In principle it sounds bad but . . . . Alabama’s football program brought in 111 million in 2018-2019, 48 million of which was pure profit (meaning this number comes after paying Nick Saban’s nine million dollar salary). Find a professor anywhere at any college who brings in 48 million in pure profit.
To use a less extreme example from my state. Boise State brought in 4.5 million in pure profit after their coaches 1.5 million salary (he’s the highest paid in my state). Once again find a professor who brings in 4.5 million in profit.
Colleges only survive off of football. The sheer amount of profit most of them bring pays for a whole lot at the school. It keeps all the athletic programs afloat because outside of some mens basketball teams they all lose money, especially female athletics. It pays for many salaries of professors and other employees at the school.
Pay your coach less and you get a lesser coach and you then win less which means less revenue. Which then means cuts across the board.
