As I have read more and more speculation about what punishment the NCAA will hand down to PSU, I have started to think what might be fair and what might fit with all of what has been leaked.
One suggestion I have always liked is for the athletic department to essentially be run as a non-profit and donate all proceeds to a charity (likely for abused children). The problem with that idea is that a non-profit (and least a fake one like this would be) can always make sure to spend all the revenue so there appears to be no profit. I.e. the athletic department could just make sure it spends everything it earns so there’s nothing left for charity.
Another thing that I’ve read about is the NCAA taking over the athletic department. At first this seemed quite strange but it fits with the idea of running things as a non-profit. With the NCAA overseeing things, the athletic department could not spend frivolously to burn all the revenue. If this were the reason for the NCAA taking over (or having oversight) then I think it’s not a bad idea.
The last piece to the puzzle is the fine the NCAA appears to be planning to levy. I’ve read that it’s somewhere between $30 and $60 million. That seems pretty excessive to pay all at once. If this were taken from the athletic department over a year or two it would devastate non-revenue sports, not the football program. Like they do at almost all large universities, football and basketball pay the way for almost all other sports. Thus, forcing the athletic department to run at a loss would be punishing a lot of ‘real’ student-athletes.
Finally, the last I heard the athletic department has an income of roughly $15 million most years. (I’m not exactly sure what they do with that money but it’s separate from the academic budget.) Thus, say the NCAA forces PSU to run the athletic department as a non-profit for four years. If income stays as it is, that would make for a $60 million fine. If income drops as one might expect, the number might be closer to $30 million.
By simply taking the income the athletic department might have made, the NCAA will avoid punishing other athletic programs. Some athletic department projects might be put on hold (hopefully the new ice rink is already paid for), but cutting back on the lavishness of the facilities for the football team will probably be a good thing.