USAToday College Athletic Finances

[VULB#62]

FYI ------ Don't know if this is helpful, but it's interesting info from an article in USAToday.  These are all public D-I programs:  Athletic Revenue, Expenses and Subsidies.  I filtered out Horizon schools, selected Summit schools that have been talked about in other strings along with a couple of OVC schools that also got some mention in conference realignment.  For a frame of reference (and a few yuks), especially with respect to subsidy, I included the Big 10 schools in the states the Horizon is represented.  Click on the image to enlarge.

Here is the full link in USAToday:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/story/2012-05-15/texas-athletics-spending-revenue/54960210/1

[vu72]

Nice computer work!  I'm impressed.  I saw the same article and was about to post the link.

Some notes of interest:

Schools talked about as possible new members to the Horizon: (revenues and expenses are essentially the same)

Oakland              10.4 million
IUPUFW                6.8
IUPUI                   6.5

This compares to current Horizon members:

CSU                    10.4
UIC                     13.9
MIL                     11.1
WSU                    9.7
WGB                    7.4

YSU is much bigger at 12.5 but they play scholarship football.

My first point was going to be that Oakland would be the one who was already spending a similar amount on athletics and that the alphabet schools would really have to be willing to step it up a bunch.  Then I saw Green Bay v. UIC and the disparity was pretty significant.

Don't have any idea where Valpo stands and presume it is on the low side, which proves that money alone can't get championships.  Not sure really that much can be drawn from just these numbers.

[valpotx]

As the article mentions, it isn't fair for other programs to go against UT financially, but money is not everything in sports.  It definitely helps, but is not the sole determining factor in athletics success.  TCU has had a better football program over the last 4-5 years, and is dwarfed in regards to $.  TCU (my grad school) definitely has a solid athletic budget, especially with the move to the Big 12 coming up, but they have built their success on taking 3 star recruits, and molding them into a cohesive unit.  I like UT since most people in Texas do (except Aggie and Red Raiders graduates), but they do tend to look down on other universities in sports. 

[VULB#62]

Wonder why UIC is so high ($13mm)? The numbers are impressive.  And why is there such a delta between UWM and UWGB?  It can't just be baseball.   

This belongs in the HL replacement string, but I'd love to see Morehead State come over (cuz of the PFL link and similar budgets). From a Private Uni standpoint (obviously not in this spread) I also think that Bradley would be a great addition to the HL -- especially, cuz of their long BB tradition, the Catholic competitiveness w/ Loyola and DMU and the proximity to VU and Chicago. The Indiana alphabet schools would definitely have to add significantly to their programs to even be considered.  There's a tone about the HL (can't put my finger on it) that those two schools don't seem to match -- just my distant opinion.

[LaPorteAveApostle]

Not a bad idea, but I'm not sure where you get the idea that Bradley is Catholic...just private.

[bbtds]

Not a bad idea, but I'm not sure where you get the idea that Bradley is Catholic...just private.

When Bradley University got started whiskey was where the money came from. Almost the whole town of Peoria was in the whiskey business. Caterpillar came later.

Peoria became the first world leader for distilleries thanks to Andrew Eitle (1837) and Almiron S. Cole (1844).[33] During this time, Peoria held 22 distilleries and multiple breweries. Together, they produced the highest amount of internal revenue tax on alcohol of any single revenue district in the entire U.S. Peoria also was one of the major bootlegging areas during the prohibition and home to the famed mobsters, the Shelton brothers. This great success placed Peoria into a building boom of beautiful private homes, schools, parks, churches, as well as municipal buildings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peoria,_Illinois

About Bradley
Founded by Lydia Moss Bradley in 1897, Bradley University is a private, independent university offering undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education programs in the liberal and fine arts, the sciences, business administration, communications, education, engineering, and the health sciences.

http://www.bradley.edu/about/

[LaPorteAveApostle]

When Bradley University got started whiskey was where the money came from. Almost the whole town of Peoria was in the whiskey business.

Maybe that's where he got the Catholic idea

(...but will it pray in Peoria?

[VULB#62]

Nah, no basis -- brain burp.

[vu84v2]

The percent subsidized is amazing.  Cleveland State at 84.5%!  With such heavy scrutiny of state and university budgets, you could make an argument that there will be some attrition in D1 because the decision makers will not allow that level of subsidy to go on in perpetuity unless there is sufficient return.  I am all for college sports, but does Cleveland State get $9M worth of value in return for what they annually must fund?

By the way, does anyone know what the percentage of expenses the university must subsidize at Valparaiso to support sports?  My guess would be that it is pretty high (perhaps 60-70%).  I would also argue that Valparaiso gets a little more in return for its subsidy than a school like Cleveland State...but I may be wrong (and that is, of course, difficult to measure)

[valpotx]

Probably part of the reason they did away with baseball after last season 

[blackpantheruwm]

Wonder why UIC is so high ($13mm)? The numbers are impressive.  And why is there such a delta between UWM and UWGB?  It can't just be baseball.   

This belongs in the HL replacement string, but I'd love to see Morehead State come over (cuz of the PFL link and similar budgets). From a Private Uni standpoint (obviously not in this spread) I also think that Bradley would be a great addition to the HL -- especially, cuz of their long BB tradition, the Catholic competitiveness w/ Loyola and DMU and the proximity to VU and Chicago. The Indiana alphabet schools would definitely have to add significantly to their programs to even be considered.  There's a tone about the HL (can't put my finger on it) that those two schools don't seem to match -- just my distant opinion.

The difference between Milwaukee and Green Bay is simple...we're completely different universities.

Enrollment: Milwaukee 30,000. Green Bay 6,000
Endowment: Milwaukee $160 million. Green Bay ~$40 million