They are non profit organizations. You can’t make a profit otherwise you lose your 501c3 status. Even if they had nothing to spend it on, they would find something to spend it on not to jeopardize the status.What Universities are actually profiting from athletics? Are there really ADs that have a positive bank account? It seems to me all of the money is put back into the facilities for the athletes, scholarships and facilities for the programs that don't make money. I will continue to put money into the University to continue to build up what will actually improve our team's ability to train, I won't pay a player to play. Every athlete should be able to teach others and get paid for that. They should get royalties on jersey's sold with their number. They should get money from any entity that wants to sell products on their name, image, and likeness. They should not get money from me to play for Iowa State.
To be clear, I’m more than happy to contribute to the collective. I throw away ten dollars a month on the iowa state rivals page and I don’t even visit it. I can give the same amount or more to our athletes. Especially considering I’m out of state and can’t really go the games unless they are in the area or I can make a vacation out of it, I’m more than willing and happy to give them something for their efforts.