2014 HL basketball spending by program

[wh]

National ranking in parentheses:

1. (130) Detroit $2,566,349
2. (143) Cleveland State $2,315,514
3. (145) Wright State $2,308,740
4. (147) Milwaukee $2,264,818
5. (163) Valparaiso $2,116,074
6. (186) UIC $1,858,722
7. (187) Oakland $1,856,790
8. (207) Green Bay $1,642,496
9. (275) Northern Kentucky $1,289,118
10. (279) YSU $1,229,401

http://www.bbstate.com/info/teams-hoopsbudget

[VULB#62]

That's interesting stuff.

Detroit spends $450K more than Valpo but not much to show for it.  YSU, as you would expect, is way low at over $900K less than Valpo.  Surprising is NKU in the #9 spot only $60K above YSU (is that an Oh!Oh! be careful ?).  Figured they'd be spending more given the size of their arena and the decent attendance figures they seem to have.  At #5, the Valpo ROI is pretty good and it shows the finances are well managed.  Now, with a capital investment in the ARC to optimize the whole program, we'd really be getting our money's worth.

[valporun]

I think NKU's was based on their budget for the A-Sun, plus they are still new to budgeting for D-I level basketball. Give them a couple of years in the HL, and some winning basketball seasons here, and they'll probably be reaching the $2+mil a year position. I'm not concerned with them, as much as the programs at Oakland, UIC, and Green Bay not spending enough based on the facilities they have.

[valpo64]

Explain what you mean by "not spending enough based on their facilities".  Are you saying that the more you spend the better your program?    How do you explain Valpo's success with a less than desirable facility and being in the middle of the pack in spending?  Do your conclusions mean that facilities don't matter?

[valporun]

How are these schools marketing their facilities to bring in new season ticket holders? The base of most of the spending and budgeting should be on getting new season ticket holders and maintaining them in the coming years. Valpo had this issue because previous administration wasn't focused on getting new season ticket holders and maintaining them. They just expected all three Coach Drews to continue winning, and hoping that the winning seasons would bring in those season ticket holders. Unfortunately, especially in today's market, a university needs to offer more than just winning seasons and NCAA tournament appearances to keep those season ticket holders. Facilities don't have to matter, as long as you're making going to the games affordable, whether in ticket sales, concessions, parking, or whether in making the arena more family-oriented, where families want to go to games because it won't break their bank account to afford it. I get that some schools can't lower prices to maximize attendance goals, needs, and making money, but the college game in the mid-majors keep pricing themselves out of what families want to budget for, if they can't commit to season tickets.

[valpo64]

Another question...it appears that mid-major schools and their fans want better competition, or schedules that include big name schools, along with upgraded or new facilities(I believe we have heard this many times before in this forum). You surely cannot attain these goals without big time pricing and surely not discounting tickets.  Just check out ticket prices from the MAC schools like Ball State.  They have a nice arena, perennially lousy teams, compete in a conference that is often perceived to be above the HL and higher ticket prices than we have, a student body 4 times or more that VU, sorry but I didn't check how much they budget for men's BB, and their attendance is lousy...a few thousand in a venue that seats around 12,000.  I guess it is a complicated problem for all mid majors.