Photo by Todd Melet

If you think college athletes should get paid, listen up.

We refer to college athletics as a billion-dollar game these days, and the NCAA confirms that with its revenue from the 2016-17 school year. One billion dollars. That’s right, a million dollars times one thousand.

The $1.06 billion, to be exact, came mostly from the NCAA Basketball tournament, March Madness, which begins this week. Go Heels! Most of the $761 million from the Big Dance was in television rights fees from CBS, TNT, TBS and Tru-TV to televise every game of the tourney from the 68 teams that start to the two that finish it on a Monday night in early April.

According to reports, that number is expected to increase by more than $100 million in fiscal year 2017-18. Tickets to all the games of the tournament, through the Final Four where some people pay hundreds to watch ants play basketball from the back of the upper deck, made the NCAA another $129 million. And the rights to advertise at NCAA championship venues in all sports produced yet another $60 mill.

Now, for the expense side.

The NCAA pays out to its more than 1100 Division I, II and III schools about $560 million to support all of its varsity sports. How that is divvied up among the Power Five Conferences down to the smaller schools is not reported, but you can bet the big boys get the biggest bucks. If you think college sports has already gotten too big, another $200 million went to schools to fund additional programs!

Those conferences with schools that do better on the court are paid about $160 million to give to those who play the longest in the NCAA tournament. But that particular line item is paid in six years arrears. So how did the Tar Heels and other ACC schools do six years ago? Well, they were in a drought where no ACC school made it to the Final Four during one four-year span.

It looks like $300 million or so to pay the suits in Indianapolis who run the NCAA and the cost of putting on all these events.

There is one payout that seems to be in perspective. Athletes who sued the NCAA, claiming that their scholarships were illegally capped, will split $209 million, and $70 million goes to concussion testing and diagnoses settlements.

What about the athletes who compete? I’ll get back to you on that. No, I won’t. They get their scholarships, period.