If Michelangelo went to today’s schools, odds are he would be playing baseball instead of painting.

As our societies have advanced over time, we have discovered and invented ways to satisfy and grow the human mind, body and spirit. In schools and universities, these have been developed through core educational curriculum, the arts, and athletic programs. Private businesses and educational institutions have increasingly supported these auxiliary platforms for schools.

However, those in power, primarily in the private sector, often focus on the black-and-white financial benefits and returns when considering what to support. While profit is not necessarily the enemy, it often blinds leaders of other values programs hold and turns funding for the arts and sports into an overly simplistic financial cost-benefit analysis. The result often equates to more funding and programs for sports and less for the arts. Why?

• More students and children participate in sport activities over arts.

According to the Center of Kids First, as many as 40 million kids under 18 participate in sports throughout the year. By keeping adolescents playing sports, parents kept them healthy and social. Every park district in the United States holds leagues for most popular sports like basketball and baseball. Not as many arts programs for children exist in quite the same magnitude and ease for parents to facilitate. Therefore, the money goes where the people are, and thus the arts suffer.

• The (fine) arts are an unappealing market because they are seen as “elitist.”

While this view is narrow-minded, it does hold some historical truth, at least in the world of the fine arts. In the times of Mozart and Handel, it was often the royal courts who controlled the funding and commissions for different works. While busking did occur and great architecture was built among the masses, the courts held the true control in terms of the growth of classical music. As time went on, this elitist cultural mentality has spread into the modern era.

Even today, not enough of the working-class community members listen to classical music because it is still seen as elitist. This is partially due to the expensive prices of classical music and opera performances as well as a lack of exposure. The elitist mind frame is also a problem in the world of paintings. Unfortunately, many of those who appreciate the fine arts of classical music and painting fuel this divide with exclusive attitudes about the value of art.

This history is also part of the reason funding is so difficult. As Jayne Averitt of Donor Relations at the IU Auditorium addresses, “It became the responsibility of those with the wealth to fund the arts because others saw no value in it. Governments and institutions have felt that patrons who attend the arts should support it financially”.  Even today, the patrons of the arts, unlike athletics, are still expected to bear the brunt of the financial burden.

• Alumni donate to sports for school pride, not the arts.

The sports environment often creates a strong powerful image for a high school or university. For example, Indiana University has been branded as a “basketball school”, no doubt aided by Coach Bob Knight’s legacy and the film Hoosiers. Athletic programs also serve as the central gathering events for alumni reunions. Tailgating at football games is a common way to bring graduates from the school back to campus. Therefore, these athletic events bring in large amounts of revenue the arts cannot benefit from.

• Sports generate more revenue than the arts.

 This is the biggest and culminating reason for the disparity. People pay large amounts of money to attend sporting events, purchase jerseys and other memorabilia, and buy food at games. Arts cannot create such a system. While there may be a musical theatre production that goes on the road, a sports team can have hundreds of games set in stone year after year. The guarantee of revenue from sports is something foreign to the arts.

It truly comes down to the value a person places on the experience. Many feel $85 is worth it to see an American football game but not an opera.  Derek Crawford, Guest Services Manager of Event Services for IU Athletic events adds, “Its simply a different business model. With sports, you are able to bring in $8 million from broadcasting sporting events. I doubt Jon Stewart would approve of his show at the IU Auditorium being broadcast nationally.”

Here at Home

The best way to showcase this disparity is to look right at home. Just take the salaries of those that lead the different programs for IU. One can always tell how much one values something by how much they are willing to pay others to maintain and grow it.

The coach of the IU basketball team, Tom Crean, makes $2.38 million dollars per year. The Chair of the #1 music school in the nation, IU’s Jacobs School of Music, makes $235,132. The Chair of the Theatre and Drama department makes little over half that. The Executive Director of the IU Auditorium, the premier venue for the arts and entertainment in all of southern Indiana, comes in  last among this group. at $88,858.

These numbers may seem shocking, but consider this: The university does not pay the salaries of the basketball coach and the IU Auditorium director. These salaries are instead paid for by the Varsity Club and Indiana University Foundation, respectively.  Donations and sponsorships are responsible for the salaries of these leaders.

Nike and Gatorade, along with non-athletic brands like Visa and Bud Light, are just a few of these sponsors. John Curran, Executive of the University of Sydney Rugby Club, said it had always been easier for the university to raise money for its sporting activities than its creative arts programs.

‘‘Sport is so ingrained in our community,” said Curran. “Generally people can see the value for their own children and there’s more of a publicity factor in it. Sporting clubs can put sponsors’ names around the grounds but galleries do not have the same opportunity to market individual sponsors.”

The inclusion of branding for the arts can also be very divisive among artists who value the integrity of their work. While some utilize this funding, like the IU Auditorium, whose seasons are sponsored by local car dealerships and other businesses, many are reluctant to place any corporate names in their space.

Doug Booher, Executive Director of  IU Auditorium said it best, noting, “As an administrator of the arts, you have to be cognizant of the fact that people pay for what they want to see.”

It is true. The environment is a reflection of society’s value placed on the two fields.  A logical question then arises: Do we like what we see?