(03-20-2014 04:19 PM)bullet Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:58 PM)john01992 Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:53 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  The worry about expenses appears to be exaggerated. WVU's athletics revenue is very high. They have large expenses owing to busting out of the Big East and having to wait a few years until they're phased in to a full revenue share in the Big 12, but those should be taken care of within a few years.

Wedge I think a lot of what you are saying is true, but it is not the whole picture. Travel will only go up in costs and for non revenue sports that's a killer. Since most games are at great distance that takes your traveling crowd down and the travelling crowd is much more likely to be comprised of donors and significant supporters who will grow weary. And it has gone grossly under evaluated the toll that having no traditional rivals will take upon the WVU fan base a whole. No Pitt, no Maryland, no Virginia Tech, no Louisville, no Syracuse, in other words no neighbors to chide after a victory, no close games to drive to, no passion. I think those factors haven't been weighed seriously enough.

Yes when they get a full share it will help, but it still won't be what most of their fans would like, even though their pride won't let them admit it publicly. The Old Big East was perfect for them. Now that a significant portion of those schools are in the ACC I do believe that is their best fit.

i remember during the b12/fsu debate i researched this

FSU would of seen AT LEAST a $3 million travel increase per year <== and that was a low balled and very conservative estimate.

remember that these programs spend millions each year on travel cost alone and we are talking about realignment moves that double sometimes even triple the travel distance. you have to factor in non revenue sports, band members, etc.

Colorado had to pay the full travel costs for students going to LA for the pac12 tourny because they knew that they wouldn't have a strong showing unless they did.

FSU's president said the Big 12 would have raised travel costs by $2 million.

Reading some info on West Virginia's increased travel awhile back, their AD said that they were up $2 million on travel costs, but they were making so much more it wasnt an issue. It wouldn't have been much different for FSU if at all.

(03-20-2014 12:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  The worry about expenses appears to be exaggerated. WVU's athletics revenue is very high. They have large expenses owing to busting out of the Big East and having to wait a few years until they're phased in to a full revenue share in the Big 12, but those should be taken care of within a few years.

In other news, WVU announced $106 million in new facility upgrades today. Now if we could only find a way to take care of travel.

(03-20-2014 07:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  The worry about expenses appears to be exaggerated. WVU's athletics revenue is very high. They have large expenses owing to busting out of the Big East and having to wait a few years until they're phased in to a full revenue share in the Big 12, but those should be taken care of within a few years.

In other news, WVU announced $106 million in new facility upgrades today. Now if we could only find a way to take care of travel.

I believe the impetus for the article presented by the OP was red ink. Is that $106 million facility upgrade paid for? That would be the more germane issue in response to the article. If upgrades put you further in the red then travel is more of an issue.

(03-20-2014 08:39 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 07:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  The worry about expenses appears to be exaggerated. WVU's athletics revenue is very high. They have large expenses owing to busting out of the Big East and having to wait a few years until they're phased in to a full revenue share in the Big 12, but those should be taken care of within a few years.

In other news, WVU announced $106 million in new facility upgrades today. Now if we could only find a way to take care of travel.

I believe the impetus for the article presented by the OP was red ink. Is that $106 million facility upgrade paid for? That would be the more germane issue in response to the article. If upgrades put you further in the red then travel is more of an issue.

$75 million bond (guaranteed income from membership in B12 and IMG)
$25 million fundraising
$6 million media rights contract

(03-20-2014 08:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 08:39 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 07:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  The worry about expenses appears to be exaggerated. WVU's athletics revenue is very high. They have large expenses owing to busting out of the Big East and having to wait a few years until they're phased in to a full revenue share in the Big 12, but those should be taken care of within a few years.

In other news, WVU announced $106 million in new facility upgrades today. Now if we could only find a way to take care of travel.

I believe the impetus for the article presented by the OP was red ink. Is that $106 million facility upgrade paid for? That would be the more germane issue in response to the article. If upgrades put you further in the red then travel is more of an issue.

$75 million bond (guaranteed income from membership in B12 and IMG)
$25 million fundraising
$6 million media rights contract

I assume the bond must be paid back so that is a form of debt. The fund raising becomes a question of is it in gifts in hand or pledges? The media rights is coming out of total revenue.

So my questions in this matter now would be what is the duration of the bond issue because that determines how much of a deficit it creates in the annual budget disbursements? Are we talking pledges from the fundraising and if so how are the pledges broken down?

(03-20-2014 09:00 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 08:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 08:39 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 07:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 12:33 PM)Wedge Wrote:  The worry about expenses appears to be exaggerated. WVU's athletics revenue is very high. They have large expenses owing to busting out of the Big East and having to wait a few years until they're phased in to a full revenue share in the Big 12, but those should be taken care of within a few years.

In other news, WVU announced $106 million in new facility upgrades today. Now if we could only find a way to take care of travel.

I believe the impetus for the article presented by the OP was red ink. Is that $106 million facility upgrade paid for? That would be the more germane issue in response to the article. If upgrades put you further in the red then travel is more of an issue.

$75 million bond (guaranteed income from membership in B12 and IMG)
$25 million fundraising
$6 million media rights contract

I assume the bond must be paid back so that is a form of debt. The fund raising becomes a question of is it in gifts in hand or pledges? The media rights is coming out of total revenue.

So my questions in this matter now would be what is the duration of the bond issue because that determines how much of a deficit it creates in the annual budget disbursements? Are we talking pledges from the fundraising and if so how are the pledges broken down?

As with any fundraising effort on any campus (or any nonprofit organization), I would assume that the fundraising figure is a combination of money in hand and pledges.

(03-20-2014 09:05 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 09:00 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 08:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 08:39 PM)JRsec Wrote:  

(03-20-2014 07:52 PM)EerMeNow Wrote:  In other news, WVU announced $106 million in new facility upgrades today. Now if we could only find a way to take care of travel.

I believe the impetus for the article presented by the OP was red ink. Is that $106 million facility upgrade paid for? That would be the more germane issue in response to the article. If upgrades put you further in the red then travel is more of an issue.

$75 million bond (guaranteed income from membership in B12 and IMG)
$25 million fundraising
$6 million media rights contract

I assume the bond must be paid back so that is a form of debt. The fund raising becomes a question of is it in gifts in hand or pledges? The media rights is coming out of total revenue.

So my questions in this matter now would be what is the duration of the bond issue because that determines how much of a deficit it creates in the annual budget disbursements? Are we talking pledges from the fundraising and if so how are the pledges broken down?

As with any fundraising effort on any campus (or any nonprofit organization), I would assume that the fundraising figure is a combination of money in hand and pledges.

Well sometimes large pledges are made in installments and the interest is still accrued on the unpaid balance until the full amount is collected so that too impacts what the annual payout comes to. Now I'll readily admit that having a secured bond is a good way to pay off any note depending upon what the interest rates are on the issued bonds. But if the issue is cash flow then any amount that has to be annually met becomes an obstacle to handling incidentals, natural disasters, economic downturns which could cause an unexpected dip in enrollment, any number of things really, and in those cases would put undue pressure on the annual budget. So the issue that the writer of the article has with red ink is justified to a degree. Why? Because I would call the times we live in anything but certain. And I think his main point was that red ink of any kind during a time of economic uncertainty puts a burden on the school which if things unforeseen happened could impact negatively the mission of the school to educate the people of the state.

I totally agree that W.V.U. had to get out of the AAC. I also agree with the poster that called into question the Big 12's recalcitrance to help them more by giving them a full share from the start, especially since the Mountaineers put themselves at greater financial risk to have to make the move early which saved the media rights deal of the Big 12. So the questions raised by both the OP and the writer of the article he cites about the deficit spending of the athletic department are legitimate concerns because even if everything goes well it is still a risk.