I do not believe for a second that 147 schools make a profit or break even in athletics. A couple of years ago Forbes, I believe, reported that only 27 schools made a profit from athletics revenues, that is no support from the school's budget. OSU was one of them and they made a ton. Enough so that athletics gave millions back to OSU's general fund after paying for 37 varsity sports, the most in the country. This was on top of the building spree that OSU has been on for the last 20 years. That building spree was funded completely by the athletics dept's accrued funds or major donors. No university funds.