The profitability of jockery

This New York Times has an interesting series on athletic scholarships; my favorite article in the series is here.

My cousin currently has a baseball scholarship to a Div I university. I was shocked when my aunt once casually let it drop that the scholarship only covers half of his tuition. Because he's a state resident, it works out to $3500/year or so.

Which is fine -- I don't think that high school athletics, even at single-sport year round, very high level that both my cousin and I engaged in, should be seen as a financial investment one expects to recoup. Either the student is enjoying it or not, and if it's the latter they should (be allowed to) stop. In fact, I'd wager that my aunt and uncle easily spent $2000/year on travel alone traveling with my cousin's summer team from grades 8 - 12, not to mention league fees, uniforms and equipment, development camps, etc, so even a full tuition scholarship might not have covered the money they could have saved for college over the years if he hadn't been involved in baseball.

But even though I don't think profitability is the point, I still would have guessed that being a Division I college athlete in a mainstream sport would be more lucrative for the student and family.

Comments

[Henry Keegan]

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