Proud to be an a ' Murican . <| sep |> That is definitely not true . Athletics hardly turn a profit at any school and football at only a handful of the top ones . What sets UGA athletics apart is that it can pay for its expenses without turning to the university for help . Only seven other athletics programs at public universities broke even or had net operating income on athletics each year from 20052009 r o o m P a g e s M y t hCollegeSportsAreaCashCow 2 . aspxSchools from division three up to FBS have football and only the elite in FBS actually turn profit . However , there is a large misunderstanding as to who pays for coaches and the like . The school ' s endowment does not . Both sponsorship and the athletic endowment , which is supported by boosters , does . The other problem with the salary comparison is that Alabama taxpayers aren ' t paying Mr . Saban , and so his salary doesn ' t take any money away from professors . One of the benefits to come out of the rampant commercialism of college athletics is that media conglomerates and sneaker companies are willing to pay huge sums for the broadcast and apparel rights . Thus , Mr . Saban will be paid out of Alabama ' s $ 70 million athletic budget , with little or no impact on academic departmentWhen North Carolina State thought it would take at least $ 2 million to find a topnotch basketball coach , the Wolfpack Club , an alumni group that raised about $ 25 million in 2004 , was ready to cover whatever the university couldn ' t afford .