DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997             TAG: 9704230669

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Column 

SOURCE: Bob Molinaro 

                                            LENGTH:   64 lines

EQUITY STILL COMES DOWN TO DOLLARS - AND SENSE

On the eve of the Final Four, it came to light in USA Today that the Old Dominion women's basketball program loses about a half million dollars a year.

The story said that of the 281 Division I women's basketball teams accounted for, only four make money.

This surprised a lot of us, though it shouldn't have. Title IX, while an unqualified success in so many ways, does not work economically.

But it's not as if women's basketball is swimming alone in a sea of red ink. Swimming swims in the red sea. Tennis dog-paddles in it. As does golf. Wrestling. Soccer. Baseball. Men's sports. Women's sports. The list goes on.

Intercollegiate athletics do not come close to paying for themselves. With the exception of a few football factories, every school must find creative ways to subsidize sports.

Monday's decision by the Supreme Court strengthening the Title IX law is a blow against sex discrimination. But it's good to remember that what is being characterized as a gender issue began as an economic one. In 1991, Brown University withdrew funding for two women's sports and two men's sports to help reduce a $1.6 million budget deficit.

Feminists should not get away with portraying the school as a villain. Brown officials meant to do the right thing for the university. And maybe they did. Schools have a finite amount of money to spend on athletics. Even a gender-neutral world must respect the bottom line.

The court ruling requires that colleges have the same number of men and women, give or take a few, playing varsity sports. It does not take into account the different levels of interest in sports between men and women.

Schools with elephantine football programs are hardest hit. They must cut men's sports to ensure that the overall percentage of male and female athletes on campus comes close to matching.

Supporters of strict enforcement of Title IX insist this isn't necessary. They want schools to increase varsity participation for women without reducing male sports.

They live in a dream world without a bottom line.

Already at many schools, wrestling has been slashed to accommodate Title IX. At ODU, the men's cross country program was sacrificed a few years ago in the name of gender equity.

Today, ODU finds itself in perfect harmony with the times. It offers 16 intercollegiate sports - eight men's, eight women's. In 1970, ODU's athletic budget was $100,000. For 1997, it is between $8 million and $9 million.

Sexual politics provide the juiciest headlines, but the economics of college athletics deserve attention, too.

Surprisingly, after men's basketball, the ODU program that carries most of its weight is sailing, an activity shared in by men's and women's teams.

Then comes women's basketball.

Any day now, Wendy Larry is expected to sign a lucrative new contract. She's hot property since taking the Lady Monarchs to the Final Four.

Think about it, though: Perhaps only in women's basketball in the late 20th century could someone who runs an operation that loses money be in position to demand a substantial raise. That is the economics of college athletics.

For sure, the Lady Monarchs' success brings the school national recognition and private contributions. But are Larry's lucrative opportunities not progress? Are they not a sign of robust gender equity?

As the feminists and football coaches snipe at one another, and the headlines and court rulings blur, think about the money Coach Wendy is able to command.

That is Title IX at work.

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