COLLEGE ATHLETICS DO NOT PAY

The charge has often been made that college athletics are used merely as a money-making scheme for the colleges. The commercial spirit of the sport is said to be shown by the erection of immense stadiums all over the country simply to increase the revenue from the football games. As a matter of fact, the various University Athletic Associations in general have considerable difficulty in avoiding a large annual deficit.

In connection with this topic the Yale "News" has published the result of inquiries from several colleges as to the expense of running the various branches of sport. One representative of each type of college has been chosen: Princeton, as representing the so-called "Big Four"; Williams, representative of the smaller Eastern institutions; and Michigan from the West.

Of this number, Princeton shows the greatest net annual revenue, $1,412.50 for the year; whereas Williams has a deficit of some $2,000 and Michigan a slight surplus of $200. The low surplus at Michigan is due to the fact that most of the profits were expended on a new stadium which is under course of construction;--the first unit of this stadium will seat 13,000 and the ultimate capacity will be between 52,000 and 55,000.

Football shows the greatest profit at both Princeton and Michigan, but at Williams there was a deficit. The revenue at Princeton was $38,844.33 and at Michigan about $30,000. Baseball at Princeton returned a profit of $9,318, and at Michigan showed a loss of $2,722.36. Track cost $600 at Princeton, and the loss on it at Michigan was $4,012.01.

Minor sports resulted in a loss to all three colleges and the small profits made in football were used in paying their deficits. At Williams each, student is taxed $17 for athletics and in this way it is possible to pay for all losses.