http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketb ... gulf-coast


More teams losing money on travel. With this becoming an issue from top dogs to bottom dwellers you would think the NCAA/sponsors would attempt to find some way to alleviate these matters. I do wonder where all of that 700+million goes from the tv contracts. That doesn't include merchandising. I would say that reasons like this are why football teams decided to cut out the middle man (NCAA) and start the BCS system but again we still hear issues with teams losing money just to be in such games. With all the money being made off college sports how in the world can so many teams lose on something as simple as travel costs? Where in the hell are these billions of dollars going? I would love to see an investigation (not by the government) in to these finances. There have to be some serious issues going on.

With national recognition being considered a dollar amount in this article what do you think the michigan game was wroth to us? Did the 400G cover out travel costs? This seems to be a pretty relevant issues given the stretched out conference we have just joined. Somehow I don't think the NCAA will be helping us out too much when we have to fly out 100+something people to Idaho and help pay for the hotels. FGC is closing in on becoming out peer in size and endowment but still having trouble with just sending a basketball team through a tournament. FGC 57 mil endowment, 12.6k students. App 69 mil endowment, 17.5k students. They don't have a football team which allows for more money to be spent on what programs they do have. In the future I see travel costs being the end of these super conferences and a change back to regional ones.

I understand your concerns, and I agree, I just don't understand how a program such as Maryland can be 20 million in debt, or even Florida State which reported a million dollar deficit last year can be losing money with all the revenue streams they have. I can't give a educated reason for why some schools lose huge amounts of money, while others show a profit. One thing I have always wondered about is how alumi donations are reported on the annual profit/loss statement, are they included in the athletic report, or, are they reported in a general profit/loss statement for the school.

moehler wrote:I understand your concerns, and I agree, I just don't understand how a program such as Maryland can be 20 million in debt, or even Florida State which reported a million dollar deficit last year can be losing money with all the revenue streams they have. I can't give a educated reason for why some schools lose huge amounts of money, while others show a profit. One thing I have always wondered about is how alumi donations are reported on the annual profit/loss statement, are they included in the athletic report, or, are they reported in a general profit/loss statement for the school.

The reason you see such a disparity is because there are no standards of accounting for athletic programs. Each school is governed by the policies of its state system, or by its own policies if it is a private school. I have done a lot of reading on this subject and it is really amazing how differently it is done. Some schools report institutional support as revenue, some do not. Some report debt service on athletic facilities as athletic expenses, some do not. I read of one school that counts concession revenue as athletic revenue, but accounts for the cost of the concession operations in a separate fund. The end result is that there is really no way to get a true picture of what schools make or lose on athletics. There really should be some standard of accounting to put everyone on the same page, but I doubt it will ever happen.

I did not know this, thanks for educating me, I just assumed that there was a standard accounting procedure used by all schools to get an accurate number on there annual profit/loss statement, I guess this makes too much since, but since we are dealing with the NCAA I should have known better, silly me

Schools will always have the motive to show athletics operating in the red. That's how they can make their argument for higher ticket prices, higher concession prices, not paying athletes, high $ media deals, etc. Make no mistake - football is a profit machine.

My best example of the difference in travel costs...Just like anything else can be done up or done.
I will never forget seeing the apps emerge from the locker room tunnel to the parking lot at the big house. Each player was given a 2 piece chicken box from KFC, 1 per player.

Contrast that to a couple years back while at the ACC tourney. Eating dinner at Ruth;s Chris in Greensboro, in came the entire UNC bball team for a team dinner, they were also staying at the Proximity Hotel. Not saying it is always this way but needs to be said travel costs can consume alot it you let them.

I think a lot of schools are now trying to cut costs in there travel budgets. I live in South Florida, and Miami University now buses the football team when they are playing Florida Teams, even to Florida St which is roughly a 8 - 9 hour trip.