As the economy continues to head deep into a recession, most industries are hurting for business and losing potential job candidates because they can not afford to hire them. Sports is one of the few forms of entertainment which is not as affected as most other sectors of the economy, and people continue to pay money to see sports games while avoiding other superfluous entertainment options such going to the movies or eating out at a restaurant. As professional sports becomes almost too expensive for the average person to afford, the demand for college athletics has risen dramatically in the last decade, especially in the sports of men's basketball and football. The amount of money spent on these programs is tremendously large because of the amount of revenue they bring in and the publicity brought to the schools due to the success of their athletic programs. Now, some of these universities that lavishly spend on their athletic programs are private colleges and in no way affect the taxpayers of their respective states. According to Bob Hohler, "39 private institutions paid their men's basketball coach, football coach, or athletic director higher than any other employee," including such coveted positions as president or dean.
This appropriation of funds is easily justified for private colleges, but recently there has been controversy surrounding the high salaries for coaches at public universities, particularly Uconn men's basketball coach Jim Calhoun, who is Connecticut's highest paid state employee. At a recent post-game press conference, Calhoun was asked if he would give back a significant portion of his $1.6 million salary to help Connecticut with its financial woes during the recession. Calhoun vehemently denied the request and was thus subject to intense criticism from journalists. Although arguments can be made that Calhoun does not need the money(he makes significantly more than $1.6 million from endorsement deals) and that Connecticut could use the money on more important things, Calhoun needs to stand strong to keep his money for several reasons. First of all, the men's basketball program made $7.3 million in revenue last year, significantly higher than Calhoun's salary and definitely enough to keep him as their coach. Next, Calhoun's success as the men's basketball coach has improved the national reputation of the school and has increased the number of applications to the school, which has also raised the amount of money Uconn can spend on its students. Finally, if public universities decrease their coaches' salaries every time they are short on money, the best coaches will eventually transfer their allegiances to private universities who do not face criticism from taxpayers for giving out large contracts to coaches. Although taxpayers may complain now about paying a few extra dollars to finance their unioversity's sports teams instead of other government officials, the amount of revenue and publicity generated for the state more than make up for the large salaries commanded by the best coaches available.
http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/articles/2009/02/23/private_schools_pay_up/?p1=Well_MostPop_Emailed7
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While I think it is important for sports to be integrated into both private and public universities, there comes a time, when you must think enough is enough. Why should a football or basketball coach be paid more than the President of a college or university? Yes, they bring money into the school, but do they really need to be making millions of dollars in order to do so. Why should students paying tuition or taxpayers have to foot the bill in order to finance the sporting teams? With the economy in its present situation, not only should colleges and universities be rethinking how they spend their money, but also professional sports teams. Why should baseball players make millions of dollars a year, while the rest of the country is buckling down on how much money they spend.
In addition, while many people may agree that "sports is one of the few forms of entertain which is not as affected as most other sectors of the economy," I do not really see how the downturn of the economy has affected other types of entertainment options. This past weekend, while I was spending time with friends, we went out to dinner and to a movie. The movies we wanted to see were all sold out and when we went to get dinner, the wait was over two hours. How can you say that people are cutting down in these aspects? Maybe it is just the part of the country we live in that we do not see how the economy is affecting everyday lives, but overall, by the looks of it, the entertainment industry is fairing just fine.
Overall, while I do not think the state of Connecticut should automatically lower the salaries of their coaches, they should reevaluate how important sports are to the community and if it is worth paying someone a significant amount of money, when the state needs it for other uses. Hopefully, in the near future, people will evaluate the need for sports and how much they should pay for coaches, so that they can prioritize how they spend their money.
For years, it has been no secret that Jim Calhoun has been the highest paid state employee in Connecticut making about $1.6 million in salary. In accordance with Ross, I believe he deserves every penny. Not only does collegiate athletics bring in an enormous amount of revenue, but they are also a prime way to publicize a school. In 2004, Jameer Nelson led St. Joseph’s University’s men’s basketball team to a perfect regular season, and an appearance in the Elite Eight. Because of the attention this small school received, its application amount increased by an astounding 35% (collegboard.com). This then allowed the school to accept more students, which in return, gave the school more money. This example can be applied to every other school that has succeeded in sports, Duke, North Carolina, and USC being excellent examples. Increasing application amounts leads a school to become more competitive, and in theory a better school. This is essentially the goal of every college and university, and the main reason why coaches deserve the large amounts of money they are paid.
I cannot disagree with Melanie more when she states, “I do not really see how the downturn of the economy has affected other types of entertainment options.” Clearly, when in a fiscal “rough patch,” the first thing families do is cut down on unnecessary spending. Forbes conducted a survey which produced the results that “70% [of family members polled] had spent less on entertainment, recreation and eating at restaurants.” This is where college sports can help. Sports are one of the top, if not the top, entertainment mediums in America. However, professional sporting events can be extremely expensive. Nonetheless, college sporting events provide the same experience, but at a much cheaper cost. On stubhub.com, the cheapest available Celtics tickets were $35, while Boston College Basketball tickets were as low as $12. These low prices allow people to attend their beloved sporting events without breaking the bank.
When looking at this dilemma, it’s hard not to see the benefits of paying coaches so much. They help bring in a lot of revenue for schools, enabling them to fund other programs. These coaches help bring recognition to their schools, leading to more applicants, more students, and therefore more income. A good coach can potentially make a college millions of dollars, while a subpar coach could cost his or her college millions of dollars of potential profit.
On the other hand, is it really fair to pay coaches more than the president or dean of the school? It doesn’t seem to be. With so much responsibility, the president and dean should be making the most money of anyone. They are in charge of so much and are held responsible for the success or failure of their schools.
This situation isn’t unique to college sports, however. NBA coaches have higher salaries than the President of the United States. They typically make over $3 million per year, while the President is only given $400,000 a year (http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/3/usc_sec_03_00000102----000-.html). It seems like we are willing to pay more for those who provide entertainment and therefore bring in money than those who run things. If we go by the model provided by the salaries of professional coaches compared to that of the President, then paying more for college coaches than college presidents actually does make sense.
What Greg wrote is exactly what I was going to point out: look at every aspect of sports and the money that these people get paid, and it explains perfectly well why Calhoun is making the most money our of any state employee in Connecticut. The example of an NBA coach making more than 7 times that of the President of the United States sounds like a disgusting comparison. You want to see some that are ten times worse? Take a look at how much money Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texiera, and C.C. Sabathia make per year. All three play for the New York Yankees, and all three make $20+ million per year. When I see these numbers, I wonder how organizations can pay their players this much money with the country in the disaster that it is in right now. Not only that, but more importantly I wonder how can these men ask for and accept this much money? It is just sickening to think that these baseball players can consciously ask for that much money. I love sports, don't get me wrong, but all these guys do is throw and hit a ball around for 3 hours every day, and they are going to make $20 million. If you compare these numbers with those of the Calhoun case, it makes Calhoun look like a nobody. Also, when you compare what each of these baseball players do for society with what Calhoun does, it makes Calhoun look like the good guy. Calhoun at least promotes the image that is the University of Connecticut, and as many of you have said this increases the number of applicants and so on for the university. More applicants means more money for the school which means better education and more educational options than before. What do Rodriguez, Texiera, and Sabathia do for society? They make their money and get people to attend and watch their games, but where does that money go? Right into the organization and the pockets of the owners. At least Calhoun is actually providing something positive with the $1.6 million he makes. Calhoun is just a little fish in a big, big pond; there are definitely bigger fish to go after.
Followup:
Although the rest of the country might be hurt by this recession, the parts of the Northeast that we are exposed to are escaping relatively unscathed. People are cutting down on the cheaper forms of entertainment, such as going to the movies, which can be seen by the numerous discounts that are being offered at movie theaters everywhere in an attempt to get people to come to the movie theater instead of renting movies from Netflix, which has actually seen a rise in sales in the last few months as people stay home more to watch movies (http://www.google.com/finance?q=nflx). Ironically, there is still a large demand for professional and college sports, especially in the Northeast, which has less interests vested in the failing automobile industry so people still have some discretionary money to be spent. For example, ticket prices for the East Regional final games start at $165 for the Sweet 16 games in Boston, yet the exact same games in Indianapolis have starting prices at $95(http://www.stubhub.com/ncaa-regional-sweet-16-and-elite-8-tickets/). This is a direct indication that people are still willing to pay large sums to watch college basketball in the Northeast, but the parts of the country more deeply hurt by the economic crisis are starting to cut back on spending.
Jim Calhoun is merely a pawn in this debate and was simply the unlucky coach to be called out in an interview by an overzealous reporter. His decision to keep his money rather than donating it back to the school for use in scholarships is simply a personal one that states that he believes in the value and sanctity of contracts, even when adversity is faced. What would happen if every successful person were pressured to have their wages cut although they were personally gaining their boss money? The entire economic system would collapse if people were only paid in times of prosperity and were left without a salary when the economy ceased to grow. There is no valid reason for Calhoun or any other profit-making entertainer to sacrifice their salary when they provide so much with their effort. If we were talking about bankers who authorized subprime loans and lost their firms money, this story would be completely different. However, although their salaries may seem extravagant, college coaches earn every bit of their wages and should be able to keep every bit of it.
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