Iowa president wants athletic revenues shared with academic department

Iowa president Bruce Harreld wants his school's athletics department to spread the wealth with its academics division.

In a Q-and-A session with The Daily Iowan, Harreld said it's time for his university's classrooms to begin benefiting from the massive revenues brought in by Iowa sports teams.

"For good or for bad, the sports-world revenue in terms of TV, radio, website, fans, the stadiums is a machine," Harreld said. "SEC, Big Ten, Pac 12, right? As those revenues have gone up, I think it’s high time that we ask another question - could they actually help deal with those fiscal issues that we’ve got?"

Iowa is one of several schools tied to a big TV contract, which provides the Hawkeyes with soaring revenues that only grow larger with every passing deal.

Harreld said he's already spoken to athletic director Gary Barta about his idea, as well as to other presidents in the Big Ten. However, Harreld also acknowledged he doesn't want to take away from the reinvestments in athletic programs necessary to maintain competitive teams.

"The question is also, I know Iowa and the passion we have for athletics, so we have to do that in a way we maintain excellence on the field and winning," he said. "Trying to win every game every year."

Iowa's athletics have essentially been self-funding for several years. The department faces a deficit for the 2015-16 fiscal year, but will be able to cover it by dipping into a reserve built up over previous seasons.

Harreld told the paper he's confident the department will get back on track financially in 2016-17, while he'd like to see his idea of sharing funds implemented "relatively soon."