also considered bodies of government for tax purposes.

[I have a company that I can structure either as a profit or not for profit, depending on how I'm organized, how decisions are made, and where the money goes.
The activity and ultimate benefit to society is the same.]

Making money to offset expenses of an endeavor integrally associated with education (a not for profit purpose) is fine. Reorganizing to maximize profit is purely a profit/loss endeavor. The more the organization looks like a professional sporting program rather than an institution producing students who happen to be good at sports, the further they stray from that tax-exempt purpose.

If a relatively small group of schools restructures to build what is functionally a pro sports development league, then those not involved are going to question why they continue to get tax breaks for donations...and why they are getting hundreds of millions in research grants funded by taxpayers, i.e, the government funding the Pittsburgh Steelers rather than the Pittsburgh Panthers.

Feds came down hard on the for-profits in the last couple of years so it's not like it is an issue that people are unaware of.

None of us is saying any of this will happen but the author throws stuff out there like there are no ramifications or consequences. Statements that start with "we all know" are often followed with BS...and that's the case here.

Some contraction or expansion at the top levels of the NCAA? Sure. A small subset of the elite doing their own thing? No way. Land Grant A is not going to let Land Grant B go unchallenged if they try to play by a different set of profit/loss rules.