This comes from a Kent State reporter and addresses the MAC athletics funding...

Ohio University charges its full-time students taking between 11 and 20 credit hours $531 in general fees each quarter. Of the $531, about 48 percent or $253.02 goes to the university's athletic department.

Other MAC universities that depend on its academic students to help fund the school's multimillion-dollar athletic program include: Miami (OH) where full-time students pay $453.65 each semester to the athletic department; University of Akron, $384.60 per semester; Bowling Green State University, $286.39 per semester; and Kent State University, $271.13 per semester.

In fact, MAC athletic departments are gaining the majority of its yearly budget from student fees.

Ohio University's 2011 athletic department budget shows $14.8 million dollars (81%) of the $18.2 million dollar total budget, comes from student fees.

It is just interesting to see how the departments are funded and where the money goes.  It would seem that to spend more on athletics, you would need to raise student fees.

Blaming football is easy because football is to blame.  Many MAC schools are already close to being financially tapped out.  Hell, EMU can't even afford to buy out a clear failure of a hoops coach in Charles Ramsey for next year.  Even if we can justify spending millions more on athletics, for the rest of the MAC the money and fan support simply aren't there to justify spending significantly more on athletics programs.

I generally dislike it when military analogies are used in sports, but the MAC is trying to fight a two front war with a third world military budget.  As a result, we have little chance of success on either front.
 

This comes from a Kent State reporter and addresses the MAC athletics funding...

Ohio University charges its full-time students taking between 11 and 20 credit hours $531 in general fees each quarter. Of the $531, about 48 percent or $253.02 goes to the university's athletic department.

Other MAC universities that depend on its academic students to help fund the school's multimillion-dollar athletic program include: Miami (OH) where full-time students pay $453.65 each semester to the athletic department; University of Akron, $384.60 per semester; Bowling Green State University, $286.39 per semester; and Kent State University, $271.13 per semester.

In fact, MAC athletic departments are gaining the majority of its yearly budget from student fees.

Ohio University's 2011 athletic department budget shows $14.8 million dollars (81%) of the $18.2 million dollar total budget, comes from student fees.

It is just interesting to see how the departments are funded and where the money goes.  It would seem that to spend more on athletics, you would need to raise student fees.