I know there was a big discussion about this when Marshall anounced
it was leaving the MAC for CUSA , this isn't a knock on the MAC so
don't take it that way , I go watch the Herd play whoever they are
playing , MAC schools or CUSA schools , doesn't matter to me ...
Friday June 30, 2006
HUNTINGTON -- It's been an interesting ride for Marshall in the Thundering Herd's first 365 days in Conference USA, a year that ends today.
After leading a football renaissance in the Mid-American Conference with its mostly regional -- read: Ohio -- travel, some said the move to the far-flung, rebuilt C-USA didn't make sense.
It definitely made dollars. For example, the Herd received $25,200 as a share of the C-USA football championship game. OK, those aren't big bucks, but it's better than nuttin,' honey.
Looking at the bottom line, as presented by the Herd athletic department to the MU Board of Governors earlier this week,
Marshall will see $1.15 million from C-USA revenue sharing (mostly from television and NCAA tournament unit shares) in the fiscal year that ends today. The final MAC year yielded $175,800 in similar monies.
It costs more to play (dues, fees) and travel in C-USA than it did the MAC, but Marshall still came out in the black in C-USA revenue, even though it spent $100,000 more than expected on team travel.
http://www.dailymail.com/news/Sports/2006063010/
Note that there is no mention of how high conference fees and travel costs are. If fees are as high as they used to be, that is $500,000 per year. Your own school projected travel costs at another half million or so. Getting 1.15 million in revenue doesn't mean as much when you are paying $1 million to get it.
I am not saying you are making less money as a result of the move. All this article tells you is that you are in the black; you don't know by how much.
Don't forget that Marshall had a donor give them several millions of dollars to cover the exit and entrance fees. Otherwise, Marshall would have to figure so much per season over the next 5 years or so, which would have made a huge difference in whether or not they made money.
If someone is willing to donate money to pay for your exit and entrance fees that is great, but that doesn't happen all the time. This particular donor probably made the difference for Marshall. However, let's look at Toledo. Toledo would have more travel expenses than Marshall because it is further away from the C-USA schools. Also, it is not likely that someone would step up and pay those exit and entrance fees for UT. So financially it wouldn't make sense for a school like Toledo to move to Conference USA. Maybe it will for Marshall, but they are also closer to most C-USA schools then the majority of the MAC schools.
Despite the use of the phrase "bottom line," a bottom line is actually missing from that report.
And the bottom line, had it been offered, woudl not have factored the expansion fee.
Whatever.
Schadenfreude Wrote:And the bottom line, had it been offered, woudl not have factored the expansion fee.
You're right, but it is still an expense a school normally has to deal with when moving from one conference to another and it is several million dollars.
a different story ??
http://www.wvgazette.com/section/Sports/2006063039
Marshall may have a little red ink to show for it, but it survived its first year in Conference USA pretty nicely.
The fiscal picture already looks rosier for the new fiscal year, thanks in large part to the seven-game football series with West Virginia. If the football team can turn around its 4-7 season of 2005, that would be all the better.
The full tale of the 2005-06 fiscal year, which ended Friday, has yet to be written, but MUs athletic department could well run a deficit similar to the $193,045 reported in MUs 2004-05 financial report. That deficit was about 1.2 percent of MUs $16.3 million in revenue.
The Thundering Herds down season in football, both on the field and at the box office, could be the difference.
It will be very close. We could end up in the red a little,said athletic director Bob Marcum. Our projections in football, we were off last year.
Bottom line, Marshall fans got what they wanted.
A different conference with bigger fan bases and Southern hospitality.
In the end money was not what drove the move because all knew CUSA was not a financial cure all. From a financial standpoint it was hoped at best to be a easier stepping stone to someting even bigger.
owen Wrote:Bottom line, Marshall fans got what they wanted.
A different conference with bigger fan bases and Southern hospitality.
In the end money was not what drove the move because all knew CUSA was not a financial cure all. From a financial standpoint it was hoped at best to be a easier stepping stone to someting even bigger.
Bottom Line: MAC fans got what they wanted. Marshall is now somewhere else.
I'd take 'em back.
A couple more 4-7 seasons would humble anyone.
It is not in the Bobcat's interest to have Marshall in the MAC.
Marshall did provide that game that brings in a nice crowd for Ohio. Getting Marshall instead of a D-AA team on the OOC schedule would be nice. Having an Ohio-Marshall game that opens the season and a Miami-Ohio game that ends the regular season would be a nice bookend to the schedule. Bobcats need Marshall to fire up the fanbase early in the season. I think having a regional rivalry game every year is good for both schools. Knorr might still have a job if he beats Marshall two seasons ago. That was the game that perhaps ended his stay in Athens.
OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Marshall did provide that game that brings in a nice crowd for Ohio. Getting Marshall instead of a D-AA team on the OOC schedule would be nice. Having an Ohio-Marshall game that opens the season and a Miami-Ohio game that ends the regular season would be a nice bookend to the schedule. Bobcats need Marshall to fire up the fanbase early in the season. I think having a regional rivalry game every year is good for both schools.
and is good for Marshall.
There is no reason for playing I-AA games when an Ohio/Marshall game can keep a I-AA game off both teams schedule.
Marshall plays William & Mary and Ohio plays TN-Martin this year.
P.S. Is Marshall playing W&M as one of their guaranteed win games to qualify for a bowl bid!!! :shhh: Maybe there IS a reason for those I-AA games.
Tn-Martin is the only home game of the OOC schedule for Ohio. 3 other road money games were needed for budget reasons. I think Marshall will struggle to reach bowls in CUSA. They had it good in the MAC East and had a competitive advantage. No sure if Marshall has than advantage against Memphis, ECU, Southern Miss, UAB, and Tulane. With Ohio adding Solich, Ohio may be moving ahead of those CUSA teams in terms of national appeal.
emu steve Wrote:OUBOBCATJOHN Wrote:Marshall did provide that game that brings in a nice crowd for Ohio. Getting Marshall instead of a D-AA team on the OOC schedule would be nice. Having an Ohio-Marshall game that opens the season and a Miami-Ohio game that ends the regular season would be a nice bookend to the schedule. Bobcats need Marshall to fire up the fanbase early in the season. I think having a regional rivalry game every year is good for both schools.
and is good for Marshall.
There is no reason for playing I-AA games when an Ohio/Marshall game can keep a I-AA game off both teams schedule.
Marshall plays William & Mary and Ohio plays TN-Martin this year.
P.S. Is Marshall playing W&M as one of their guaranteed win games to qualify for a bowl bid!!! :shhh: Maybe there IS a reason for those I-AA games.
If you can do it, why not use it?
SAHerdFan Wrote:I know there was a big discussion about this when Marshall anounced
it was leaving the MAC for CUSA , this isn't a knock on the MAC so
don't take it that way , I go watch the Herd play whoever they are
playing , MAC schools or CUSA schools , doesn't matter to me ...
Friday June 30, 2006
HUNTINGTON -- It's been an interesting ride for Marshall in the Thundering Herd's first 365 days in Conference USA, a year that ends today.
After leading a football renaissance in the Mid-American Conference with its mostly regional -- read: Ohio -- travel, some said the move to the far-flung, rebuilt C-USA didn't make sense.
It definitely made dollars. For example, the Herd received $25,200 as a share of the C-USA football championship game. OK, those aren't big bucks, but it's better than nuttin,' honey.
Looking at the bottom line, as presented by the Herd athletic department to the MU Board of Governors earlier this week, Marshall will see $1.15 million from C-USA revenue sharing (mostly from television and NCAA tournament unit shares) in the fiscal year that ends today. The final MAC year yielded $175,800 in similar monies.
It costs more to play (dues, fees) and travel in C-USA than it did the MAC, but Marshall still came out in the black in C-USA revenue, even though it spent $100,000 more than expected on team travel.
http://www.dailymail.com/news/Sports/2006063010/
As others pointed out, we don't see the actual bottom line.
Worth noting, CUSA revenue sharing includes multiple NCAA tourney bids from past years. That sharing will drop as time goes on.
Also worth noting, CUSA travel expenses were higher than anticipated. That was stated by people on this board, w/ much denial by the Herd faithful.
As mentioned, what hasn't been accounted for are the exit/entrance fees, plus, the cost of money. Take those sunk dollars and invest them...you'll get added revenue right there.
As a final note, in defense of the Herd, w/ US demographics shifting toward the south, in the very long run, this may pay off. However, with the shifting landscape of college athletics, by the time that payoff is seen, the move may not have been necessary.
In defense of Marshall, the ACTUAL reason for the move was monetary...however, not what you are expecting. As stated by their president, the primary reason for the move was that the University wanted more out-of-state students. Since Ohio and Michigan are full of universities, they thought they would have more success getting these students from Southern states. The administration also believed WV culture was more similar to southern as opposed to northern culture, which again would help them get Southern students.
So I guess the real question is, how are Marshall's out-of-state enrollment figures?
DrTorch Wrote:SAHerdFan Wrote:I know there was a big discussion about this when Marshall anounced
it was leaving the MAC for CUSA , this isn't a knock on the MAC so
don't take it that way , I go watch the Herd play whoever they are
playing , MAC schools or CUSA schools , doesn't matter to me ...
Friday June 30, 2006
HUNTINGTON -- It's been an interesting ride for Marshall in the Thundering Herd's first 365 days in Conference USA, a year that ends today.
After leading a football renaissance in the Mid-American Conference with its mostly regional -- read: Ohio -- travel, some said the move to the far-flung, rebuilt C-USA didn't make sense.
It definitely made dollars. For example, the Herd received $25,200 as a share of the C-USA football championship game. OK, those aren't big bucks, but it's better than nuttin,' honey.
Looking at the bottom line, as presented by the Herd athletic department to the MU Board of Governors earlier this week, Marshall will see $1.15 million from C-USA revenue sharing (mostly from television and NCAA tournament unit shares) in the fiscal year that ends today. The final MAC year yielded $175,800 in similar monies.
It costs more to play (dues, fees) and travel in C-USA than it did the MAC, but Marshall still came out in the black in C-USA revenue, even though it spent $100,000 more than expected on team travel.
http://www.dailymail.com/news/Sports/2006063010/
As others pointed out, we don't see the actual bottom line.
Worth noting, CUSA revenue sharing includes multiple NCAA tourney bids from past years. That sharing will drop as time goes on.
Also worth noting, CUSA travel expenses were higher than anticipated. That was stated by people on this board, w/ much denial by the Herd faithful.
As mentioned, what hasn't been accounted for are the exit/entrance fees, plus, the cost of money. Take those sunk dollars and invest them...you'll get added revenue right there.
As a final note, in defense of the Herd, w/ US demographics shifting toward the south, in the very long run, this may pay off. However, with the shifting landscape of college athletics, by the time that payoff is seen, the move may not have been necessary.
CUSA will still get more than one bid most years.. ie last year had 2... they usually only got 3 or at best 4 with 15 schools to split it amongst rather than the current 12. If Cusa keeps 2 most years and once in a while grabs 3... with 2 or 3 in the NIT... $$$$ per school wont take a huge hit.
Just one correction, we don't play William and Mary this year, we played them last year. We do however play Hofstra.
I would also love to see Ohio back on the schedule. Our AD has stated that he his working to get a 2 for 1 with Ohio and a home-home with K-State.
I would love to see the Herd's OOC schedule look like this:
WVU
Ohio or Miami (OH)
Winnable OOC BCS game - K-State, Cincinnati, Tennessee (all on future schedules) or Kentucky or Louisville
Not so winnable OOC BCS game - Miami (FL), Wisconsin, VT (all on future schedules) or Ohio State
MU42 Wrote:Just one correction, we don't play William and Mary this year, we played them last year. We do however play Hofstra.
I would also love to see Ohio back on the schedule. Our AD has stated that he his working to get a 2 for 1 with Ohio and a home-home with K-State.
I would love to see the Herd's OOC schedule look like this:
WVU
Ohio or Miami (OH)
Winnable OOC BCS game - K-State, Cincinnati, Tennessee (all on future schedules) or Kentucky or Louisville
Not so winnable OOC BCS game - Miami (FL), Wisconsin, VT (all on future schedules) or Ohio State
Yep. W&M was '05. Hofstra Sept 9, '06.
and 2 for 1 with Ohio???
should that have been home and home w. Ohio and 2 fo 1 with Kansas State?