Resource gap - athletic funding for non power schools

[Omaha1]

I just read an interesting and sobering story focusing on Bradley University, but there was quite a bit of information about Creighton as well. See below. I wonder how much of the big east athletic departments are subsidized by their University? In the Missouri Valley conference, some of the schools get over half of their entire athletic budget from student fees and that seems to be getting worse which they can't sustain.

Creighton, a member of the non-football playing Big East, gets about $2 million of its $17 million budget from the school and only $500,000 from student fees, Rasmussen said. More than 90 percent of Creighton's athletics revenue comes from men's basketball, which averages more than 17,000 in attendance per home game.

"When I look at schools and how much of their budgets come from their universities, I don't know how you can justify that," Rasmussen said.

"In the Big East, we have probably as good of a TV contract as there is for just basketball," said Rasmussen, who put Creighton's take from the rights fees between $2.5 and $3 million. "That number pales in comparison to the Autonomy Five schools (with their large football TV contracts). But if we can be competitive (on the court) on a regular basis, it's been a good move for us from the Valley."

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20170225/r ... s-big-boys

[Bill Marsh]

I just read an interesting and sobering story focusing on Bradley University, but there was quite a bit of information about Creighton as well. See below. I wonder how much of the big east athletic departments are subsidized by their University? In the Missouri Valley conference, some of the schools get over half of their entire athletic budget from student fees and that seems to be getting worse which they can't sustain.

Creighton, a member of the non-football playing Big East, gets about $2 million of its $17 million budget from the school and only $500,000 from student fees, Rasmussen said. More than 90 percent of Creighton's athletics revenue comes from men's basketball, which averages more than 17,000 in attendance per home game.

"When I look at schools and how much of their budgets come from their universities, I don't know how you can justify that," Rasmussen said.

"In the Big East, we have probably as good of a TV contract as there is for just basketball," said Rasmussen, who put Creighton's take from the rights fees between $2.5 and $3 million. "That number pales in comparison to the Autonomy Five schools (with their large football TV contracts). But if we can be competitive (on the court) on a regular basis, it's been a good move for us from the Valley."

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20170225/r ... s-big-boys

Interesting article. Raises a lot of questions. Thanks for the link.

I don't understand the "rights fees between $2.5 and $3.2 million" comment, I thought they were getting $4.2 million apiece from the TV contract. Can anyone shed any light on that? Is money siphoned off to go to pay conference expenses first?

[Xudash]

I just read an interesting and sobering story focusing on Bradley University, but there was quite a bit of information about Creighton as well. See below. I wonder how much of the big east athletic departments are subsidized by their University? In the Missouri Valley conference, some of the schools get over half of their entire athletic budget from student fees and that seems to be getting worse which they can't sustain.

Creighton, a member of the non-football playing Big East, gets about $2 million of its $17 million budget from the school and only $500,000 from student fees, Rasmussen said. More than 90 percent of Creighton's athletics revenue comes from men's basketball, which averages more than 17,000 in attendance per home game.

"When I look at schools and how much of their budgets come from their universities, I don't know how you can justify that," Rasmussen said.

"In the Big East, we have probably as good of a TV contract as there is for just basketball," said Rasmussen, who put Creighton's take from the rights fees between $2.5 and $3 million. "That number pales in comparison to the Autonomy Five schools (with their large football TV contracts). But if we can be competitive (on the court) on a regular basis, it's been a good move for us from the Valley."

http://www.pjstar.com/sports/20170225/r ... s-big-boys

Interesting article. Raises a lot of questions. Thanks for the link.

I don't understand the "rights fees between $2.5 and $3.2 million" comment, I thought they were getting $4.2 million apiece from the TV contract. Can anyone shed any light on that? Is money siphoned off to go to pay conference expenses first?

That was my first question, too.

SWAG on BE front office: starting with staffing of approx. 20, with Val earning $400k and going down slowly from there, $600k in facilities (office) expense, and expenses for marketing, other (refs), etc., I can't push an annual OPEX number past $4 million.

Call it $5 million and it means $500k per school. Obviously, it is a wild guess, but I hope conference expenses aren't soaking up that much of the funding.

[GreatDaneAttorney]

Is Creighton not getting a full share? Is the contract back-loaded? Was the contract misreported or was it performance-based? I agree, lots of questions.

[EMT]

It wouldn't surprise me if there was an escrow fund created in the event of a material change in the next TV contract or MSG location for tourney.

[Xudash]

It wouldn't surprise me if there was an escrow fund created in the event of a material change in the next TV contract or MSG location for tourney.

Good point.

[Letsgonova]

What's missing from that discussion is that the majority of FBS football schools are in the same place. There are probably even 15 schools in P5 conferences that still require massive university subsidies to balance the athletics books. They bring in more, but they spend even more to keep up with the Joneses.

More to the point, who cares? Why does collegiate athletics need to be self-sustaining? We don't ask that of any other college or activity under the university umbrella, save maybe Dining Services or Res Life. It's pointless.

[Jet915]

My guess is that some of that money goes to the Big East offices, the nice NCAA tourney credits that the league is accumulating should help offset that though.

[SJHooper]

The F5 schools will show bloated funding figures, but that's because of football. There was recently an article showing how much schools invest in their basketball programs and we were all right in line with most of the F5. I also believe St. John's spends either the most or close to the most on basketball in the entire conference which was surprising given the mediocrity of the program performance wise. SJ spends more on basketball than Gonzaga...just goes to show that a competent administration along with good coaches are needed if you want to be a regular contender. We may not play football, but we focus our resources on basketball when others don't.

[Bill Marsh]

The F5 schools will show bloated funding figures, but that's because of football. There was recently an article showing how much schools invest in their basketball programs and we were all right in line with most of the F5. I also believe St. John's spends either the most or close to the most on basketball in the entire conference which was surprising given the mediocrity of the program performance wise. SJ spends more on basketball than Gonzaga...just goes to show that a competent administration along with good coaches are needed if you want to be a regular contender. We may not play football, but we focus our resources on basketball when others don't.

The cost of living is higher in NYC than in Spokane. And Gonzaga gives Mark Few free licenses for fly fishing.