You can’t have been paying attention to what is happening in college sports and then casually dismiss ‘the bottom line.’ The athletic department’s finances are hugely consequential here.
Our fandom has been subsidized forever by the university and the students. Their costs keep going up, our costs will need keep going up in the form of licenses, donations, ticket prices, etc. It’s unavoidable.
Also, the “corporations will take over” gambit has been peddled since the 1990s and it hasn’t happened, so everyone can stop.