There has always been a sense on this board that the football program is bleeding money. I certainly don't have access to the specific budget figures of the athletic department, but I wonder if that is true. The athletic department budget is @ $95M. That's generally comparable to most big-time universities. We are not over-spending in comparison to other top universities so much as underperforming in generating revenue. The shortfall now is being made up by state subsidies. What the state government wants is to reduce the subsidies so they can waste money on other political items which is where the pressure is coming from. Even if we were to join the Big 12 or ACC, we'd get more money, but it would only reduce the deficit by perhaps 50%.
My point is that dropping football would probably reduce the expenditures of the athletic department, but it also reduce some revenue as well. Ticket sales, merchandise, tv contracts, etc. I know those are not a match but it would not solve the 'operating deficit' of the overall department unless we also dropped a major number of non revenue producing sports as well. Remember, there are only about two dozen colleges in the country whose athletic department operate in the black.
The revenue raised by the Alabamas, Ohio States, Texases, Floridas, etc., not only underwrites football costs, but more importantly, it funds other non revenue producing sports. We don't have that luxury (and for lots of reasons). I also believe, though, that many other colleges will be in a similar situation long term. When you look at the trend of moving to two major college conferences (the Big 10 and SEC) and look at the whole concept of conference realignment generally, it's all related to money. Once they have the money in their control, they don't need universities to sponsor them. They can use the money that used to fund non revenue sports to build their own empires.
We'll just be watching the Tuscaloosa Crimson Tide, the Ann Arbor Wolverines, The Athens Bulldogs, and the Gainesville Gators. Go Storrs Huskies!
