the athletic department is obligated to cover direct expenditures only, and makes zero contribution to general university overhead (e.gs. admissions, registration, accounting, President's office, etc) which our athletics department likely burdens at an increasing percentage.

Most major universities work this way. Some athletic departments still need support for direct expenses, and very few contribute a percentage of their revenue to cover any of their fair share of overhead.

Regardless, students and others in the university communities love their intercollegiate teams, and believe whatever is spent is worth it, despite the fact that nearly all AD's are partly subsidized by tuition and other general fund revenue.

But in almost all cases, when athletic departments claim to be self supporting, they mean direct expenses only.