The University of Texas could be looking at an additional $6 million a year in expenses thanks to a recent push for schools to further compensate their scholarship athletes, according to the Dallas Morning News.
UT Athletic Director Steve Patterson admitted Tuesday at a forum that while the additional expenditures won't break the bank, some smaller schools may find it difficult to comply with such generous student-athlete payments.
Chris Plonsky, director for women's sports at Texas, said the school would not be able to pay its 350 workers to coach and care for the students in Austin if the reported changes are made.
"If we begin to [further] remunerate the participants, that's going to break that model," Plonsky said.
If the new policies are put into effect, Patterson said UT will not have any problems paying the extra $6 million to its players. Each player would receive roughly $10,000. The money will be given to cover expenses that a full scholarship doesn't account for, while also giving each player $5,000 in compensation for the university's use of his image.
Former U.S. Rep. Tom McMillen of Maryland urged schools to prepare for even more drastic changes to the system down the line.
"We're in for a period of dynamic change," McMillen said. "The system has to change. The money needs to be handled differently."
The need for a stronger central governance was one of the main issues discussed during the forum.
"Everybody is in charge and nobody is," said Lisa Love, former AD at Arizona State.
"What I'm looking for is a benevolent dictator for college sports," McMillen added.
USA Today sports writer Steve Berkowitz warned that the price of championship caliber sports programs may soar too high for some schools to afford.
Chris Del Conte, AD at Texas Christian University, did not shoot that caveat down. However, he did say that each school is responsible for its own future plans.
"We invested, even back when we didn't know the future of that investment," Conte said. "We decided, and our alumni decided, that we were going to compete."
