<p>bclintonk has provided a very detailed and I believe accurate view of the finances of university athletics programs. When I looked at the question of whether the survival of universities depends on athletics, I immediately thought “dollars,” and thought that the question was based on the presumption that athletics brings in money for the university. The revenue sports at athletic powerhouses do bring in money, but it’s all for athletics. As bclintonk points out, sports are a money loser elsewhere; and there may be some internal university resources that are spent on athletics (and not generated by athletics) even at the powerhouse universities.</p>
<p>On the broader issue of whether universities could survive without athletics: Athletics are clearly important to a lot of people. A lot of people want to continue with competitive team sports in college. A lot of people want to be spectators. A lot of people want the psychological gain of being somehow associated with a winning team. A successful athletics program may increase the number of applications to the university, and it may also increase donations (though I only know about anecdotes in these areas). So I don’t foresee universities scrubbing their athletic programs any time soon.</p>