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Sporting Intelligence
September 15, 2015
by Roger Pielke, Jr.
Intercollegiate sports in the United States are as much a part of universities as math and physics, and the start of the 2015 NFL season is as good a time as any to explore one financial aspect of this.
Today at the elite levels of college football and basketball there are considerable tensions between big-time sports and the broader academic mission of universities. Understanding big-time athletes requires understanding that the incentives which shape big-time sport are very different than those found in college sports more generally.
A close look at last years’ NFL salary data, made possible via the Global Sports Salary Survey 2015, provides some support for different sides of the debate over college athletics. For instance, those who say that big-time college athletes should be compensated, perhaps as employees, the data shows that big-time athletics offers a considerable opportunity to secure a well-paid career. In other words, these athletes are already very well compensated in training and opportunity. Perhaps these benefits should be considered more fully?
On the other hand, for those who argue that universities offer too much attention and financial support to college athletics, the data suggests that this support results in a significant number of elite athletes, earning salaries in the millions of dollars per year. Math and physics, or any discipline, would have a hard time demonstrating such a track record of success. What is wrong with universities supporting programs that lead to hundreds of millionaires?
Let’s take a look at the data to make these contentions a bit more clear.
In 2014-2015 about half of the NFLs 1,600-odd players had previously played college football at 35 of the “Big 5” conferences (The Big 10, Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference), which together total 65 schools. For instance, at the top of the average salary table is Mississippi, from the powerhouse SEC, which boasts 18 NFL players who earned an average of $4m each least season. Clemson, which sits 35th in the table, had 24 former players in the NFL earning an average of over $1.1 million each. Read more …
