5 ms·

Rather funny that if you order by salaries, the top ones are by far the sports coach. That's the peak (or close to) of human existence I guess. While it's expe

by pokot0 5y ago

Rather funny that if you order by salaries, the top ones are by far the sports coach. That's the peak (or close to) of human existence I guess. While it's expected in capitalism, I find it sad that tax dollars go into those salaries (don't start the "they make more revenue than their salaries" thing. Government is not a business)

karaterobot 5y ago
We don't generally set salaries by the employee's proximity to the peak of human existence: find me an economic system that does and I'd learn about it. In this case, like it or not, the football program brings a lot of value to the University in terms of notoriety and money.
- pokot0 5y ago
  Yes, and I find it sad. It's a personal opinion, I understand that. "panem et circenses" I guess. For context is a typical north american phenomenon and not common everywhere.
HideousKojima 5y ago
>(don't start the "they make more revenue than their salaries" thing. Government is not a business) Governments may not be, but universities most definitely are. Unless/until we move over to a system of 100% tax-funded universities sports teams are an important source of revenue for them.
- dpark 5y ago
  I thought so too but apparently only a select few universities have profitable sports programs. For most universities it’s a cost.
  - Cederfjard 5y ago
    Isn’t it basically PR to attract students, who in turn will pay very expensive tuition (often backed by student loans, and guaranteed by the government to boot, meaning it can be cranked up really high)?
    - dpark 5y ago
      That’s a great point. It could be seen that way. Though it’s certainly not how it’s usually explained, and I don’t think most people would see that as a satisfying answer. “Sports are profitable because they allow us to charge you more” just doesn’t have the same ring.

5 ms·

Rather funny that if you order by salaries, the top ones are by far the sports coach. That's the peak (or close to) of human existence I guess. While it's expe

by pokot0 5y ago

karaterobot 5y ago
We don't generally set salaries by the employee's proximity to the peak of human existence: find me an economic system that does and I'd learn about it. In this case, like it or not, the football program brings a lot of value to the University in terms of notoriety and money.
- pokot0 5y ago
  Yes, and I find it sad. It's a personal opinion, I understand that. "panem et circenses" I guess. For context is a typical north american phenomenon and not common everywhere.
HideousKojima 5y ago
>(don't start the "they make more revenue than their salaries" thing. Government is not a business) Governments may not be, but universities most definitely are. Unless/until we move over to a system of 100% tax-funded universities sports teams are an important source of revenue for them.
- dpark 5y ago
  I thought so too but apparently only a select few universities have profitable sports programs. For most universities it’s a cost.
  - Cederfjard 5y ago
    Isn’t it basically PR to attract students, who in turn will pay very expensive tuition (often backed by student loans, and guaranteed by the government to boot, meaning it can be cranked up really high)?
    - dpark 5y ago
      That’s a great point. It could be seen that way. Though it’s certainly not how it’s usually explained, and I don’t think most people would see that as a satisfying answer. “Sports are profitable because they allow us to charge you more” just doesn’t have the same ring.