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We’re Glad We Say No to College Football
Drexel University happily avoids the spending binges that sap resources at far too many other schools.
By JOHN A. FRY / President of Drexel University
Jan. 3, 2016
The spectacle of the NCAA national-championship game Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz., between Clemson University and the University of Alabama is sure to inspire fresh dreams of prosperity and prominence at many universities.
That’s too bad, because for all but a handful of schools the cost of a prime-time sports program will always exceed revenues. Yet many universities are spending tens or even hundreds of millions to build football stadiums and training facilities, shelling out millions more to attract star coaches.
In the past five years public universities have allocated more than $10.3 billion in student fees and other subsidies to prop up sports programs, according to a November examination by the Huffington Post and the Chronicle of Higher Education. A study released last year by the American Association of University Professors found that athletic spending increased by 25% at public four-year colleges between 2004 and 2011, adjusted for inflation. Funding for instruction and academic support remained nearly flat. The study also found that the median pay for NCAA Division I football head coaches increased 93% between 2006 and 2012. Median pay for professors rose a mere 4%.
In many states the highest-paid state employee is the head coach of the state university football or basketball team. University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban made $7.2 million last year, about 50 times more than the average pay of a full-time professor. But at least his team returned some revenue to the university.
That is unusual: A NCAA study last year found that only 20 of the nearly 130 university athletic programs in the top-flight Football Bowl Subdivision enjoyed a positive operating margin. The average loss was $17.6 million. These athletic programs wouldn’t survive in the private economy and only function by “taxing” the rest of the university.
The mounting sports losses force universities to divert funding from the fundamental task of educating students. Student fees, according to an analysis by USA Today, fund 65% of Old Dominion University’s athletic department budget. That Virginia school shared a conference with the institution of which I am president, Drexel University, but Old Dominion switched to another in 2013, aspiring for a big-time football run.
Colorado State University sold $239 million in bonds earlier this year to build a football stadium. Jessica Wood, an analyst at Standard & Poor’s said in April that the new debt would “exert greater pressure on financial resources that we already view as very weak for the rating.” The university hopes the stadium will attract more out-of-state applicants and encourage alumni to attend games.
That isn’t a sure bet. Ask the University of Akron, which opened a $65 million football stadium in 2009. After an initial attendance bump, the school’s ticket sales can’t cover the stadium’s annual debt service of $2.2 million.
Pressure to win can also compromise academic integrity. Nearly half of all big-time college sports programs were punished for major NCAA rules violations in the past decade, according to the news outlet Inside Higher Ed. Some schools have been cited multiple times.
The move from student athletics to professional sports leagues could be all but complete if the NCAA’s prohibition against paying players ends. Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for former Clemson cornerback Martin Jenkins, has filed a lawsuit to strike down “reasonable compensation” limits for players and let a competitive market emerge. But paying players will exacerbate the financial pressure on universities. As Notre Dame president, the Rev. John Jenkins, recently said: a free market that allows players to negotiate a salary would be “Armageddon.”
Such a scenario may be what led the University of Chicago to drop football in 1939—though it was reinstituted in 1969 at the more low-key level of Division III. In the 1930s Robert Maynard Hutchins, then the university’s president, called college football an “infernal nuisance.” As Hutchins put it: “In many colleges, it is possible for a boy to win 12 letters without learning how to write one.”
Not many presidents today could get away with Hutchins’s candor. Last year University of Alabama at Birmingham President Ray Watts dropped the school’s football program because more than 65% of the $30 million athletic budget came from university funds and student fees. Then came calls for Mr. Watts’ resignation. Six months later the university said football would remain.
College sports can foster community and build allegiance and visibility for the institution. For student athletes, competition instills teamwork, cultivates leadership and builds time-management skills. But sports are only a part of a school’s educational mission. At Drexel we recognize the benefits of sports but are not burdened by the distractions that come with maintaining a football program. Drexel hasn’t fielded a team since 1973 when administrators realized its budget burden.
Not having a football program turns out to be a major strategic advantage for Drexel. Our student athletes in other sports win conference championships; many of our teams are nationally ranked. Our Division I athletic programs create a strong sense of pride on campus. But we focus entirely and exclusively on our mission: delivering a high-quality education for all students. More universities should feel welcome to join us.
Mr. Fry is the president of Drexel University in Philadelphia. He previously served as chairman of the NCAA Division III presidents council and on the NCAA’s executive committee.
Drexel University happily avoids the spending binges that sap resources at far too many other schools.
By JOHN A. FRY / President of Drexel University
Jan. 3, 2016
The spectacle of the NCAA national-championship game Jan. 11 in Glendale, Ariz., between Clemson University and the University of Alabama is sure to inspire fresh dreams of prosperity and prominence at many universities.
That’s too bad, because for all but a handful of schools the cost of a prime-time sports program will always exceed revenues. Yet many universities are spending tens or even hundreds of millions to build football stadiums and training facilities, shelling out millions more to attract star coaches.
In the past five years public universities have allocated more than $10.3 billion in student fees and other subsidies to prop up sports programs, according to a November examination by the Huffington Post and the Chronicle of Higher Education. A study released last year by the American Association of University Professors found that athletic spending increased by 25% at public four-year colleges between 2004 and 2011, adjusted for inflation. Funding for instruction and academic support remained nearly flat. The study also found that the median pay for NCAA Division I football head coaches increased 93% between 2006 and 2012. Median pay for professors rose a mere 4%.
In many states the highest-paid state employee is the head coach of the state university football or basketball team. University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban made $7.2 million last year, about 50 times more than the average pay of a full-time professor. But at least his team returned some revenue to the university.
That is unusual: A NCAA study last year found that only 20 of the nearly 130 university athletic programs in the top-flight Football Bowl Subdivision enjoyed a positive operating margin. The average loss was $17.6 million. These athletic programs wouldn’t survive in the private economy and only function by “taxing” the rest of the university.
The mounting sports losses force universities to divert funding from the fundamental task of educating students. Student fees, according to an analysis by USA Today, fund 65% of Old Dominion University’s athletic department budget. That Virginia school shared a conference with the institution of which I am president, Drexel University, but Old Dominion switched to another in 2013, aspiring for a big-time football run.
Colorado State University sold $239 million in bonds earlier this year to build a football stadium. Jessica Wood, an analyst at Standard & Poor’s said in April that the new debt would “exert greater pressure on financial resources that we already view as very weak for the rating.” The university hopes the stadium will attract more out-of-state applicants and encourage alumni to attend games.
That isn’t a sure bet. Ask the University of Akron, which opened a $65 million football stadium in 2009. After an initial attendance bump, the school’s ticket sales can’t cover the stadium’s annual debt service of $2.2 million.
Pressure to win can also compromise academic integrity. Nearly half of all big-time college sports programs were punished for major NCAA rules violations in the past decade, according to the news outlet Inside Higher Ed. Some schools have been cited multiple times.
The move from student athletics to professional sports leagues could be all but complete if the NCAA’s prohibition against paying players ends. Jeffrey Kessler, an attorney for former Clemson cornerback Martin Jenkins, has filed a lawsuit to strike down “reasonable compensation” limits for players and let a competitive market emerge. But paying players will exacerbate the financial pressure on universities. As Notre Dame president, the Rev. John Jenkins, recently said: a free market that allows players to negotiate a salary would be “Armageddon.”
Such a scenario may be what led the University of Chicago to drop football in 1939—though it was reinstituted in 1969 at the more low-key level of Division III. In the 1930s Robert Maynard Hutchins, then the university’s president, called college football an “infernal nuisance.” As Hutchins put it: “In many colleges, it is possible for a boy to win 12 letters without learning how to write one.”
Not many presidents today could get away with Hutchins’s candor. Last year University of Alabama at Birmingham President Ray Watts dropped the school’s football program because more than 65% of the $30 million athletic budget came from university funds and student fees. Then came calls for Mr. Watts’ resignation. Six months later the university said football would remain.
College sports can foster community and build allegiance and visibility for the institution. For student athletes, competition instills teamwork, cultivates leadership and builds time-management skills. But sports are only a part of a school’s educational mission. At Drexel we recognize the benefits of sports but are not burdened by the distractions that come with maintaining a football program. Drexel hasn’t fielded a team since 1973 when administrators realized its budget burden.
Not having a football program turns out to be a major strategic advantage for Drexel. Our student athletes in other sports win conference championships; many of our teams are nationally ranked. Our Division I athletic programs create a strong sense of pride on campus. But we focus entirely and exclusively on our mission: delivering a high-quality education for all students. More universities should feel welcome to join us.
Mr. Fry is the president of Drexel University in Philadelphia. He previously served as chairman of the NCAA Division III presidents council and on the NCAA’s executive committee.
