One more thing from that Anniston Star series on the finances of college athletics:
No doubt college basketball is a cash cow. CBS Sports paid the NCAA $432.6 million to broadcast the 2005 men’s basketball tournament, which earned an additional $29.4 million in revenue.
But the SEC, consistently one of the top basketball leagues, earned $12.5 million for its regular season basketball games, with 12 teams each playing 30 to 35 games per year.
With football and its 11- or 12-game season, the SEC earned $50 million for the regular season. [Emphasis added.]
According to a letter to Congress from NCAA President Myles Brand, 326 Division I men’s basketball programs brought in revenues of $789 million for 2005-06, while 117 Division I-A football teams brought in $1.6 billion.
Half the teams. Twice the money.
I know I can keep repeating this until I’m blue in the face, but you playoff proponents need to figure out how a D-1 football playoff isn’t going to wreck this math – especially if, once the NCAA gets involved, the moneys will be spread over far more teams.
It’s so easy.
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