They may not come in first place during national tournaments, but The Ohio State University is in first place when it comes to their athletic budget.
Today's
WSJ goes in depth with tOSU to discuss the biggest budget in the history of of college sports: $109,382,222.
If you or someone you know is a student, the following statistic will not shock you. If you're one of those "education first" people, you may just want to stop reading this right now.
[The Budget] allows the school to field 36 varsity teams in everything from baseball and soccer to riflery and synchronized swimming. The school spends about $110,000 on each of its 980 athletes, which is triple the amount the university spends per undergraduate on education.
Of the budget for this year, $65,000 is slotted out for "private jet time" for (Buckeyes basketball coach) Thad Matta alone - simply so he can recruit outside of the state with a little more ease.
Members of the Ohio State Football program appear to be living the life of the Dallas Mavericks. Leslie Wexner, OSU Grad, male, and current CEO of Limited Brands, reportedly donated a large chunk of cash - to the tune of $19.5 million - to renovate the practice facility that now includes six flat-pannel televisions, video games and a juice bar.
The damaging part from a PR perspective, is that it is no secret that the economics of the state of Ohio are pretty dismal. Job loss, lack of city living/accommodations and even state budgeting have led to a down slide in Ohio over the course of the last decade or so. But not within a few square blocks of Columbus. While the rest of the state is struggling, OSU's budget has
increased 46 percent over the last five years.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington, D.C.
Ohio has the nation's highest rates for foreclosures and delinquent mortgages, and during the second quarter of 2007, 22.9% of Ohio homeowners with subprime loans were over 90 days late -- almost twice the national average
But hold the phone if you think that all of this spending is for naught. Ohio State was one of just 19 schools to turn a profit on athletics in 2006, according to data collected by the NCAA. The budget that is used for the athletic programs does not come from the same pool of money that is used to fund the academics. But should it?
A 2005 economic-impact study, commissioned by OSU, estimated that the school's sports program pumps over $100 million a year into the local economy, with more than one third of the revenues coming from fans' spending on accommodations like hotels, food, parking and shopping. No word on how much money is derived from the sales of sweater vests.
I may be a bit off with this, but thinking here is that there are not many people are flooding to Columbus, Ohio to partake in academic events. It's business.
Inside College Sports' Biggest Money Machine [Wall Street Journal]
