Chapter 18 College Sports MegaInc

Chapter 18 examines the business side of college sports. The corporate people involved and the amount of money being made.

In the beginning of the chapter the author goes through all the expenses and amount of activities the NCAA or a University is involved in to get media attention. The authors also mentions the millions of dollars spent on athletic events such as Bowl games and Basketball tournaments. It is crazy how much money is spent and used for teams and their comfort. It seems like colleges make tons of money on college sports because of all of the TV coverage and deals made with NBC or CBS. One thinks the athletic department has an unlimited amount of money to do anything they want. But in reality a university loses money when they win a championship game or go to a bowl game.

Division 1 member annually lose millions of dollars as a result of their athletic department deficits and other negative college sport factors. One certain conclusion is that college sports is the most dysfunctional business in America. But no one ever focuses on this fact because the public hears how much money a college takes in from tournaments, and people conclude that “higher education doesn’t need their tax dollars or private contributions.” At most universities athletic departments making money is far from the truth.

Near the end of the chapter I like how the author again emphasizes the fact that college sports are very dysfunctional. The author goes into more detail about why many things the public thinks is true about sports telling the myth first then explaining the reality of it all. It is a surprising and interesting way to reveal it to the reader. The author reveals where a lot of the money goes and most of it used by the AD is wasted and spent lavishly on the team and personal favors.

The chapter exposes the most “tenacious” myth in American society, but it will never die.