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jkjsooner
12/17/2011, 10:22 AM
I posted this is the Stoops overpaid thread but I think I'd like to discuss some aspects of it that don't belond on the football board.

First, what do you guys think about donations to athletic departments being tax deductible - especially in light of the recent exponential (as a guy who likes math I need to point out that I don't use that term strictly in the mathematical sense which makes me guilty of committing one of my pet peeves) increases is coach's salaries?

I'm especially troubled by the part of donations to secure tickets that is deductible. Afterall, people pay that money to secure a product. Can you get the same product w/o a donation? Of course not. I don't know exactly how it works but either you're stuck down on a waiting list or you get inferior tickets. Either way, these are only donations in name only.

For those worried about losing that donation, keep in mind that removing the donation would put downward pressure on prices.


Anyway, my biggest point is that if the AD lobbyists continue to win this battle then there is no hope that we'll ever be able to balance our budgets. I say that because this is, in my opinion, an unjustified deduction and if we can't get rid of such a clearly unjustified deduction then we'll never be able to tackle the really hard issues.

SanJoaquinSooner
12/17/2011, 10:33 AM
Are the face-value prices of the inferior tickets the same as the tickets with better seats?

pphilfran
12/17/2011, 10:37 AM
You can write off 80% of the cost of the donation...ticket costs are not deductible...

badger
12/17/2011, 10:49 AM
You can write off 80% of the cost of the donation...ticket costs are not deductible...

Yeah, and Stoops' salary is really only $250k because that's what the university pays him :D

Just like nobody really thinks that Stoops' salary is only the amount that OU pays him and not the entire amount that private sources pitch in as well, the cost of the ticket is not what the ticket actually costs. I would love to buy 50-yard-line front row press box side tickets and high five the players right along with the coaches... at face value, not at the donor price.

The college football scene is going to get federally investigated across the board methinks and the BCS bowls are just the beginning. The Fiesta Bowl is just the tip of the iceberg in what apparently, but shouldn't, constitute a "non-profit." Just like the "non-profit" Fiesta Bowl executives should be having hundreds of thousands in salary and traveling and personal expenses in return for requiring each participating team to buy thousands of overpriced tickets, the highest paid of the "non-profit" athletic department employees and the sport's high revenues likely means that the non-profit status will be in danger.

But... will college sports ever lose its non-profit status? Probably not, because despite how much the top football coaches make and despite how much money tickets cost... most college sports programs lose money. How can something that almost never turns a profit be a "for-profit" entity?

diverdog
12/18/2011, 07:24 AM
Donations don't worry me as much as the fact that sports are completely out of hand in this country. $5,000,000 for a football coach.....are we nuts? They should not make more than the a Dean of a college.

Sooner5030
12/18/2011, 07:49 AM
Donations don't worry me as much as the fact that sports are completely out of hand in this country. $5,000,000 for a football coach.....are we nuts? They should not make more than the a Dean of a college.

I agree for the most part. But at least the athletic departments can sustain themselves on the revenue they take in from folks freely choosing to pay for their product. Tuition doesn't even cover the university's expenditures.

Coaching on average is a very short term gig....lots of moves and not very good job security. The hours suck and it's a lot of stress on the individual and their family.

trust me......the dude that is teaching macro econ for the 23rd time is not stressing and probably has tenure.

Not to thread jack but I don't want people to begin to feel sorry for the folks working in the university system.

diverdog
12/18/2011, 09:57 AM
I agree for the most part. But at least the athletic departments can sustain themselves on the revenue they take in from folks freely choosing to pay for their product. Tuition doesn't even cover the university's expenditures.

Coaching on average is a very short term gig....lots of moves and not very good job security. The hours suck and it's a lot of stress on the individual and their family.

trust me......the dude that is teaching macro econ for the 23rd time is not stressing and probably has tenure.

Not to thread jack but I don't want people to begin to feel sorry for the folks working in the university system..

Oh it is not the professors I am worried about. $5,000,000 per year would be a lot of free education for a lot of students.

soonercruiser
12/21/2011, 10:07 PM
Donations don't worry me as much as the fact that sports are completely out of hand in this country. $5,000,000 for a football coach.....are we nuts? They should not make more than the a Dean of a college.

My sentiments, exactly Diver!
Take the Health Science Center for example......all the flowers and beautiful landscaping really look good....but....
We are losing our way as a society.....these are merely some small examples.