An interesting aspect of college football (specifically the argument that rockstar coaches' salaries are defensible because of expected donations):
The University of Michigan is a tax-exempt institution. This means that people who make contributions to the university get to deduct these contributions from their taxable income. Since most of the money the university gets comes from people in the highest tax bracket, the government is effectively paying 40 cents of each dollar that these people contribute to the university, in the form of lower taxes. If all of Coach Harbaugh's $7 million salary were covered by donations from high-income individuals, the government would effectively be subsidizing his pay to the tune of $2.8 million.