Public universities spend more per athlete than they do per student

See Report Describes Big Gaps in Athletic vs. Academic Spending by Brad Wolverton of The Chronicle of Higher Education. Excerpts:

"Public universities in the six most powerful NCAA conferences surpassed $100,000 per player in median annual athletic spending in 2010, a new study has found—six to 12 times the amount those colleges spent per student on academics."

"According to the report, “Academic Spending Versus Athletic Spending: Who Wins?,” athletic departments in the Southeastern Conference—which have some of the swankest facilities and best-paid coaches—spent nearly $164,000 per athlete in 2010. That was 12 times as much as those institutions spent per student on academic expenses..."

"Only a couple of dozen athletic programs operate in the black, with many major-college programs requiring a substantial institutional subsidy to remain competitive. The less-wealthy FBS programs now spend $11-million to $14-million a year to subsidize sports..."

"Athletic costs increased at least twice as fast as academic spending, on a per-capita basis, across each of the three Division I subdivisions."

There are alot of interesting comments. One is from Chris Marrou (and it might be the former San Antonio news anchor). Here is his comment:

"When an academic criticized Darrel Royal's salary at the U. of Texas in the 1960s, he replied, "When a math professor can draw 80,000 people at Memorial Stadium by working out equations on a blackboard at midfield, I'll take a lower salary." And so it continues..."