Leveling the Financial Playing Field for College Basketball Programs

“Ve vant ze money, Lebowski.” —Nihilist, The Big Lebowski

Mark Schalbach of ESPN has a lengthy but interesting and very important article about the influence and importance of the business side of college basketball. Even though college basketball is one of the least money-influenced sports around, it can still at times be all about the money.

College basketball programs rely on the universities that support them, and the universities rely on state, local and federal government assistance. When tough economic times hit, fewer dollars are dumped into education, and the so-called frills- like music, art and athletics- are oftentimes the first programs to get hauled out to the chopping block. What does this mean for college basketball budgets? Right now coaches and athletic directors are typically being asked to do the same things with less money. It’s a bad situation, and it will probably get worse in the next few years. The worst case scenario would be basketball teams dropping scholarships and eventually dismantling the sport altogehter. But that’s relatively unlikely for the bigger universities. Like most things, it’s the smaller, poorer schools who will suffer the most. Let’s hoep the mid-majors can find their way through the hard times.

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Permalink - Posted in General on July 21, 2009 - Post a comment