[81alum]

The bifurcation of "revenue" and "non-revenue" sports as it relates to athlete compensation, isn't predicated on sports that create revenue vs. ones that don't, as much as it is the motivation of those playing revenue sports to get a piece of the pie. 

I get that Outsider, but the vast majority of "revenue sports" have no pie to get a piece of.  At most universities even the "revenue sports" are subsidized by allocations from general funds, or from student fees.  A very small number of "revenue sports" actually succeed in generating more revenue than they spend, and when they do, that revenue is used to pay for the non revenue sports.

What this development really smacks of is football and basketball resenting having to help pay for all the other sports.  If those football players get paid so they are not "exploited" it will mean that there will be fewer resources for all the non-revenue sports, where one could argue the athletes work every bit as hard and already get many fewer advantages than football and basketball players.  I hear these athletes complain bitterly at my current university all the time about the favoritism given to football--the better housing, the better food, the more luxurious travel accommodations, even more academic counseling, more access to the weight room, and the list goes on and on.  Talk about exploited athletes!  I think you would find that the athletes in revenue sports are the least exploited on most campuses, and yet they are arguing to be paid out of the revenues that would otherwise be helping athletes with fewer advantages.  The rich would get richer and the poor poorer.

On your other point that your passion is waning due to these developments, I hear you and agree.  Professional sports are no substitute for me--it was the amateur ideal of a student-athlete that sparked my interest in sports in the first place, and it was Stanford's unique ability to uphold that ideal while so many others were falling short of the mark that inspired my love of Stanford athletics in particular.  The more professionalized college sports become the less I will be interested.  It has already begun to happen for me, just as it has for you.

[81alum]

The bifurcation of "revenue" and "non-revenue" sports as it relates to athlete compensation, isn't predicated on sports that create revenue vs. ones that don't, as much as it is the motivation of those playing revenue sports to get a piece of the pie. 

I get that Outsider, but the vast majority of "revenue sports" have no pie to get a piece of.  At most universities even the "revenue sports" are subsidized by allocations from general funds, or from student fees.  A very small number of "revenue sports" actually succeed in generating more revenue than they spend, and when they do, that revenue is used to pay for the non revenue sports.

What this development really smacks of is football and basketball resenting having to help pay for all the other sports.  If those football players get paid so they are not "exploited" it will mean that there will be fewer resources for all the non-revenue sports, where one could argue the athletes work every bit as hard and already get many fewer advantages than football and basketball players.  I hear these athletes complain bitterly at my current university all the time about the favoritism given to football--the better housing, the better food, the more luxurious travel accommodations, even more academic counseling, more access to the weight room, and the list goes on and on.  Talk about exploited athletes!  I think you would find that the athletes in revenue sports are the least exploited on most campuses, and yet they are arguing to be paid out of the revenues that would otherwise be helping athletes with fewer advantages.  The rich would get richer and the poor poorer.

On your other point that your passion is waning due to these developments, I hear you and agree.  Professional sports are no substitute for me--it was the amateur ideal of a student-athlete that sparked my interest in sports in the first place, and it was Stanford's unique ability to uphold that ideal while so many others were falling short of the mark that inspired my love of Stanford athletics in particular.  The more professionalized college sports become the less I will be interested.  It has already begun to happen for me, just as it has for you.