Since my last discussion of college football in a pandemic, we have seen the Big Ten, the Pac-12, and the Mid-American Conference start their respective seasons, a No. 1 team got knocked off in overtime, and the Heisman Trophy front-runner Kyle Trask only started nine games in the eight years prior to this season. Northwestern University may be a top-10 team, Coastal Carolina’s teal turf is rivaling Boise State’s blue turf for the most famous colored turf in sports, and Appalachian State may have had the most American helmets ever. In terms of excitement, it has been there all over the country. However, as COVID continues to engulf our country, it rages throughout the entire college football landscape as well. In the last month, the Big Ten and Pac-12 have seen games canceled even though they have just started. The No. 1 team that lost was playing without their star quarterback—who caught COVID–19—and the fans of the winning team stormed the field to create this wild image. There was a weekend where the Southeastern Conference had more games canceled than were played because of an outbreak. This does not even include the fact that Clemson supposedly had a player practicing while he was symptomatic but testing negative, who would ultimately test positive. These instances make it difficult to come to grips with the season occurring at all. However, it is quite easy to understand why college football, an amateur sporting event, is occurring during a widespread pandemic with a one-word response: money

As seen in many industries, money ultimately talks. It is extremely evident in college sports. According to a report from ESPN's Mark Schlabach and Paula Lavigne, a canceled college football season would have resulted in a $4 billion loss for college athletic programs across the country. This is already in a time where schools have been cutting athletic programs due to costs prior to a pandemic and especially after the beginning of the COVID–19 pandemic. In the 2017 fiscal year, Northwestern’s football revenue alone accounted for 58.5 percent of their entire athletics revenue according to The Daily Northwestern. Without the revenue from football, saying that most Division I programs would struggle to make ends meet with their other sports would be an understatement. This does not include the fact that some programs are lacking funds due to the recent construction of new facilities that Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby likened to an “arms race.” Without football and the upcoming return of men’s basketball, the two highest-revenue sports for colleges, cutbacks would be necessary for many athletic programs that would ultimately harm the other sports provided by the university. 

All of this is not me saying that you shouldn’t enjoy college football this season or that you cannot get excited when your team is playing well. Please do that, as sports have always been a place of escapism from the everyday stresses that are certainly piling up. However, it is always important to keep things in perspective and to understand the bittersweet fact that this season is taking place during a pandemic.