Tate | Illini AD saw all of this coming
Josh Whitman, as the smartest man in the room, whether it's the UI athletic department, in a quorum of Big Ten athletic directors or as chairman of the rules-making NCAA
Illini Athletics Revenue
Tate | Illini AD saw all of this coming
Josh Whitman, as the smartest man in the room, whether it's the UI athletic department, in a quorum of Big Ten athletic directors or as chairman of the rules-making NCAAwww.news-gazette.com
I'm curious which sports get the axe and how quickly that decision gets made. Football and basketball are obviously safe. I'd have to think baseball/softball is safe as well. Sports that have seen somewhat recent investments/remodels like track/cc, tennis, and golf should be safe. Men's gymnastics, women's gymnastics, and possibly wrestling could be a thing of the past? Other women's sports (swimming, soccer, and volleyball) will depend on the future of Title IX rules regarding scholarship numbers and NIL.
I think your analysis is spot on. I think if you move volleyball to the SFC, then you turn Huff over to the University for academics/offices. Probably save some money as well. Volleyball could even generate more money with a bigger seating venue.
I wonder how much does nixing the wrestling practice facilities predict the future of that program?
I was wondering that too. I was thinking either the funds never materialized, or they were diverted to football or basketball.
While Whitman has been and I'm sure will continue to be fantastic (like Bielema and Underwood), I'm not sure he saw all of this coming.
He never would have announced the wrestling facility if he had.
And thank goodness for Nebraska, not Illinois, or this would be much higher. ..."Whitman said they are wiping out a $14 million setback stemming from COVID-19."
He never would have announced the wrestling facility if he had.
And thank goodness for Nebraska, not Illinois, or this would be much higher. ..."Whitman said they are wiping out a $14 million setback stemming from COVID-19."
Men's gymnastics is a certainty. I'm guessing it will still be very hard to dump any women's sports, although swimming/dive may be one. About the only safe Men's sports, I think, are the big 2 and golf. Perhaps baseball and tennis would have $$ backing. Otherwise, they all could be cut and you would hear howling but it wouldn't change the fan base and support.
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Illinois can't drop its football program, that would be unfathomable.
But how any marginal dollar can be going anywhere but Ubben at this point doesn't really make sense to me. Invest, invest, invest in what BU is doing.
It's incredibly frustrating to say this at a moment when Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, the classic "basketball schools" are having success on the gridiron too, but if the NIL era is pushing us toward Kansas-ification, I say embrace it.
But how any marginal dollar can be going anywhere but Ubben at this point doesn't really make sense to me. Invest, invest, invest in what BU is doing.
It's incredibly frustrating to say this at a moment when Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, the classic "basketball schools" are having success on the gridiron too, but if the NIL era is pushing us toward Kansas-ification, I say embrace it.
One could argue that we are better served trying to resurrect football with every penny we have from a pure media attractiveness and media $ perspective. If the top football programs break off and we are left behind, that is an insane amount of $ for the athletic department that would disappear and crush all sports.
I want a hoops NC as much as anyone, but not if it comes at the expense of the entire athletic department. That said, I guarantee Whitman and everyone involved knows way more about our level of risk and where $ should go than any of us here, so we need to trust the process.
Question for all:
What happens if the NCAA disappears and a hoops post-season tournament goes out to bid, with conferences getting all of the revenue (minus the NCAA)?
Regardless, we need to do something to help take football to the next level, even if that means consistently winning 6-8 games yearly with a 9-10 win season every decade.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
If I believed we could do it, it's a no-brainer, do it. I am losing faith we've got the raw resources to matter in the new world order.
I also wouldn't be advocating this if the basketball situation weren't so promising, with such strong evidence that Underwood will deliver on the resources he's given, and can make use of more.
I'm not entirely convinced that's true, given football's tendency to drink every milkshake on campus.
I know, I would be really surprised to see football get reduced to 24 or 32 teams in the top tier; it would really limit the appeal and shut out many, many fans and alumni of schools. While the kids and coaches are paid in many cases like the pros; college fandom is such a different beast than professional sports.
Even the NFL is trying to expand its reach and increase its audience, so seeing the top college teams break away and create such a massive divide between them and everyone else just seems like a horrible idea and, over time, will kill the product. But we've all seen many decisions made based on immediate financial gains for a few, with no concern for the impacts down the road.
This was in an article by Jeremy Werner showing that football is still the biggest money-maker for the school sports-wise by a lot.
How NCAA, schools may navigate latest financial hit in college sports post-House v. NCAA settlement
The NCAA and its member schools are no strangers to making adjustments when necessary
www.cbssports.com
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Wonder how the expenses are broken down between coaching/administrative salaries, travel, and scholarship money. Seems like travel would be the easiest and least controversial to trim. But is it enough?
I know that's the point du jour for the talking heads but I don't think that will ever happen. "Scale" will still be important in college athletics.
Using these numbers (and keeping the number of men's and women's scholarships being eliminated the same), dropping men's gym, men's track, and wrestling along with dropping women's gym and swimming would save a total of around $7.3 million per year. That is also 52 scholarship athletes that will not be dipping into the "student athlete pool of NIL funds" that has been discussed.
Side note - the resurrection of women's basketball under Shauna Green has been fun to watch but that is a huge financial loss. Is that $4.4 million a year better spent on football and basketball recruits/transfers? Yes
Illwinsagain
- Cary, IL
Using round numbers, it looks like there is a $25M surplus. Also, track and field is expensive.
If we look at these sports in a pure dollars and cents basis then why bother at all? Providing them is part of a larger mission for the university.
My guess is the woman's basketball revenue will increase over time with the sports popularity, but it is hard to imagine it won't still be one of the largest deficits. The opportunity to cut into deficits for other sports is probably more on the revenue side through sponsorships and better monetization from media and streaming. BTN produces a lot of content that gets seen by few people because their steaming interface is so clunky.
I know this is an unpopular opinion around here, but give it all to MBB. It's simple return on investment. Every dollar we spend to move football from 17th in conference to 13th is a dollar Brad does not have to actually provide a winning experience.
I do not believe we will ever be top-tier in football. For 90% of my lifetime we have not been. The last ten seasons we have averaged 2.7 conference wins and our all-time conference winning percentage is .441, 97 games under .500.
The future is largely out of our hands anyway IMO, either the super schools will leave and form their own football conference, or they will decide that they need the cannon fodder around and will keep us. Investing money to get us to middle-pack at best in conference, when basketball can be top ten in the country, makes no sense to me. There is not an infinite pool of money out there.
Shief
- Champaign Area
When I was on the Fighting Illini Fan Council a few years ago, I had a similar question about athletic dept. finances going in. They showed us that the DIA has several outstanding bonds due to the various renovation projects. $25 million per year for bond repayments sounds about right. The other B1G teams also have annual bond repayments.
I don't want to eliminate ANY of our sports, but If I'm Josh and I am forced to make the tough choices, I keep the non revenue teams that give me the best chance to win Big Ten and NCAA championships. And that would be men's golf and men's and women's track and field. Mike Small and Petros Kyprianu are among the best in their respective sports, and our facilities in both are top notch. Unfortunately we have always struggled in women's sports - dunno why.
From an ROI perspective I’d like to know how each incremental dollar invested in football vs basketball impacts revenue from said sport to help guide where funds should be invested.
If it’s fairly even, as it appears at this 10,000 ft view, you have to factor in the benefits of being one of the premier hoops teams in the country and all the awareness, eyeballs, and dollars that come from being truly elite there, as it’s within reach for us.
Football is king re: revenue but if sinking in $10m more to the program annually has a minimal impact, I guess we all know what direction we should go (without know all the other variables involved).
Such a messed up situation I never thought we’d see in college sports.
If it’s fairly even, as it appears at this 10,000 ft view, you have to factor in the benefits of being one of the premier hoops teams in the country and all the awareness, eyeballs, and dollars that come from being truly elite there, as it’s within reach for us.
Football is king re: revenue but if sinking in $10m more to the program annually has a minimal impact, I guess we all know what direction we should go (without know all the other variables involved).
Such a messed up situation I never thought we’d see in college sports.
Didn't men's gymnastics win the Big Ten championship like 2 years ago? Maybe even last year? If not, I know they're always competitive.
Yup, you're absolutely right.