Billion-Dollar Ball

1. College Football's Gilded Age: A Financial Juggernaut

Football is the train that drives everything and pays for everything. It just is. Everything begins and ends with football.

Explosive Growth. College football has transformed into a multi-billion dollar industry, with top programs generating over $100 million annually. This financial boom is fueled by lucrative television deals, ticket sales, luxury suites, and corporate sponsorships. The University of Texas, for example, made $80 million in profit in 2012 alone.

Autonomous Businesses. Athletic departments at major football schools operate as largely autonomous businesses within the university structure. This allows them to raise and spend vast sums of money, often exceeding the budgets of academic departments. The head football coach often becomes a CEO-style figure, earning millions more than the university president.

Spending Disparities. This financial model creates significant spending disparities, with football programs receiving far more resources than other sports or academic departments. At Penn State, football players on full scholarship received $25,000 in aid, while Honors College students received only $2,250. This imbalance raises questions about the core mission of universities and the prioritization of athletics over academics.

2. The Unlikely Charity: Tax Breaks for College Football

Eighty percent of it [watching Georgia play Florida] according to the IRS.

Tax-Exempt Status. College football benefits from significant tax breaks, including the deductibility of seat donations. This allows fans to deduct 80% of the cost of their "donations" for premium seating, effectively subsidizing the sport with taxpayer dollars. The lost tax revenue is estimated at $250 million annually.

Charitable or Transactional? Critics argue that these seat donations are not true charitable gifts but rather quid pro quos, as fans receive a tangible benefit in return. This raises ethical questions about the use of charitable status to support a highly commercialized enterprise. The IRS tried to tax the football seat donations in the mid-1980s but was blocked by Congress, which passed legislation in 1988 allowing college football fans to deduct 80 percent of the cost of their “donations.”

Political Influence. The political power of college football makes it difficult to reform these tax breaks. Politicians are often reluctant to challenge the sport due to its popularity and the potential backlash from fans and boosters. This creates a system where the financial interests of college football are prioritized over sound tax policy.

3. Coaching Carousel: The High Cost of Winning (and Losing)

When you hear presidents and athletic directors talk about character and academics and integrity, none of that really matters. The truth is, nobody has ever been fired for those things. They get fired for losing.

Irrational Market. The market for college football coaches is often irrational, with schools overpaying for coaches based on limited success and then incurring massive buyout costs when those coaches fail to meet expectations. This creates a coaching carousel, where coaches are hired and fired at a rapid pace, often with little regard for financial prudence.

Buyout Bonanza. Buyout clauses in coaching contracts have become increasingly lucrative, with some coaches receiving millions of dollars not to coach. Notre Dame, for example, paid Charlie Weis nearly $17 million not to coach after firing him. These buyouts represent a significant financial burden for universities.

Prioritizing Wins. The pressure to win often leads athletic directors to prioritize coaching hires over other considerations, such as academic integrity or character. This can create a culture where winning is valued above all else, potentially leading to ethical compromises. The University of Tennessee is a prime example of a school with an uneven history of picking coaches and then overpaying them.

4. The Accidental Student: Academics vs. Athletics

We’re not in the business of curing cancer, but we are a charitable organization.

Academic Support Systems. Major football programs invest heavily in academic support systems for athletes, including tutors, counselors, and learning specialists. These systems are designed to keep athletes eligible to compete, but they also raise questions about the academic preparedness of some recruits.

Clustering in Certain Majors. Football players often cluster in certain majors, such as communications or general studies, which may require less rigorous coursework. This raises concerns about the quality of education they receive and whether they are truly prepared for careers after football.

A Parallel Universe. Critics argue that the resources devoted to athletes create a "parallel universe" where they receive preferential treatment and access to resources not available to other students. This raises questions about fairness and the university's commitment to its core academic mission. At Texas, the team took chartered flights to away games and used a bus to ride the few blocks to practice, at a cost of $300 per trip.

5. The South's Obsession: More Than Just a Game

On the East Coast, football is a cultural experience. In the Midwest, it’s a form of cannibalism. On the West Coast, it’s a tourist attraction. And in the South, football is a religion, and Saturday is the holy day.

Cultural Significance. College football holds a unique cultural significance in the South, often intertwined with regional identity and history. This passion can lead to extreme behavior, such as the poisoning of Auburn's iconic oak trees by an Alabama fan.

Media Influence. The media plays a significant role in fueling the obsession with college football in the South. Sports talk radio shows and websites devoted exclusively to SEC football are immensely popular, creating a constant stream of news, analysis, and opinion.

Economic Driver. College football is a major economic driver in the South, generating billions of dollars in revenue for universities and local communities. This financial incentive further reinforces the sport's importance and influence. Since the early nineties, the Longhorns had underwritten roughly $300 million in DKR-Memorial improvements, adding thousands of premium seats, new locker rooms, and multistory digital scoreboards, always with an eye toward impressing boosters and fans with deep pockets.

6. Title IX's Impact: Women's Rowing and Football's Balance

We’re not in the business of curing cancer, but we are a charitable organization.

Balancing Act. Title IX, a federal law requiring gender equity in education, has had a significant impact on college athletics. In order to comply with Title IX, many football schools have added women's rowing programs to balance the large number of male football players.

Rowing's Role. Women's rowing has become a key tool for maintaining gender equity in college athletics, providing a large number of roster spots for female athletes. However, this has also created a situation where rowing programs are often underfunded and rely heavily on walk-on athletes.

Unequal Resources. Despite their importance in balancing the numbers, women's rowing programs often receive far fewer resources than football programs. This highlights the ongoing challenges in achieving true gender equity in college sports. At Auburn University, the data showed that the school spent the equivalent of $14,000 on each of its students but about $400,000 on each football player.

7. Presidents' Fumble: The Failure of Reform

There must be presidential leadership that begins at the campus level, and there must be institutional accountability for the conduct of the enterprise [football and athletics].

Calls for Reform. College presidents have repeatedly called for reforms to address the excesses of college athletics, but these efforts have often been ineffective. The presidents themselves are often constrained by the power of football and the financial incentives it generates.

Conflicting Roles. Presidents face a conflict of interest, as they are expected to both promote their universities through athletics and rein in the excesses of their athletic departments. This makes it difficult for them to effectively address the problems plaguing college sports.

The Need for External Forces. Meaningful reform may require external forces, such as the NCAA or Congress, to impose stricter regulations on spending, salaries, and academic standards. However, the political power of college football makes such reforms unlikely. The Obama administration proposed ending the 80 percent deduction of seat donations as part of the budget it submitted to Congress. It was a surprising—even important—move, but the chances of the proposal getting through Congress was low.

Last updated: April 2, 2025