing a national schedule, full training staff and equipment, nicely furnished locker rooms, full rides and respectable ammentites, etc.)
The problem is you can't do both, at least not fairly. One side or the other is going to have to make some serious concessions. Either the profitable men's teams see a very small percentage of the pie because a lot of the dollars go to subsidizing other sports. Or the women's teams see a lot of their spending reduced (regional schedule and bussed to games, high school level locker room, lower staff salaries) so that the men's teams can be compensated for the dollars they generate.
I'm not saying there's necessarily a "right" answer. It's incredibly complicated. But too many people pretend schools can somehow magically do all of the above, and that everyone gets what they consider a fair shake. But unfortunately that's not how this works. The money simply isn't there.
Fwiw, I would recommend anyone who is interested in this type of stuff to take a look at this. It's the athletic deparment budgets for DI programs. You'll see a number of them actually operate in the red. Ohio State is one of them! And most of them aren't walking away with tens of millions of dollars. Their margins are razor thin.
https://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/
