Illustration: Benjamin Marra
College Football’s Top Teams Are Built on Crippling Debt
Football’s critics often point to multimillion-dollar coaching salaries. They should be more worried about debt, which costs more and lasts longer.
The business model of college football, long a financial boon to universities, is breaking down. A weeklong look at the pressures of rising costs, falling revenue and what, if anything, universities can do about it. Read the rest of the series here.
By many standards, University of California, Berkeley has an incredible sports program. Its 30 sports are second only to Stanford in the Pac-12 Conference, and the school has won 22 national titles in the past decade. At the Rio Olympics, current or former Cal athletes collected 21 medals, including eight golds.