Valpo MBB over the last 6 years

[may know]

These are the budgets that were uploaded to the government website last week. For MBB (video on previous page), we are 3rd from the bottom. Here's the Athletics budgets, we're 2nd from the bottom:

[VULB#62]

Further clarification if Im reading those two videos correctly: Valpo is next to last in terms of total ATHLETIC REVENUE ahead of only Evansville.  If you remove FB revenue, Evansville moves ahead of us and Murray drops below, but we are still second from the bottom.

We are third from the bottom in terms of BASKETBALL BUDGET exceeding only UIC and SIU.

Our current BB budget would place us only at 5th in our former home, the HL.

[may know]

This is my fault since I mixed up the two videos in my head on the previous page when posting, so here's the accurate info after pausing and double-checking both videos in separate tabs:

Men's basketball budget: 10th MVC ahead of UIC & SIU, 180th nationally. That video's on the previous page.

Athletic revenues: 11th MVC ahead of UE for overall revenues. 11th MVC ahead of Murray for non-FB revenues. That video's on the top of this page.

[VULB#62]

This is my fault since I mixed up the two videos in my head on the previous page when posting, so here's the accurate info after pausing and double-checking both videos in separate tabs:

Men's basketball budget: 10th MVC ahead of UIC & SIU, 180th nationally. That video's on the previous page.

Athletic revenues: 11th MVC ahead of UE for overall revenues. 11th MVC ahead of Murray for non-FB revenues. That video's on the top of this page.

Yep, we're on the same page now.

In terms of BB budget, here is another observation. The two beneath us are public institutions with full rides valued lower than Valpo's private tuition, R&B, etc., (the highest among privates in the MVC, I believe). That means, if you disregard the scholarship expense line on all three, we are dead last in spending actual, real money on our program.  Does that make sense?

[may know]

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Those numbers don't remove the discrepancy in scholarships between schools (tuition, R&B, etc), so the actual $ spent on MBB likely drops us to 12th.

[VULB#62]

So how about all MVC privates?  Lets see.

Bradley 4331 UGs. TUIT $36,360. BB Budget $3.41 million. Overall MVC BB Budget rank: #3

Drake 4991 UGs. TUIT $45,912. BB Budget $3.34 million. Overall MVC BB Budget rank #4

Belmont 6000 UGs. TUIT $38,430. BB Budget $3.33 million. Overall MVC BB Budget rank #5

E'ville 1,796 UGs.  TUIT $41,336. BB Budget $2.94 million. Overall MVC BB Budget rank. #7

Valpo 2500 UGs.  TUIT $44,796. BB Budget $2.6 million. Overall MVC BB Budget rank #10

The median is $3.01 million, the mean is $3.12 million.  Excluding Valpo from the calculation:  Median = $3.18 million, Mean = $3.25 million.  Just to get to the private median, Valpo would require an influx of $400k annually.

One conclusion of this little exercise is that not only are we dragging down the overall conference competitive rankings (NET, RPI), we also lag far behind our private colleagues in funding our BB program.

Side note: Both Bradley and Belmont seem to be the most efficient at supporting their programs when you look at their lower private tuition rates compared to overall budget.

* BTW, I stand corrected, Drake has the highest tuition in the MVC.

[vu72]

I would think that the difference in spending lies in direct comparison with ticket sales. That is, except Evansville

Average home attendance (2022-2023):

Valpo        1,625
Belmont    2,043
Drake       3,429
Bradley     4,351
Evansville  4,548

[VULB#62]

I would think that the difference in spending lies in direct comparison with ticket sales. That is, except Evansville

Average home attendance (2022-2023):

Valpo        1,625
Belmont    2,043
Drake       3,429
Bradley     4,351
Evansville  4,548

Might also include Belmont as an outlier given their attendance is more like Valpo's but their BB budget is only $10k less than #2 private, Drake, and well over the median and mean. Belmont also has the second lowest tuition of this group. And isn't Evansville amazing.

BTW, most of my figures were cobbled together from 2021-22 sources except the revenue and BB budget stuff that I scraped off MayKnow's videos.

[Just Sayin]

I would think that the difference in spending lies in direct comparison with ticket sales. That is, except Evansville

Average home attendance (2022-2023):

Valpo        1,625
Belmont    2,043
Drake       3,429
Bradley     4,351
Evansville  4,548

Valpo's numbers used to be better than those teams. The lost revenue from tickets, concessions, and community indifference about going to games where they will watch loss after loss is no big deal really. VU can survive without it just fine. Face it, men's basketball simply is not a high priority at VU despite all of lip service saying it is. The faculty would love it if athletics was discontinued. They cannot stand a coach being paid over $350,000 while they are cutting faculty. If the basketball program was over, they would say good riddance.

[NativeCheesehead]

I loved nearly every one of my professors at Valpo, 3 of which I am still in contact with today.

That said, I'm really sick of those spouting off against athletics, if that is accurate. To my knowledge, there are few if any professors who currently teach at Valpo who preceded the move to DI, which means they all took the job knowing we were a DI institution!

And any of them who object to buying out a failing coach while other jobs are being cut, guess what? We're not.

[Valpo1993]

Valpo was always content....  Sure, They made a leap up in conferences twice.   Looking back they probably should not have done that if they were not going to put the money into it.  They were always happy with the small school, small city in the NCAA tournament and being one and done.   One time they happened to catch lightning in a bottle.   Look at a school like Gonzaga who made a name for themselves and continued to improve the team.   They are also content with the VU name.  But I don't think Valparaiso University's name is a sign of excellence anymore.  I think their accredited business school has dropped off peoples radar.  It's all about Kelly now.   Even the education school is cutting back.   I heard a rumor they might do away with the elementary education major.   They have just become another university.   


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[David81]

I loved nearly every one of my professors at Valpo, 3 of which I am still in contact with today.

That said, I'm really sick of those spouting off against athletics, if that is accurate. To my knowledge, there are few if any professors who currently teach at Valpo who preceded the move to DI, which means they all took the job knowing we were a DI institution!

And any of them who object to buying out a failing coach while other jobs are being cut, guess what? We're not.

Did I miss a petition or statement by professors attacking the athletics program? Or is there some faculty movement on campus against the sports program -- other than the predictable and continual questioning by some faculty about the role of sports in higher ed? If so, then this adds to the internal political complications concerning all of these decisions.

Given that VU went D1 in the mid-70s, the likelihood of many current profs preceding that move is pretty minimal. In any event, many candidates for faculty positions wouldn't even be aware of the differences between D1, D2, and D3, nor care that they're unaware. It's not a putdown of those individuals or the VU sports program. Rather, it's the simple reality that people care about different things.

That said, if you've just experienced the involuntary departures of dear faculty colleagues and friends earning $50-60k, and now hear a buzz about paying upwards of $700k so a coach with a mediocre W-L record can take a couple of years off, it may prompt understandable questions about prioritizing intercollegiate sports. If the school must sell the most valuable works in its art museum because it needs to renovate its dorms and has no other viable means to pay for it, then the situation is sufficiently serious that anything not part of the educational program (narrowly defined) could find itself on the table. And if things feel more desperate, at a point panic can set in and folks are tossing stuff overboard willy nilly to save the ship, so to speak.

I'm hoping that somehow, someway, the MBB coaching situation will be properly resolved and that the program will bring a sense of optimism going into next season. I'm hoping that somehow, someway, a viable 3rd option will emerge with the proposed art sale. Right now there are many deepening differences of opinion developing within the VU community, on and off campus. If these differences harden into ongoing grievances, then they will not bode well for the school's future. A lot is at stake at this moment.