Michigan football trip to Italy comes with nearly $800,000 price tag

Michigan made headlines when they took many football players to Italy for a week this April – now, we’re finding out how much the fun cost.

Being a football player for the Michigan Wolverines is a pretty good life. You get a chance to play for one of college football’s most storied program while getting the chance to get plenty of perks that come with it – including the chance to head to Italy for a week this past April and play some football while doing some major sightseeing.

It was a trip that rubbed some people the wrong way, but head coach Jim Harbaugh has made it clear he doesn’t care and will do what he wants. Members of the team who wanted to make the trip spent three days practicing football and the rest of the time exploring one of the oldest countries and all the perks – including a chance to meet with Pope Francis.

According to the Detroit News, the trip across the pond was quite a pricy one. Athletics director Warde Manuel told the paper that the final bill for everything will be between “$750,000 and $800,000” when the numbers are crunched. The trip was financed by a private booster and Manuel seems to have no problem with the price tag:

"“It will be about $5,000 to $6,000 a person, so it was a great investment. It was just terrific. We pay them through an educational experience like Michigan does all the time. I don’t think about it in terms of paying our athletes but if people want to say we should give something to our students of value, I can’t think of a better way to invest in them for their lifetime and their experience.”"

When you put it that way, it takes some of the sting out of that initial number – which is still a lot of money for anyone, even the Wolverines. However, it’s a trip that some of those players have never been able to take in their lives and may never be able to in the future…so if we want college students to be more cultured and well rounded, this is the perfect way to go.

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Harbaugh and the school have hinted at future trips like this, so don’t be surprised if the head Wolverine get some suggestions put in his mailbox from the current roster in the near future.