What Drives up Revenue

There are two main sources of revenue that drive college athletics: TV rights and ticket sales. Broadcasters such as ESPN and FOX pay hundreds of millions of dollars to have the rights to broadcast those games. They majority are football game, but a decent amount of basketball, too.

• Broadcasters make their money by charging subscribers (big ten network, NCAA Basketball Network) and advertising
• Schools always renovating their stadium, putting sky boxes in. Ticket sales huge for universities
• Driven by Alumni and crazy fans
• As long as alumni support schools, these prices will continue to grow

This information was found through an Email I had with Jackie Woodward. Jackie Woodward is an advertising agent that is involved in the sports world.

Strong Athletics= More Money

Here's an article that deals with College Athletics and their marriage with TV rights. Nowadays, teams are changing conferences every other year. They are joining conferences all around the nation that do not fit their criteria and they are ending long time rivalries. This is not about kids or even the schools. It is about money. This is about the marriage between big time universities and TV rights that contain a net worth of 25.5 billion dollars.

• Growth rate on par to increase another 12 billion by the next decade
• Of the 120 athletic departments in division 1 only 19% reported to make a profit in 2011
•  Per student funding has dropped from 79% to 56%
• Media rights has tripled with the latest round of deals from 326 million to 1.25 billion 
• Annual salaries for top coaches average above 5 million  

Why do you think teams such as Rutgers and Maryland joined the big 10? What is so appealing about them?



This article was written by Rachel Bachman and Matthew Futterman. Two people who have looked in depth into the business of college athletics.

Is injury insurance too much?

This post addresses the issues of college athletes and injuries. Although this author is against paying college athletes, he believes that some type of injury insurance should be included within the scholarship. Football is a violent sport and there is a good chance you will get injured sometime during your career. Hopefully it is not career ending, but if it is then there should be some time of compensation for the athlete to receive. Marcus Lattimore would have been a first round draft pick no doubt, but after his second knee injury he most likely lost millions of dollars and a chance to play in the pros.

• College athletes are getting over 100,000 dollars of free education
• There is no reason for them to be paid, with their education they will be able to get a job after college
• Some type of injury insurance should be included in the scholarship
• This would protect many players who would be able to make a living off of playing their sport

http://fitsnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/lattimore-down.jpg
Should benefits such as injury insurance be included in a collegiate athlete's scholarship? Even with all the things they get already?




http://www.footballnation.com/content/end-the-debate-college-football-players-and-athletes-should-not-be-paid/19190/







This is a blog written by Nick Louder, just an avid football fan.

Synthesis and Plan

I have found a lot on information on my topic dealing with college athletes and their scholarships. I can understand both arguments for if college athletes should be paid or not. Both sides have great supporting arguments.

Pros: College athletics is a billion dollar industry
         Crazy money is going to college coaches
          Over half of college athletes come from the lowest income families
          Endorsements would cause athletes to behave and have clean image

Cons:  Only two sports contribute to the net gain of a university (football and basketball)
            Other Programs will need to be cut
             Only 12 FBS schools broke even or made income last year
              Free or less expensive education
              Includes tutors and help from many people whenever needed

Questions: Do collegiate athletes have enough support and tools around them to help them succeed without needing money?
                    Is there a viable plan to pay athletes and not crush the university?
                   Should college athletes be forced to take a money management or financial help class?

students vs athletes

This article depicts the life of an average college student compared to a college athlete. The bottom line is that the athletes have all vehicles in place for them. They have tutors and study tables. If you go to a power house such as Michigan than you will have so many connection when you graduate to find a job. If you are a good enough athlete you will not be at your school for four years.

• scouts and coaches constantly watching you play
• your game is your resume
• you get to fly to away games on chartered jets and often times get to go to a tropical island atleast once in your four years or go to a bowl site where you receive free gifts from the sponsors
• athletes are often enrolled in classes designed to keep them eligible

Even though a good portion of college athletes come from underprivaleged homes, do you think they have enough resources to take care of themselves?


This article was written by Paul Daugherty who is a columnist for the Cincinatti Inquirer. He often writes for CNN and Sports Illustrated.





http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/paul_daugherty/01/20/no.pay/index.html

Not the money maker we all thought

Although college athletics is a billion dollar industry, you will be surprised to see how much money it really does make. The truth is, the majority of colleges fail to earn money off their sports programs. In fact, only about 12 fbs schools broke even or made a little money off of their year in sports.

• Scholarship money would have to come out of general funds of the university
• The general fund helps students with scholarships, loans, classroom resources, and professor salaries
• Only 2 sports contribute to the net gain of a university: Football and Basketball-They carry the slack of all the other college sports combined
• If we take that revenue from football and basketball then other programs will start to be cut such as swimming or women's water polo

The bottom line is that there is no possible way to pay college athletes without causing more damage than positive gain.

This article was written by Amanda Bokshan, a writer for the Odyssey at Michigan. She is a sports management major.

With schools losing money year after year due to their sports programs how can they possibly get the kind of money to pay their athletes?

http://www.usatodayeducate.com/staging/index.php/ccp/opinion-why-college-athletes-should-not-be-paid

NCAA Money Machine: A Greedy One

The NCAA is a billion dollar industry...but is a greedy one too. Coaches are signing contracts up to 30 million over 8 years. Coaches are being paid the most they have ever been in this time. What about the athletes? Only a staggering 69% of athletes in football and basketball combined are graduating. 78% of football and 60% NBA players are bankrupt within the first 5 years of their retirement.

• It is evident the student-athletes are not getting the amount of help they need. 
• Colleges make the argument --that they are giving the student-athletes a clear path towards success with a college degree, but look at those numbers.
•  About 1/3 of those athletes are not finishing college.
•  If players got some kind of incentive to graduate through money or even being paid for their name on jerseys or billboards they would likely stay in school. 
• Not only would they be obligated to stay in school to get their money, this would also teach them at a younger age how to control their use of spending. That way when they enter the league or even if they don't continue their athletic careers they will have a better understanding and knowledge of how to control their money.

Do you think that college athletes given money and a class to help manage their earnings would help solve these problems? Or create more?

http://www.briarpress.org/?q=system/files/images/moneybag.png


This article was written  by Larry Woodward, Pres. and CEO of Vigilante. Larry has a career in law and is a sports fanatic. He has been examining the money issues in the NCAA for years.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/fair-play-ncaa-athletes-portion-millions-advertising-dollars/story?id=9812727

College Football: The Breadwinner of Athletics

 You are playing football at texas and you can't help but notice people in the stands wearing your number 12 jersey. And you aren't getting a penny of it. Nick Saban head coach of Alabama is being paid 6 million dollars a year and his players are the reason for that. They make him look good and without them he is nothing but an average coach. Why aren't his players being rewarded?

I do not think kids should be paid based on performance. That is too much pressure for a collegiate athlete, but if a company approaches them to endorse a product or become the spokesperson for them there is no reason they shouldn't be allowed to do that.

Over half of collegiate football players come from the lowest of income families and although most receive a full scholarship, they still struggle to afford the bear necessities such as: groceries, school supplies, clothes, etc.

PROS: 

• In order for player to do endorsements he needs clean image
• Being able to endorse a product of become a spokesman will make the athlete behave and stay out of trouble
• With an endorsement an athlete is rewarded for his hard work and good character

Do you think it is fair that athletes do not get any of the revenue they produce from their merchandise sales? why or why not?

/images.cdn.fotopedia.com/flickr-347392015-hd.jpg

This article was written by Rick Morrissey who is a sun times writer that has years of experience in the athletic field and has often worked with ESPN


http://www.suntimes.com/sports/morrissey/7286394-452/time-to-pay-college-athletes.html

Should College Athletes get paid?

Why study: I am passionate about this topic because next year I will be playing baseball at Boston College.I want to get some more insight on the life of a college athlete and why the NCAA has so many strict rules.

I know: As of right now, I know that a lot of athletes are getting in trouble for taking money from boosters or schools while they are playing there. I want to see if there is any way that the NCAA can work out a deal with letting athletes generate some type of their own revenue.