<p>One piece of this puzzle that you seem to be missing is that the revenue generating sports (Football, Basketball, etc.) fund the rest of the varsity sports. The vast majority of student athletes at these institutions actually do belong there. How do I know this? Because they are students first. They don’t have the luxury of “going pro” in their sport, so they actually have to get their degree and find a “real job.”</p>
<p>Lets do the math here, using Football. there are roughly 120 Div 1 programs, each with a graduating class around 20 seniors…that equates to 2,400 football players graduating from Div 1 programs each year. The number of Rookies that make NFL Rosters is somewhere around 300, including the draft and free agency, call it 400. That might even be generous. So only 16% of these football players make it to the NFL.</p>
<p>Are you suggesting that we take away the scholarships from the other 84% of those players, just so that other 16% go somewhere else? Or take away the opportunities for the hundreds of other student athletes (at each of these institutions) to play a sport they love, while getting an education?</p>