From the NCAA study posted by RichardH:
> Football and men's and
> women's basketball accounted for 43 percent of athletics
> expenditures. Men's basketball accounted for 26 percent of all
> revenues, football 23 percent and women's basketball 2 percent.
 
The previous comments that football was a big money loser at all but
a couple of schools would seem to be disputed by these figures.  According
to this, men's football and basketball together account for 49 percent of
all revenues while those two sports plus women's basketball account for 43
percent of all athletic expenditures.
 
Although this is incomplete information, this would show that on the average
football and basketball combined are less of a drain on athletic budgets
than all the rest.
 
Also:
 
> > One more note for the football bashers- besides the pure $ of football- no
> > sport has the visibility of football and affects alumni donations more.
>
> Another big lie.  Every study that has been done has shown that the
> relationship between winning football and alumni donations is inverse,
> at least for the university in general.  Portland State cancels football
> and the university gets more dollars from alumni.
 
First, I'd want to see more documentation than just one or two isolated
cases like Portland State (which you later pointed out was Wichita State).
As someone else pointed out, there are other instances of a football program
going to be cancelled and the alumni came through with the $$$$$$.  Sadly,
this hasn't happened with college hockey.  But the incomplete evidence would
seem to point more towards football and alumni dollars in fact being related.
 
Second, the point wasn't won-loss records and football but having a football
program at all.  And it would seem intuitive based on TV ratings alone that
the exposure that football gives to a school would be a good thing in terms
of alumni fundraising.
 
I am far from being a college football defender.  I saw perhaps one
college football game on TV (and none in person) all last year, as
opposed to something like 50-60 college hockey games in person and maybe
another 15 or so on TV or tape.  But I'm concerned that in our
attempts to stack the arguments in favor of the sport we love, we're
not taking an even-handed look at the evidence.
 
Dave Hendrickson
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.