The “Cost” of College Football

Governor Mark Sanford’s office has been bringing the fight with the General Assembly over the state budget and spending to my inbox on a daily basis.

Actually, I think just about anyone with a blog, microphone, tape recorder, camera or notepad has been getting the governor’s “Waste of the Day” updates.

But this is one I thought I’d pass along. Spokesman Joel Sawyer says it costs one million dollars a year for traffic control for Clemson and USC home football games. Sawyer writes its the largest single cost to the South Carolina Highway Patrol each year.

Governor Sanford’s Office claims gameday traffic costs “$567,000 with USC and Clemson constituting $473,000 of that amount. Universities reap millions in revenue from broadcast contracts related to their games. For example, the Southeastern Conference, of which USC is a part, signed a deal with ESPN last year worth over $2 billion over the next 15 years.“

Now I don’t want to open a can of worms about money we invest in college athletics, the contracts that pay football coaches 10 times the amount of money compared to professors plus the funding that’s required for facilities.

But if you complain about getting stuck in gameday traffic in Columbia and Clemson this fall (think Cosmo Kramer and the fire truck emergency routes on Seinfeld) just remember that it costs $81,000 for you to get to and back from Williams-Brice Stadium.

And the cost for those trips to Death Valley for seven homes games is a mere 67,571.43.

Honk your horn only if you must.

**Fred has nothing but the most sincere respect for the job the SC Highway Patrol and all law enforcement does to protect fans as they make their way to and from college football games in the fall.

Fred also rushes out of the stadium within 15 seconds of the clock hitting 0:00 to beat the traffic.