The New York Times recently published a series of commentaries relating to whether or not college athletes should be compensated for their services on the playing field. In reference to the NCAA’s Final Four, the Times stated, “this entire commercial bonanza is made possible by the student athletes, who are barred from receiving salaries by…
A recent article published by the Arizona Daily Wildcat noted the concerns from the University of Arizona athletic department about the costs it may take to replace long-time men’s basketball coaching legend Lute Olson. Olson’s $737,790 salary, while the highest among all publicly paid employees in the state of Arizona, is lower than for coaches…
Economics professor Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College recently published a column in the Wall Street Journal relating to the incomes and expenses of men’s college basketball teams with respect to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. Zimbalist notes that CBS is paying the NCAA $6.1 billion over 11 years to broadcast the tournament, and in turn,…
Peter Likins, president emeritus of the University of Arizona and a former member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, was interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding the financial aspects of intercollegiate athletics during the current economic downturn. Notably, Likins also served on the NCAA’s Division I Oversight and Monitoring Group which has…
Major colleges in the state of North Carolina are scaling back expenses in its athletic programs as a result of the current recession and the escalating costs to participate in college sports. The Charlotte Observer reported that Duke University, the University of North Carolina, and North Carolina State University are all considering cutting travel costs,…
The Chronicle of Higher Education created a listing of the highest paid employees at America’s private higher education institutions, and found that 38 athletic directors and coaches made more than $500,000 annually in 2006-2007– 13% of the 293 employees eclipsing that figure. Pete Carroll, the head football coach at the University of Southern California, led…
In a recent Orland Sentinel article, the University of Florida athletic department is planning to contribute financially to the greater university to help weather the current economic downturn. The article noted that UF athletics has provided around $45 million to academics since 1990, an average of $2.4 million per year. Recent revenues for UF athletics…
According to the NCAA News, the Southern Conference announced it will put in place cost-containment measures for the 2009-10 academic year. The measures include reducing conference baseball series to two days from three and reducing the number of qualifying teams for select conference tournaments and other cuts. The top four teams in men’s and women’s…
The economic recession is making creating tough decisions for many of the college athletic departments in the nation’s top competitive division, NCAA’s Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision. An article by the Columbia Daily Tribune noted that the University of Missouri-Columbia is cutting travel costs, scheduling contests closer to home, reducing recruiting visits, and considering other cost…
A Northern Arizona University humanities professor is calling on the institution to dissolve its athletics department in lieu of pending budget cuts to academic departments. According to the Arizona Daily Sun, Dr. Marcus Ford lists athletics along with several other programs that he states are not critical to the central mission of a university —…