Really? Coaches and the football program bring in much more money than they spend. Aren’t you the one questioning all of our economic knowledge? Last time I checked, no one was paying $50 a pop to watch a lecture on Saturday afternoon. Value is a function of economics. In the sports world, that is still accurate, alot more so than in the academic one.
At a university level, they're a black hole of student fees. Have you looked at a budget? If they bring in much more than they spend why do student fees cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums for the few students who are participating? Why aren't the programs able to cover that themselves instead of fleecing the entire student body?
I've looked at K-12 sports too. It's a sea of red ink. Those should be community programs following a little league pay-to-participate self funding model, not the domain of school curriculums and tax dollars.