West Virginia builds its athletics facilities at your expense

[FSBlueApocalypse]

If you follow college football at all, you know of all the crazy conference realignment that has been happening over the last two years. One such example was West Virginia jumping to from the Big East to the Big 12. My cousin is an alumni and has been following there situation pretty closely. Underneath all the talk about new revenue is a huge chunk of bogosity.

Like most state schools, WVU employs the accounting trick of charging off athletic infastructure, unkeep, equipment, and travel to the general college budget (the program still lost money last year, even when you count only direct costs such as scholarships, coaches' pay, and travel). The annual bill to the taxpayers for WVU sports, before the Big 12, was over $30M/year in cash value terms.

The other half of WVU's buyout was "borrowed" from the state treasury and the school's endowment.  Under terms that make repayment optional.  Bill to the taxpayers.

WVU has no real baseball park, and no softball program at all.  $22M in taxpayer built solutions are on the way.

Don't live in WV?  Don't worry, you can pay too.  Morgantown has a tiny airport.  Which is great because it gets a tiny number of tiny planes.   Fully adequate 359 days per year.  But unable to handle either the largest planes such as Texas or Oklahoma would charter to travel its team, or then large number of private jets and such the visiting high roller alumni would be flying.  So?  $16M in FAA funds diverted from real airports to build a longer runway and a private jet FBO.

Oh, and, $4M in direct appropriations (which WVU has always received) is joined by $6M for an "aviation study".   Football, like any legit team, flys charter.  But basketball would mix it up, driving (65 miles) to Pittsburgh and flying commercial.  Easy to do to a city based league.   Cannot do that in the Big 12.  So the state is buying and staffing a 30 seat Canadair.  Of course, its available for other things, if not being used for sports.  And, thus charged.  To the taxpayers.