NCAA following elections closely for fiscal implications

	House Ways and Means Committee chair Bill Thomas doesn't understand why the NCAA does not get taxed. AP
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Although they're not ordinarily involved in partisan politics, the NCAA's top executives will be watching the election returns on Tuesday evening with keen interest.

Their focus will be on the U.S. House of Representatives. Will the Democrats take over? Will the Republicans retain control? It's important to the folks at NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis because the powerful House Ways and Means Committee wants answers to a series of tough questions on huge television contracts, exorbitant coaches' salaries, lucrative corporate sponsorships, and how they could possibly "further the educational purpose of Division I-A schools."

The questions came in an inquiry from committee chair Bill Thomas, a Republican from California. But Thomas decided not to run for re-election leaving the chairmanship open.

If the Democrats take control of the House, as many political experts predict, Rep. Charlie Rangel of New York will take the chair that has been occupied by the likes of Wilbur Mills and Dan Rostenkowski.

If the Republicans manage to stay in power, it is uncertain who will take over the committee, one of the most powerful posts on Capitol Hill. Possibilities include Reps. Clay Shaw of Florida and Nancy Johnson of Connecticut, who face tough races for re-election, and Rep. Jim McCrery of Louisiana. Unlike the Democrats, the Republicans do not follow a strict seniority procedure for leadership positions.

Although NCAA officials may be hoping for some relief from the inquiry if Rangel becomes chairman of the committee, they will be disappointed. Rangel was traveling and unavailable for comment in the last days before the election, but a source familiar with the positions he has taken on the Ways and Means Committee suggests that Rangel supports the Thomas letter.

"There may be some variation in nuance or emphasis, but these are legitimate questions," the source said. "A tax exempt organization ought to be doing something to earn the tax break."

Whether it's the Democrats or the Republicans in control, the NCAA brass will try to evaluate the new leadership. Will it take the same insightful and aggressive approach that Thomas took, in which he asked the questions reformers have been asking for years? If the committee and the Congress finish what Thomas started, there could be some big and expensive changes facing the NCAA.

Thomas' letter questions the NCAA's tax exemption and its use "to subsidize escalating coaches' salaries, costly chartered travel and state-of-the-art athletic facilities." He takes tough positions on football and men's basketball, asking the NCAA to explain "how does playing major college football or men's basketball in a highly commercialized profit-seeking entertainment environment further the educational purpose of your member institutions?"

He wonders how big-time basketball and football produce any "educational value" beyond "that which is received by participation in other Division (II and III) or intramural athletics."

He asks why the money earned in the Men's basketball Final Four and other big events is distributed on the basis of athletic success instead of being distributed on a per capita basis or on the basis of academic success. The NCAA distributes television bounty based on each school's success. Each win increases the share of the television money.