An Examination of Contributions to Support Intercollegiate Athletics

Contributions are an increasingly important source of income for college athletic departments. A model of athletic contributions is formulated, using data from 56 schools for 1980-1981. The major determinants of athletic contributions are identified empircally; these are: 1. season football attendance, 2. the square of season football attendance, 3. affiliation with the Atlantic Cost Conference, 4. participation in a bowl, 5. state population, 6. basketball winning percentage, 7. an interaction term with state population and basketball winning percentage, and 8. professional competition. In the process of identifying these primary determinants, many insights regarding athletic department behavior with respect to ticket pricing and the importance of the breakeven constraint are provided.