Sports: 45% of students on campus play them. However where does all the money to fund these students come from? Students? Fundraising? Other sports? Well actually all of the above.

The athletic budget is a complex one. Each team has their own fundraisers to raise money for equipment, travel fees and so on. That money then goes into their personal ASB account.

The athletic department also has a budget and bank account. The majority of the athletic department funding comes from gate fees. Which sport has the most entries per event? You guessed it: football.

Yes, football is a big spender, however they bring in about 85% of the athletics funding.

“Football pays for almost everything. They spend a lot, but the also bring in a lot,” explains Athletic Director Ryan Spears.

Throughout the season, football ends up spending around $100,000 per season. At first glance that seems outrageous, however that money is used to pay coaches, recondition equipment, fund snack bar, etc. Now even though they are spending all of this money, almost all of their expenditures comes from personal fundraisers as well as sponsors.

One example is how Von Housen and Mercedes Benz teamed up with Rocklin High School to get the jumbotron.

The jumbotron was funded through a large donation from Mercedes, the football bank account and the athletic department. The grand total for the football jumbotron was around $140,000.

It isn’t just football that gets all of the love. If other teams fundraised and received donations, it could happen.

“Mercedes  paid for about half of the jumbotron, so if other sports get donations like that then they could have upgrades as well.” said Spears.

Students around campus sometimes complain that football gets all the publicity and whatnot. However without people going to football games, certain sports on campus could be lost due to budget cuts.

“If we didn’t have football games we would not have girls tennis or wrestling” explained Spears.

So even though some sports get a lot of publicity, it is for a reason.