CBS's Dodd: UAB and why football a must-have for status-hungry schools

[Seaa Blue]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefoo...ootball-a-must-have-for-status-hungry-schools

For those 83 percent [losing money], an overall profit for the athletic department matters less than the residual benefits of sponsoring football. Ever hear of the Flutie Effect? The term has its own Wikipedia page. Forbes has taken on the subject.

I had it explained to me like this …," former Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters told me on Monday.

One of his conference schools was losing $1 million a year in just in football. How, Waters asked the school's chancellor, do you justify that?

"'Do you know what these other institutions are spending on their admissions process?'" the chancellor told him. "'I have a $546 million [total] budget. I wish I could have two football programs.'"

In other words, football success -- even just the chance at football success -- is worth losing money. Especially when the athletic budget is perhaps only three percent of the total budget. FBS membership brands a school as big time. It is a label that attracts incoming freshmen as well as high-profile research professors.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I don't buy the last part about research professors, especially high-profile researchers.

 

[pj]

I don't buy the last part about research professors, especially high-profile researchers.

Once upon a time, I moved from Berkeley to Harvard because the football at Cal wasn't good enough.

 

[Irishfan]

Of course it's important. Why would an on-line school like the university of Phoenix pay $154 million for the naming rights to a football stadium when they have nothing even resembling a football team. Even the perception of football program is important.

 

[upstater]

We've been over this a thousand times. For every ND or BC or Boise St., there are 10 schools for which this is fool's gold. Yes, sports are big for certain schools (UConn included) but for all the losers out there, there is little to no benefit. We are talking about public state institutions, correct?

 

[ramses 2.0]

The main point I take from Dodd's article is that the perception of being considered big time out weighs the financial aspect for many schools especially in the South. Most of the recent D1 football schools also happen to be located in high growth regions