It's about galvanizing the alumni base and having them donate more because they have more school spirit and passion and reason to care down the road. Football programs lead to much higher giving from the alumni base. Forget what the program actually brings in every year from TV rights or whatnot. It's all about alumni engagement. And nothing engages alumni like football. It's why almost every school you can think of has a program and spends so much time and money on it.