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Breaking it down: ‘Tattoo-Gate’ scandal costs Ohio State almost $8M

bradley.321@osu.edu

Published: Monday, June 4, 2012

Updated: Saturday, June 16, 2012 01:06

Gene Smith announced the decision to vacate that money after an August 2011 meeting with the NCAA.

The money was later donated to charity.

As part of the NCAA sanctions announced in December 2011, OSU will be disqualified from postseason play after the conclusion of the 2012 regular season.

This bowl ban will also forfeit any chance OSU has at making the Big Ten’s distribution of Bowl money next season. A rough average of the share OSU would receive is about $350,000. So for the purpose of estimating here, the total bowl money lost will be about $740,000.

Again, the future bowl money is an estimate.

Wrapping up

This list is not an all-inclusive list of costs resulting from the scandal.

There was a $250,000 fine the university gave to Jim Tressel, but later waived that and paid him a June 2011 salary of $52,250. Jim Tressel’s last day as coach was May 31, 2011. That $52,250 is not included because it was part of his salary.

There are unknown costs associated with fulfilling an unbelievable amount of public records request. There is a cost associated with the university’s legal battle with ESPN about public records. There are costs of travel to Indianapolis for the NCAA investigation. And there are many more costs that are either part of everyday operation or that cannot be pinned down to only the scandal.

It should be noted that the athletic department is self-sustained and that no student dollars are a part of any of these costs. But at the same time, this is money that realistically the athletic department does not have anymore, or will not earn.

When I was standing on the sideline of the Illinois football game in Champaign, I looked up to the crowd and saw a simple, relatively uncreative sign that said in big bold letters, “O$U.”

Well, to that Illinois fan, here you go.

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15 comments

Anonymous
Wed Dec 26 2012 13:14
HEY DUDE ABOVE TALKING ABOUT THGE FANS ARE TALKING ABOUT OSU GOING UNDEFEATED FOR 2012 AND U NVR THOUGHTR THEY COULD DO IT,,,,WELL THEY DID A SHOYULD BE PLAYING IN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME VS NOTRE GAME,,,,WAIT TILL NXT YR THEY WILL BE JUST AS GOOD ..ONLY LOSE 2 STARTERS ON OFFENSE, BUT 6 OR 7 ON DEFENSE, BUT URBAN DID SOME GREAT RECRUTING TO FILL THE HOLES,,,BUCKS WILL BE BACK IN 13 OR 14 IN BCS TITLE GAME
Anonymous
Sat Jul 14 2012 07:56
I get the whole "how many scholarships to poor students could they have paid for" argument, but come on, sports are a business. It sounds harsh, but they should have, what, said, "eh, let's take all this money attached to this scandal and shoot charity rainbows at underprivileged students"--that's not reality. Ok, aside from the dollar-fallout: to me, having been a non-scholarship, but successful, college athlete, my heart goes out to the hard-working linemen who spent three years in the weight room prepping for their senior year and the defensive backs who worked through injuries at the hope of having his talent put him in a position to make a name for himself in a BIG game only to have those bowl and Big10 Championship games banned for their senior year. None of the people who actually did anything really got punished: "all the players involved in the NCAA investigation [have] either graduated, drafted or departed from the university". So...the punishment of the ban...is...for whom again? So fine, they fire Tressel; he's an adult, and the case can be made that he didn't monitor well enough. He'll go get another multi-million dollar contract or fall back on his bank account or crappy book. But what about all the guys who followed the rules; they hang around to help the school's "reputation...[make] a recovery" that they never jeopardized, only worked to uphold, all while losing their chance to earn what they've worked for? That's crap. Figure out a punishment for the people who broke the rules because being a coward and running to the next phase of their lives prematurely doesn't send any type of helpful message; they already proved that they don't care about the school or the people around them with their actions, so how do the banning punishments fit?
Anonymous
Mon Jun 11 2012 12:43
Regardless, I will gladly take Tattoo Gate over the criminal problems that have surfaced at other football powers such as the sex scandal at PSU, the Petrino mess as Arkansas, recent MURDERS at Auburn, player arrests for felony theft, grand larceny, and drugs at UGA, Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina. While TG was a costly episode for TOSU at least no criminal or illegal acts were involved.
Anonymous
Thu Jun 7 2012 15:53
All this for unproven talent. What happens when Urban doesn't live up to the massive expectations of fans. I can't wait to see some of these comments over one or two losses next season. It cracks me up that reporters are talking about OSU going undefeated with a new regime, a new style of play, and mostly unproven talent. That's OSU fans for you though.
Candace Koons
Wed Jun 6 2012 14:43
Mr. Ridenbaugh, Every cost, either high or low, needs to be factored in. The whole situation is obscene and the idea of under paying anyone is more than obscene. Tell that to all our underemployed and unemployed citizens and all those that have no roof over their heads, food in the children's stomach, and no education. Tell that to people that are having their benefits taken away or that senior citizen that paved the way for you that is getting social security and medicare/medicaid reduced. Shame of you. I certainly respect your willingness to not be anonymous.
Anonymous
Tue Jun 5 2012 22:13
How many Scholarships could have been given to poor students instead of paying absurd salaries. Disgusting
Anonymous
Mon Jun 4 2012 19:14
"People kill me with comparing someone's salary to the president of the United States. When we simply underpay the president of the United States. Don't tell me it's a public office blah blah blah..."

Les, is that you, or your puppet Gordon?.

Anonymous
Mon Jun 4 2012 17:01
People kill me with comparing someone's salary to the president of the United States. When we simply underpay the president of the United States. Don't tell me it's a public office blah blah blah.... then do it for free and don't pay them at all.

People get paid as much as the entity is willing to pay, worth pays very little into the equation. That's why a corporation can have a losing year and the CEO still gets a bonus... because they were willing to pay it.

Anonymous
Mon Jun 4 2012 13:39
I think all of the athletes involved should pay this back. Take it out of those big NFL contracts that they want. Pryor set a bad example. You can lie cheat and make your way to the NFL and leave others to clean up mess left behind.
Bill Grant, OSU '61
Mon Jun 4 2012 09:38
What, OSU paid for attorneys representing the players involved in this mess ?? Is that part of their 'grant-in-aid' deal ? If so, than any OSU styudents should be allowed to avail themselevs of the same deal. So sad to think that a substantial portion of this sum could have been used for scholarship for deserving students. And I think that the total cost should also include the almost $ 200,000 @ year salary that Tressel will be paid at the U/Akron as a VP for
"strategic engagement." How many years will he serve in that post ? Double-dipping into the retirement fund.
Shameful.....how these people can face themselves in the mirror every AM is amazing.
Buckguy
Mon Jun 4 2012 08:28
How many National Championships with Urban Meyer will it take to pay this back? 1/2?
Anonymous
Mon Jun 4 2012 08:15
And how much does the program bring into the university?
Anonymous
Mon Jun 4 2012 08:14
Did we pay for Pryor's attorney? Since he ran like the chicken he is, I vote he pay it back.

BTW, I quit donating when I saw (it was years ago and might not still be the case) that anyone taking at least 15 credit hours (without graduating) could be a member of the alumni association - to be this is a slap in the face to those of us who put in the time and tuition for the four year degree.

Anonymous
Mon Jun 4 2012 07:54
We have assistant coaches making more than the salary of the President of the United States, but of course so does our University president and many of his staff. O$U seems quite relevant. I'll not give a dollar more to the alumni fund until this beast is tamed. Janitors make $17000 to start, the president makes 2.2 million and talks about supporting the community. Let's tell it the right way - here at Wexner University we help support the 1% using public and donated funds - the rest of you can eat cake.
David Ridenbaugh
Mon Jun 4 2012 06:04
Nice story, but the costs of the new staff should not be factored in to the total.

OSU was under paying their assistants before.

They are paying market price now.





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