Originally Posted by Snaqwells (Post 730356)

Ah, now you're defining it in a way that's meaningful (and therefore debatable), and where I thought you were heading. The vast majority of scholastic athletic budges of which I'm aware are indeed general-budget-funded and therefore, in your definition, not self-supporting.

I'm willing to bet this is the case with most colleges as well. Athletic budgets will necessarily drain funds from the general budget that would be used for other things.

Originally Posted by Snaqwells (Post 730344)

Very few amateur athletic programs anywhere are self-supporting by any meaningful definition of the word.

Originally Posted by rockyroad (Post 730365)

Been to a high school football game in Texas or Florida lately...they are absolutely self-supporting. May not be the norm, but they generate a LOT of money.

Originally Posted by Eastshire (Post 730364)

I'll take this bet (and win running away). At the collegiate level, football is a money-maker that pays for all the other athletics.

Originally Posted by Eastshire (Post 730364)

There a significant difference between scholastic athletic budgets (which I agree are not for the most part self-supporting) and most amateur athletic budgets of which scholastic athletics are a significant part but also include the innumerable baseball, basketball, soccer, football, etc leagues that exist.

Originally Posted by rockyroad (Post 730365)

Been to a high school football game in Texas or Florida lately...they are absolutely self-supporting. May not be the norm, but they generate a LOT of money.

Originally Posted by Snaqwells (Post 730376)

The football teams can probably support the football teams in those states, but I doubt they're able to support the rest of the sports at these schools as well.

Originally Posted by Snaqwells (Post 730375)

I think the idea that more than half of the colleges in the country earn enough money from their 2 major men's sports to support the entire athletic budget is a fallacy. Even assuming the top 20 teams can do that (which I don't assume), that's not even close to 50% of Division 1 colleges. Add to that the large number of Division 2, 3, and NAIA schools, and you're going to lose this bet with force before you limp away.

Unless you think schools like Iowa State, Northwestern, Colorado State, New Mexico, etc., are somehow able to keep their athletic programs self-sustaining, you're going to lose the bet even if we keep it to the FBS schools.



For the record, I'm not suggesting any of these football programs aren't self-sustaining at the D1 level. They may well be, but to suggest that the football and basketball revenue at Iowa State is able to support the expenditures of all sports is incorrect at best.

Originally Posted by Eastshire (Post 730383)

Now, I'm just dying to know. Does anyone have any idea of how to track this down?

Originally Posted by Eastshire (Post 730383)

Now, I'm just dying to know. Does anyone have any idea of how to track this down?

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee (Post 730382)

My younger brother played HS football and had a trip to Masillon, OH. There he learned that the football team was essentially the student council. Because of the money they brought in, they had a large voice in how money was dispersed - by helping purchase uniforms, etc, for other sports.

Originally Posted by AllPurposeGamer (Post 730387)

Are you looking for football programs in FBS? Or Athletic departments in general?

Originally Posted by Snaqwells (Post 730388)

Again, I'm not saying there aren't exceptions. But even this statement, "by helping purchase..." assumes funds were coming from elsewhere and the football revenue was a help.

Originally Posted by Eastshire (Post 730391)

We'd need to see the Statement of Activities for the whole athletic department with enough breakdown in the revenue section to be sure whether there are any transfers from the school's general budget.

Originally Posted by AllPurposeGamer (Post 730395)

This site can be used to find the budgets and breakdown of most colleges. Data is disclosed by virtue of the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act.

Equity in Athletics Data Analysis Cutting Tool