The Bottom Line: Accounting for Revenues and Expenditures in Intercollegiate Athletics

Victor Matheson, Debra O’Connor () and Joseph Herberger
Additional contact information
Debra O’Connor: Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross
Joseph Herberger: Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross

No 1101, Working Papers from International Association of Sports Economists, North American Association of Sports Economists

Abstract: This paper examines the profitability of Division I athletic programs at colleges and universities in the United States under a variety of accounting definitions of profit. The data identify several broad themes. First, a majority of athletic departments rely heavily on direct and indirect subsidization of their programs by the student body, the institution itself, and state governments in order to balance their books. Without such funding, less than a third of BCS athletic departments and no non-BCS departments are in the black. Second, athletic programs rely heavily on contributions to balance their books. Donations to athletic departments may serve as a substitute for donations to the rest of the university, lowering giving to other programs. Third, football and men’s basketball programs are generally highly profitable at BCS schools, but below this top tier, fewer than 10% of football programs and 15% of men’s basketball programs show a profit by any reasonable accounting measures.

Keywords: Athletics; higher education; sports (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 L83 O18 R53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 32 pages
Date: 2011-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-spo
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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http://college.holycross.edu/RePEc/spe/MathesonOConnor_CollegeAccounting.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Bottom Line: Accounting for Revenues and Expenditures in Intercollegiate Athletics (2012)
Working Paper: The Bottom Line: Accounting for Revenues and Expenditures in Intercollegiate Athletics (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spe:wpaper:1101

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