Comments on: How the Big Ten got back to 10 http://www.wendyparker.org/2012/11/how-the-big-ten-got-back-to-10/ Discoveries, rants and comfort-food cravings of a sports omnivore. Sat, 25 May 2013 00:42:41 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: david young http://www.wendyparker.org/2012/11/how-the-big-ten-got-back-to-10/#comment-10974 david young Wed, 21 Nov 2012 05:47:01 +0000 http://www.wendyparker.org/?p=5477#comment-10974 Dear Wendy: As I mention in my epilogue for Arrogance and Scheming in the Big Ten, intercollegiate athletics "is all about the money." It was true back in 1920 and it is even more so today. Realignment clearly exemplifies this sad truth. With declining revenue streams, academic leaders are being forced to find alternative means to sustain their institutions. The Big Ten Network grew out of a strategic plan to grab more cash for eleven (soon to be twelve, and now fourteen) major universities. It remains to be seen whether that strategy will be successful. A major question argued between academicians and administrators back in the 1920s was whether entertaining the mass public was part of the mission for a center of higher education and research. That debate was resolved long ago with the advent of ABCs "Game of the Week." The sale of tickets at massive stadia was no longer sufficient to sustain an athletic program or finance other non-athletic projects. University balance sheets would soon include television revenue. It was only a matter of time before the Big Ten, owner of a contract with ABC TV, realized the value of expanding market share eastward while taking on Penn State in 1989. Its contract was favorably renewed a few years later. But not every school can participate in conference realignment. Football programs are costly and most are losing ventures for an institution. Many colleges are now turning to basketball, a far more affordable option, to gain added revenue. Gonzaga, Butler, and George Mason are three programs exemplifying this phenomenon. March Madness has greatly benefited the bottom line at each school. Applications and enrollment are up--direly needed tuition dollars have followed. It's not just about the money, it's also about survivability in a very competitive market for students. In 1929, Howard Pritchett, president of the Carnegie Foundation, penned the prologue for Howard Savage's classic survey American College Athletics. The academician noted that the obsession with winning at any cost on campuses about the country, pervasive even at that time, was challenging the integrity of institutions being asked to train future leaders in government, business, and society at large. Pritchett argued for a return to intramural and club sports. Sanity in athletics could only be obtained by de-emphasizing intercollegiate competition. (American College Athletics. Boston: D.B. Updike-The Merrymount Press,1929) Pritchett words were overlooked; the stock market crash consumed the headlines at same time the book was published. But 80-years later, his observations still remain pertinent. Conference realignment, yet another means to generate money for an institution, is further compromising the integrity of our educational system. It truly is all about the money. Dear Wendy:

As I mention in my epilogue for Arrogance and Scheming in the Big Ten, intercollegiate athletics “is all about the money.” It was true back in 1920 and it is even more so today. Realignment clearly exemplifies this sad truth. With declining revenue streams, academic leaders are being forced to find alternative means to sustain their institutions. The Big Ten Network grew out of a strategic plan to grab more cash for eleven (soon to be twelve, and now fourteen) major universities. It remains to be seen whether that strategy will be successful.

A major question argued between academicians and administrators back in the 1920s was whether entertaining the mass public was part of the mission for a center of higher education and research. That debate was resolved long ago with the advent of ABCs “Game of the Week.” The sale of tickets at massive stadia was no longer sufficient to sustain an athletic program or finance other non-athletic projects. University balance sheets would soon include television revenue. It was only a matter of time before the Big Ten, owner of a contract with ABC TV, realized the value of expanding market share eastward while taking on Penn State in 1989. Its contract was favorably renewed a few years later.

But not every school can participate in conference realignment. Football programs are costly and most are losing ventures for an institution. Many colleges are now turning to basketball, a far more affordable option, to gain added revenue. Gonzaga, Butler, and George Mason are three programs exemplifying this phenomenon. March Madness has greatly benefited the bottom line at each school. Applications and enrollment are up–direly needed tuition dollars have followed. It’s not just about the money, it’s also about survivability in a very competitive market for students.

In 1929, Howard Pritchett, president of the Carnegie Foundation, penned the prologue for Howard Savage’s classic survey American College Athletics. The academician noted that the obsession with winning at any cost on campuses about the country, pervasive even at that time, was challenging the integrity of institutions being asked to train future leaders in government, business, and society at large. Pritchett argued for a return to intramural and club sports. Sanity in athletics could only be obtained by de-emphasizing intercollegiate competition. (American College Athletics. Boston: D.B. Updike-The Merrymount Press,1929)

Pritchett words were overlooked; the stock market crash consumed the headlines at same time the book was published. But 80-years later, his observations still remain pertinent. Conference realignment, yet another means to generate money for an institution, is further compromising the integrity of our educational system. It truly is all about the money.

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