Im going hijack this for a second. Their gym meet was on TV a few days ago and they had a student section that looked like UF, Duke basketball. It went all the way down the sidelines and up 10 rows. It was actually pretty embarrassing. :lol: I have no idea who the schools are. I could list five that I think could do it, but I don't know ones that actually do.
I do know that the OSU football program profited something like 43 million last year, enough to make the entire athletic department self sustaining. I'm pretty sure ND would also be on that list for no reason other than merchandise and the TV contract. There was a list, i think on CFN in the lull before the bowl games, i'll see if i can find the link, that listed the most profitable programs. did anyone else see that?
Number of students doesn't have anything to do with whether their athletic programs make enough money to cover their expenses... Considering the success of multiple sports at each of these schools though, I am quite sure that each is capable of being completely self-sustaining, but that doesn't mean that they are.
Not directly, but indirectly, I think it matters. These stuents families are more likely to donate money to the department than if their kids were going elsewhere. Thne due to a large student body, the alumni bas is also huge, potentially meaning more people donating.
I sent Verge an email this morning since I was unable to find the information anywhere. He gave me a call back on my cell about thirty minutes ago. Verge said that Miles Brand (NCAA President) made that statement recently at some of their meetings. He and others questioned Miles as to who those schools are, but he would not comment on the identities. Very cool of him to give me a call to explain that though!
I have no idea but I remembered coming across this article about RR's lawsuit with West Virginia and was surprised to find out about their program. Largely, Rodriguez's answer to the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Clarksburg restated many of the arguments his camp has made since Dec. 18, when his resignation sparked a feud with the school. His lawyers have ratcheted up the stakes by drawing the WVU Foundation into the matter. The foundation, which had been run in part by WVU president Mike Garrison's chief of staff, Craig Walker, is not legally obligated to open its books to public scrutiny under ordinary circumstances. The foundation is a key part of keeping the WVU football program self-sufficient. According to its annual report, the foundation ended fiscal 2007 with total assets of more than $1 billion and endowment investments of $474 million, a 24-percent increase over the previous year. ************************************************** * In short this article says that WVA has a foundation with assets of more than $1 BILLION to support its football program. http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/news?s...v=ap&type=lgns
Ohio State and Texas are probably on the list. The money generated from Ohio State football is ridiculous. Tickets prices are substantially higher than LSU football tickets. I do know that Ohio State and Texas have the largest athletic budgets in the nation and no one else is close. I believe the Buckeyes budget is now in the $110,000,000 range now.
