So then tell me why John Swofford destroyed Big East football while trying to set up his ACC network deal with ESPN? You're saying all he wanted to do was make Duke, UNC, FSU, NCState, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, and Clemson more attractive to prospective students?????? Are you serious????? BTW, Rutgers AD just about breaks even while Marylands AD made money last year. I hope you can seriously debate this without resorting to personal attacks like RegisteredUconn.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/schools/finances/
Your own link confirms what I said.
Only the top ten schools even turn a profit at all. Almost everybody else loses. So why do it? It is a marketing exercise, designed to drive donations, loyalty, boost the endowment, reputation and the experience for students and alumni alike. All the things I said.
If you went to Michigan, you likely have Michigan sweatshirts, T-, a sticker on your car, and you camp out every Saturday and watch the games, or go to the games. You possibly donate. If you went to Bates...your experience ends the moment you graduate. Your connection to the school is more tenuous. Look at all of us here on the Boneyard. URI doesn't have an equivalent. Football is the sport that is most successful at creating those links, and attracting students. Basketball is next (although it is tops at schools like UK, KU, UConn, Indiana, Duke).
As to Swofford, why is he chasing money? So the schools in conference lose less money and can afford to continue competing. That's his mission. Increased revenue will decrease the losses. But let's not pretend that these are profit centers for most schools. They are marketing expenses. Now, if you dumped Title IX, and let these schools just run scholarship football and basketball, with no scholarship women's sports, then yes, they would probably make money.