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“The legislators’ reasoning now appears shockingly quaint: that participation in college sports builds character and is an important component of the larger college experience.”

The writer’s talking – in an opinion piece in today’s New York Times – about the tax exemption on sports income at American universities.

Many booster clubs are recognized as charities under the federal tax code. At Florida and Georgia, to name just two universities, the athletic departments are set up as charities. Universities also have access to tax-exempt financing when building ever-larger stadiums and arenas. Boosters and donors benefit from generous tax deductions when they buy the best seats or endow an athletic scholarship. That’s right: colleges now endow their quarterbacks and linebackers the same way they do a distinguished chair of American literature.

If university presidents wanted to slow the corruption and waste of big time campus sports, they could, suggests the writer, “ask Congress to rescind the tax breaks on the commercial income earned by athletic programs.”

Then he laughs at the thought that any president would have the guts to do that.

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Update: Mr Punch, a reader, offers a correction:

Actually, he’s not talking about “the tax exemption on sports income at American universities.” He’s talking about the tax deductions and exemptions for sports-related donations. As UD has often pointed out, there isn’t any net income at the vast majority of institutions.

Margaret Soltan, November 28, 2009 2:36AM
Posted in: sport

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4 Responses to ““The legislators’ reasoning now appears shockingly quaint: that participation in college sports builds character and is an important component of the larger college experience.””

  1. dave.s. Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 6:44AM

    Steve Sailer posted a long piece on the incentives for coaches and university presidents in admitting students for football: http://isteve.blogspot.com/2009/11/alums.html. He noted that the jobs of the Maryland and Virginia coaches are in danger. I think Sailer’s best line was "To win a college football national championship, you need a whole lot of players who have no business being in college except to play football."

  2. Margaret Soltan Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 6:56AM

    Sailer’s statement is an excellent way to sum it up, dave.

    I would add: Even if some of your players belong in college, or could, with encouragement and direction, do well in college, the championship-minded college itself is almost certainly set up to make it impossible for them to become real students.

  3. Mr Punch Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 4:01PM

    Actually, he’s not talking about "the tax exemption on sports income at American universities." He’s talking about the tax deductions and exemptions for sports-related donations. As UD has often pointed out, there isn’t any net income at the vast majority of institutions.

  4. Margaret Soltan Says:
    November 28th, 2009 at 4:24PM

    Good point, Mr Punch. I’ll add this to the post.

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