Money spent on stadium upgrades

[Norm Peterson]

Predictably, another whiner wrote a letter to the editor here this week complaining about the money spent on upgrading Memorial Stadium at a time when academic budgets within the university are being cut.

 

Misplaced priorities, yada yada yada.  It's a version of the typical complaint about how much the football coach makes compared to the professors who teach the football players.

 

And the accusation is that the university is more concerned about sports than fulfilling its educational mission.

 

Sigh.

 

Can we put this argument to rest for once and for all?

 

Football is entertainment. 

 

85 football players perform in front of 95,000 fans in the stadium plus millions more on TV. 

 

TV viewership leads directly to advertisers advertising which produces advertising revenue some of which comes back to the athletic department through TV contracts (filtered through the conference, however that works.)

 

The 95,000 fans have spent a minimum of $50 per ticket plus whatever they spend on concessions just to be at the game.

 

The sport makes a huge amount of money for the athletic department.

 

A single professor might teach 3 classes per semester, each consisting of 20-30 students who pay roughly $700 for the privilege of taking that class.

 

Let's assume 90 students in three classes paying $700 per class (3 credit hours x ~ $230/credit hour).  That's $63,000 in tuition per semester generated by that professor.  That's $126,000 per academic year for a professor who's probably making more than $126,000/year.

 

OK, math is hard.  But someone explain to me the economics of paying a college professor something more "in line" with what a college football coach is paid.

[Silverbacked1]

I don't have a problem because sports get now state funding. I would if they did get funding that had to be cut from other places. Other than that if they make the money , they can spend the money.

[Norm Peterson]

I think it's called a "false dichotomy" because these whiner letter writers present the complaint as though money spent on football is not available to be spent on professor salaries, which isn't the case at all.   

 

Silver, I think you're right that none of the athletic department operating costs come from taxpayer dollars.  The athletic department here is 100% self-sufficient.  

 

But the other thing is that there's all kinds of construction going on at the university outside of the athletic department.  They keep building huge, expensive new dorms even while they have some old ones they're just going to tear down rather than refurbish or repurpose.  And they're developing the "research park" at the old state fair grounds with lots of new construction.

 

So, the idea that the university doesn't have money for professors because of the athletic department is complete nonsense.

 

The other thing is that these whiner letter writers never complain about other ways I spend my entertainment dollars.  It's only when I pay $50 to go watch a football team that pays its coach nearly $3 million/year.  They don't object to how much "Pink" makes when she does a show at PBA.  They don't object to how much George Clooney made for the movie I wasted $10 going to see.

 

But Nebraskans shouldn't spend $50 to go watch a football game because that shows that we have misplaced priorities.

 

Ahem.  

[Bugeaters1]

I think it's called a "false dichotomy" because these whiner letter writers present the complaint as though money spent on football is not available to be spent on professor salaries, which isn't the case at all.   

 

Silver, I think you're right that none of the athletic department operating costs come from taxpayer dollars.  The athletic department here is 100% self-sufficient.  

 

But the other thing is that there's all kinds of construction going on at the university outside of the athletic department.  They keep building huge, expensive new dorms even while they have some old ones they're just going to tear down rather than refurbish or repurpose.  And they're developing the "research park" at the old state fair grounds with lots of new construction.

 

So, the idea that the university doesn't have money for professors because of the athletic department is complete nonsense.

 

The other thing is that these whiner letter writers never complain about other ways I spend my entertainment dollars.  It's only when I pay $50 to go watch a football team that pays its coach nearly $3 million/year.  They don't object to how much "Pink" makes when she does a show at PBA.  They don't object to how much George Clooney made for the movie I wasted $10 going to see.

 

But Nebraskans shouldn't spend $50 to go watch a football game because that shows that we have misplaced priorities.

 

Ahem.  

Are you talking about Gravity Norm. If you are what a waste, I rented it and was very disappointed in the movie.