Ohio High School Athletic Funds, Equitable or Unjust?

(Note: A public records request was submitted for the athletic budget of each of the high schools mentioned in this story, however the records have not been granted yet at this time.)

For the past few decades football has been America’s number one sport in terms of popularity, participation and profitability. It is no wonder that this statistic reaches its grasp into the high schools across the country. 

Highschool football in America is the most played sport with 973,792 participants and tickets ranging on average at $6-$8 per ticket. The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) conducted a survey and found an estimated 165 million fans attended high school football games in a single season nationwide. 

That’s an estimated $990,000,00 in revenue across the country just for high school football.

The primary sources of revenue from high school football and other sporting events consist of ticket sales, advertising, and sponsorships.

However, this does not mean that football gets an unjust percentage of funding because of the attention it garners. 

“Most schools try to be as equitable as they possibly can,” said Eric Sholtis, the athletic director at Athens City Schools in Athens, Ohio. “Because even though there’s more people at a football game, we’re very sensitive to make sure that we’re equitable about how those funds are spent.”

Each high school’s athletic budget is primarily decided on by its board office and athletic director. From there, they divide the budget up equitably, not equally between the sports the school offers. This means that although football may have a larger budget than soccer, the funds allocated to each sport are justified by the cost of protective equipment, officials and facilities. Each sport has a different level of expense. A school’s budget is not the only option to provide these athletic necessities to its athletes. Some schools choose a pay-to-play route, booster programs, and fundraising opportunities. 

“We charge $50 per player to play and our individual booster clubs have several fundraisers,” said Marco Marinucci, the athletic director at Boardman Local Schools in Boardman, Ohio.  “Our community overall is very supportive of our teams.”

Revenue earned from these alternative options are used for things that are not covered by the school’s athletic budget like uniforms, team clothing and food for the players. 

This gives different sports the opportunity to raise more money for their program’s luxury items. However, with these earnings some governance regarding the spending is advisable.

“When they fundraise it goes in their account, that the coach and in conjunction with myself determine what to use those funds for,” Sholtis said. “The only reason I include myself is if they decided they were going to buy a new Xbox, I’d be like, is that the best use for funds?”

When large projects like new facilities or fields are being discussed, Long term plans must be made to budget around those projects to ensure the funds are there when the time comes. Sometimes, outside revenue is key to achieving these goals. 

“Our community has always supported our schools and that includes our sports,” said Ben Dunlap, athletic director at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Kent, Ohio. “We just completed a facility upgrade. This included a new competition gymnasium, field turf and fieldhouse at our stadium, a wrestling room, new locker rooms and coaches offices,” he said. “This is thanks to our taxpayers renewing a bond issue.”

Taxpayers play a big role in their school district’s funding, so it helps when a school has the support of its community as it can benefit not only the school, but the athletes and district taxpayers. “We just completed a $3 million stadium project that makes our facility one of the best in the area,”Marinucci said. “Boardman just recently passed a levy that indeed helped in improving some of our athletic facilities. Without the levy, a major fundraising project would be needed.”

I have always heard of the stigma that high schools care more about football than any other sport. I am tackling this issue and shining light on High School Athletic Funding in my new story. Check it out here! https://t.co/gIwYmc42Tv

— Nicholas Clementi (@Nclementiksu) November 16, 2022