Bowls a benefit?

With financial news occupying everyone’s attention, the economics of college athletics seem to be escaping discussion. For example, few know the college football bowl season offers 34 games involving 68 teams (58 public and 10 private). The payouts per bowl run from $300,000 to $17 million, with a total payout in excess of $127 million (an average of about $1,867,000 per team, with a low of $150,000 for two teams and a high of $8.5 million for 10 teams).

The colleges and universities do not pay taxes on these payouts, and the corporate sponsors of bowl games like GMAC, Papa John’s, Meineke, Alamo and Chick-fil-A get a tax break on their contributions.

It should be clear why at nearly all the 68 campuses, the football coach earns far more than the typical tenured full professor, and, in several cases, more than the president of the college/university.

NCAA March Madness should be reviewed in the spring to obtain a fuller understanding of the economics involved in college athletics.

A question: Is this system, overall, beneficial to our country or not?

William E. Mahaney

Spokane