In college sports, spread the wealth

[TomM]

In college sports, spread the wealth
http://citizensvoice.com/news/in-college-sports-spread-the-wealth-1.1606276

Die-hard Penn State sports fans celebrated this weekend as the women's volleyball team won its fifth national championship in seven years and as the wrestling team - three-time defending national champions - defeated the arch-rival Iowa Hawkeyes at Iowa.

Those fans should be even happier at a more fundamental level because they follow a secure 31-sport varsity program. They need only look across the state to Temple University to understand the grim reality of sports at most universities - that business considerations trump the role of athletics as an important aspect of education.

Temple has announced that, due primarily to budget issues, it will terminate seven varsity sports in June, including baseball, softball, men's track and field and its highly successful men's and women's rowing programs. At least one Temple rower competed in every Olympics between 1992 and 2008. In all, 200 athletes will lose their sports.

Penn State is not in the same boat for two reasons - continuing strong revenue generation by the football program despite NCAA sanctions, and revenue from the Big Ten Network, a brilliant creation that derives revenue from "non-revenue" sports such as wrestling, volleyball and others.

That revenue is primarily why the University of Maryland, which had cut eight varsity sports, and Rutgers University, have joined the Big 10.

Temple's decision is part of a national trend. So is its decision to invest more heavily in football. Nationwide, even as universities at all levels steadily have trimmed their sports programs, they have added football at the rate of 4.7 programs per year since 1978, according to the National Football Foundation, including a dozen in this academic year alone. At all levels, football is the most expensive sport.

College sports are supposed to be part of the educational experience and they usually are just that. It is contrary to that mission to make participation dependent upon a sport's business potential. The NCAA should try to spread the wealth to ensure the broadest possible participation.