Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby expects ‘significant financial difficulties’ for NCAA
College football has never been more popular, every television deal seems to net conferences and the NCAA even more money than the previous one and that all equals life is good. Except, that may not exactly be the case according to Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby.
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Speaking at the start of Big 12 football media days, Bowlsby spoke of “significant financial difficulties”ahead for the NCAA if changes aren’t made.
No, it has nothing to do with pending litigation or the potential of reform to the NCAA model or ticket sales declining. Instead, Bowlsby pointed out that expenses at the NCAA level are simply outpacing revenues coming in.
Bowlsby predicts "significant financial difficulty" for NCAA. TV revenue growing 2.5% annually, expenses growing 4% per year.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 21, 2014
One doesn’t need to be a rocket scientist or an economics wizard to figure out that if you are spending more money than you are taking in (even if you are technically a non-profit), you won’t be around for the long haul.
Bowlsby also went on to put out a few more facts, one especially interesting given the amateur model and government regulation that the NCAA currently works under. That simple fact is that the changing landscape in college athletics is likely to come at the expense of smaller sports currently sponsored by bigger schools.
Bowlsby reiterates that changing landscape will result in cutting of minor sports. Couldn't agree more.
— Dennis Dodd (@dennisdoddcbs) July 21, 2014
What remains to be seen is how every fluid moment of this changing landscape will ultimately fit together. Not only do you have the big five conferences about to gain some autonomy within the NCAA Division I setup, but you also have major pending litigation and a potential union movement afoot as well.
If the NCAA is already losing money in its current model, what happens to the organization when or if its expenses significantly rise?
Could it be that the NCAA model will have been broken from the inside out, instead of from outside forces?