Football Uber Alles!
Updated: Jan 3, 2022
Unsurprisingly, the first thing the powers that be at SDSU are pushing through is a new $250 Million dollar football stadium (unfortunately the article is now behind a paywall):
The administration says that the stadium will pay for itself with ticket sales, concessions, concerts, luxury boxes..etc., but economists in the article express significant doubts about this:
“Most mid-major football programs, no matter how nice a stadium you build them, will end up in the red,” -Victor Matheson, sports economist at College of the Holy Cross.
“It’s a little baffling to me. SDSU is not going to ever make it into the ranks of high revenue-generating football programs,” -Andrew Zimbalist, sports economist at Smith College.
The Reality
Is this plan likely to make money or even pay for itself? The NCAA itself says "No". Of the 1083 athletic programs surveyed, a grand total of 20 made money. 20! Most lost massive amounts.
And what happens when stadium dreams don't pan out? Who pays? Well, basically everyone other than the administration and trustees that vote for this. At UMass new students got loaded with $6000 of more debt. And taxpayers got royally screwed.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/college/ct-college-football-is-forever-20170106-story.html