It’s hard to carry out a discussion about sports nowadays
without bringing up how much coaches and pro athletes are paid.
Whenever a huge contract is signed, fans and media personalities
will gripe about it like it’s the end of the world.
Most recently, such people are complaining about Nick Saban
agreeing to an 8-year, $32 million contract to coach football at
Alabama. A decade ago, it was rare for a coach to make $1 million,
but a USA Today study showed at least 42 of 119 Division I-A
college football coaches last year earned more than that, with
several in the $2 and $3 million range.
I know that’s a lot of money. But we shouldn’t be up
in arms that these people get paid millions to coach football.
In the case of college coaches, obviously these coaches are
worth it, or athletic departments wouldn’t pay them that
much. If you haven’t noticed, college football and basketball
have become highly profitable recently. The NCAA is in the middle
of a $6.2 billion, 11-year contract with CBS that allows the
network to exclusively show the men’s basketball tournament.
Yes, that was billion with a “B.” In football, Fox is
paying at least $20 million for each BCS game it shows.
And those are just the national TV contracts. Imagine how much
each school is making on tickets, parking, merchandise, local radio
rights and conference TV rights.
All of this makes Saban’s contract look like it’s
not so bad.
Yes, the top college football and basketball coaches earn more
than the highest-paid non-sports officials at their
universities.
But, for better or worse, college sports are a major part of
this nation’s culture. University presidents and researchers
are not.
People know and learn about universities through athletics, with
few exceptions. UCLA is a very prestigious institution with high
academic standards, but do you think the school would be as
prestigious if John Wooden hadn’t coached his teams to win 10
NCAA Championships?
Would people who don’t live in that state have even heard
of the University of Florida if it weren’t for the
Gators’ championships in football and basketball?
Of course not.
You can argue that coaches’ salaries are a poor reflection
on society’s values and go against what universities should
stand for, and I’d listen to that argument. But that’s
not going to change any time soon. Sports are only growing in
popularity in this country, especially college football and
basketball.
The discussion we should be having is whether college football
and basketball players should be making some of this money. Sure,
they’re compensated with a scholarship, but the top athletic
programs are making a lot more money on the student-athletes than
what a scholarship costs them.
One of the reasons coaches are making more money is that
athletic departments can’t give their boatloads of revenue to
the student-athletes, so they have to spend it on someone who can
make a difference in wins and losses.
Top coaches help their teams win more games, which leads to more
revenue. Coaches often earn what their high salaries give them.
Professional sports leagues have seen a similar salary
escalation, and a similar outcry by fans and media
personalities.
Fans across the country hate Alex Rodriguez because of that
10-year, $252 million contract he signed with the New York
Yankees.
But he wouldn’t have gotten paid that much if owners
didn’t have the money to spend.
This baseball offseason has seen some mediocre players get big
paydays. People have scoffed at Gary Matthews Jr. getting $50
million for five years from the Angels and Juan Pierre getting $44
million in five years from the Dodgers.
But when it comes to baseball and coaches’ salaries in
college football and basketball, why does it matter what these
people make? Why do we get so worked up about how much they
make?
We’re not the ones paying them.