The March Madness Loophole
Its march madness baby, and we got some P T P ers. Apparently division 1 schools have lobbyists in Washington who can give members of congress tickets to both final four games and the championship. The packages can also "legally" include airfare, hotel and limo rides to and from the game. Wow this is a perk. "These contacts can give lobbyists golden opportunities to solicit earmarks for their schools." The cost of this package to any regular joe would be over 6 Gs. A big chunk of change. The rules allow public universities to give gifts to congress. Apparently some people are pissed about this, saying that big money is bad in politics. However, I love college basketball, and it has continued to grow into this huge money making machine, and I think this is one exception that I am willing to deal with. Go State!
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Despite NCAA’s non-profit status, its $546,000,000 annual budget reveals the magnitude if its revenue stream, which it reinvests into member universities proportionate to their respective performances in the league. Rather than use some of that money to slow the rise of tuition, the funds are allocated almost exclusively towards players, coaches, travel, and promotional items, encouraging ever more grandiose embellishment of such sports teams, resulting in a new status quo of higher average athletic department budgets. The $1.2 billion scholarship total contributed by Division I schools is misleading in when discussing the NCAA’s revenue and expenditures because most of that scholarship money comes from other private sources such as corporate sponsors and local civic groups. This sustained increase in athletic allocations is likely to continue due to the apathy of most potential opponents of that high financing, resulting in little incentive for Congress to abolish the lobbying gift regulatory exemption on public universities. The private universities in the NCAA that might benefit from an expansion of exemption to them or a total elimination of university exemptions do not have enough political capital to mobilize enough apathetic veto swing Congressmen into a downward-shifting-of-the-status-quo coalition.
that is amazing. I am kinda surprised they are allowing this, with all the new rules on congressional gift receiving.
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