In many colleges and universities, athletic programs can be misinterpreted as being run as businesses that seek nothing but gaining money. You may find this to be true at some larger schools that abuse collegiate sports in search for monetary gain. These larger schools search for anyway to enhance future performance in order to improve their institution. However, after taking a closer look into what goes on behind the scenes here at Presbyterian College’s athletic program, it is safe to say that the student athlete will always be held above the simplicity of gaining money or superseding previous goals.

After sitting down with the man in charge of everything involving Presbyterian College athletics, Brian Reese, I am very confident that this school is well on its way to becoming a strong contender in every sport. My goal was to ask questions that are commonly asked amongst athletes, students, and other people who are interested in PC’s athletics. I wanted to learn the basic facts of money circulation in regard to the athletic program.

In order to keep up with fifteen division one athletic teams PC must shell out roughly $11 million dollars a year, while revenue comes in at roughly $2 million a year. Depending on whom you ask, this may seem like a large sum while others would think that $11 million is rather low for a division one program. However, if you take into consideration the size of PC as well as the fact that we do not have as many athletic teams as other schools, the sum is very standard. For example, the University of Alabama spends roughly $117 million a year on seventeen sports teams, while their revenue comes in at around $143 million a year. This may also seem like a very large difference but when you look at enrollment, popularity, and success in certain sports at both schools you can see where the great difference is understandable. Alabama has around 36,000 undergraduate students currently while PC has around 1,200 undergraduate students. Alabama’s longevity in division one athletics along with their immense amount of success that their football program has had in the history of the NCAA are several more reasons for the difference. PC has not been a part of division one athletics nearly as long as many schools and we are still working hard to make a name for ourselves when it comes to athletics. Thus, when looking at the money that circulates through PC’s athletic program, PC is by no means out of the ordinary.

When it comes to the division of money amongst athletic teams here at PC there is an unbiased and fair distribution of funds to every team. When dividing money amongst teams, the money earned as well as the money required in order to properly run a competitive team are the two facets that must be measured. Of course, at almost every college or university, the football program is usually the team that costs the most money to run but is also the team that brings in the most revenue. For example, the average cost to outfit a football player is around 2,300 dollars, which is vastly more than athletes in other sports. Now where this may seem like football hogs most of the money in the athletic program, it is necessary to realize that the football team, just this year, will bring in around $1.1 million dollars in revenue alone. A common question would be; where does that $1.1 million go? It was very satisfying to hear that this money is distributed to all sports teams respectively.

After getting an in depth glance of the money circulation here at PC, it was very pleasing to learn that there is no preferences as to where money is transferred amongst sports teams. Every year expenses are examined and decisions are made by the leaders of our athletic program that allow our teams to be able to thrive, compete, and ultimately become more improved individual programs that can heighten their achievements. An even more nourishing understanding was that Brian Reese, as well as anyone involved in our athletic program, is extremely focused on making every student athlete’s athletic experience at PC one they will be more than content with.