Is that true? I remember hearing that the University of Kentucky's basketball program ran a net profit, but also that it was pretty unusual in that respect.
Yes, this is also true for the University of Michigan athletics department, which in a recent year spent around $145 million and earned $158 million in revenue.
Of course, it's not enough for something to return a profit; it needs to return more profit than an alternative use of the funds. Perhaps it could have made more money investing in postgrad startups?
My understanding is that the UK basketball program is self-sustaining, and additionally turns a profit for the university. It's not taking university funding to begin with.
(Also, much as I'm disdainful of university athletics, declaring that only the most profitable programs have a place on campus seems like a really amazingly horrible idea.)
