Is the SEC a Socialist Organization?

Jul 13, 2015; Hoover, AL, USA; SEC commissioner Greg Sankey talks to the media during SEC media days at the Wynfrey Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Kelly Lambert-USA TODAY Sports

I’m sure you’ve heard it said – the SEC operates on a socialist model. Perhaps it’s been said even more about the NFL. Two of the most successful leagues in all of sports thrive on a model of revenue sharing in which the commissioner’s office takes money from the haves and gives to the have-nots in an effort to create competitive balance. Considering we have a socialist, Bernie Sanders, running for president, I figured this to be a relevant topic. And why not mix politics and sports?

Related: Assigning 2016 Presidential Candidates to 2015 SEC football teams 

While it’s true the SEC has some financial similarities to socialism, comparing the two is really apples to oranges.

1. Members of the SEC are there of their own free will and can choose to leave if they feel the system is not working out for them. There are also meetings and votes cast to determine the direction of the conference as there are in the NFL. A socialist government is not so easy to change. Once the government runs so many important organizations and has their hands in almost every aspect of our lives, it will be nearly impossible to get them out aside from a major revolt.
2. The SEC is a league comprised of 14 teams. Other conferences have the same modus operandi within their sect of college football. But there are 128 FBS teams and hundreds more in lower divisions. Imagine if the SEC, and perhaps all power five conferences, were required by the NCAA to share their revenue with all the teams for the sake of fairness. Those $100 million budgets would be trimmed down to $10-15 million in no time. That is the actual comparison to socialism.
3. The purpose of each athletic department within the SEC is to win games and educate student athletes. The money is nice because they build facilities and afford nice things. In the business world, it’s all about the money. So while Alabama could make a ton more than Mississippi State if they didn’t have to share, they don’t really have any motivation to not strive for the best because of their desire to win. In the business world, what motivation does the 1% have to continue to build businesses, invent things and so forth if most of what they earn is taken away? There is no fan base holding their feet to the fire, demanding they win – it’s a different animal altogether.

How do you take down America without ever firing a shot? You slowly integrate counter-cultural ideals into the mainstream. You create crisis that can only be solved with more government. You divide the American people by making a big deal of petty disputes. You dumb things down so much that people see such things as the SEC and NFL as socialist organizations, thereby convincing the uneducated voting populous that such a philosophy could work for the United States.