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UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
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TexanMark Offline
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Post: #41
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
Yet a few months ago UConn announces they are going to spend $45M on building a new 2500 seat Hockey Arena. The old arena was built 20 years ago and seats almost 2000. Their biggest games still won't be played in a 2000 or 2500 seat arena. This makes no sense.
01-20-2019 10:22 AM
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goodknightfl Offline
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Post: #42
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-19-2019 03:21 PM)Attackcoog Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 12:02 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Sometimes in a science fiction movie, a damaged space ship will be drifting towards outer space and the crew has one chance left or else be lost forever, and it usually involves blowing out all the remaining fuel in one last burst to try and get to the planet or space station or whatever.

UConn is seemingly doing the same thing, they've fired off all their NOS and whatnot in one last desperate blast to reach their haven, which is the P5.

But unlike in the sci-fi movies, there is no haven on the horizon to aim for. 07-coffee3

Yeah...it seems to me there are things UConn probably needs to do to adjust to the current G5 status. They sponsor 20 sports. Might need to pare that back a bit. Then, Im not sure why it costs them 80+ million to run a G5 program. It ridiculous that they are spending what they are for the results they are getting. Not sure where its all going. I see no reason why they cant get better results for much less. I see no reason why they cant be just as good as any school in the AAC for 60 million---which is closer to what the other high performing AAC schools are spending. That cuts the deficit by half right there. [b] Add in a 10 million dollar TV deal and maybe you can cut almost three quarters of the deficit.[b/]

UConn will lose aprox 7 mil form exit fees, 10 for tv only gains them 3 mil.
01-20-2019 10:59 AM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #43
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-19-2019 10:07 PM)Bogg Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 09:11 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 11:11 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  And the Big East divorce money just ended IIRC

Heh, what a coincidence.

Coming down the pike for years, but once that special pot ran out, wow, now it’s dire.


To be fair, the new TV deal will almost certainly cover that shortfall, so it'll be a one- or two-year dip before that money's back. The flip side of that, of course, is that UConn won't see much of a benefit from any increased TV deal because it'll just be replacing the old exit fees. Instead of a, say, $6 million revenue bump they'll only be seeing a million or two in actual benefit.

It’s still a bit too convenient to be screaming fire now when the smoke’s been visible for years. It’s that only now, with the exit chunk and credit shares at their best or final serving that there’s this massive problem.

The televsion deal will be decent but not good enough for them. Wichita brings some coin, but nowhere near what Cuse and UL left.

This “dire” situation only helps to externally promote a move. But, Wedge also has it right that there’s something not quite on the level with this. Again, just way too convenient.

But I wouldn’t go so far as to say this ensures the Big East move. We keep forgetting UConn took this nice piece of exit money from these schools...I think they’ll be wanting some back if UConn’s the next expansion piece. It’s not like the Big East needs to expand or is really hurting here.
(This post was last modified: 01-20-2019 12:09 PM by The Cutter of Bish.)
01-20-2019 12:07 PM
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quo vadis Offline
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Post: #44
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 12:07 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  This “dire” situation only helps to externally promote a move. But, Wedge also has it right that there’s something not quite on the level with this. Again, just way too convenient.

But I wouldn’t go so far as to say this ensures the Big East move. We keep forgetting UConn took this nice piece of exit money from these schools...I think they’ll be wanting some back if UConn’s the next expansion piece. It’s not like the Big East needs to expand or is really hurting here.

One alternative explanation to "setting up a move" as timing for this is just human procrastination. Yes, UConn knew all along that the Big East divorce money would run out around now, but kind of like a household that knows a big balloon payment is due in 2023, it could have had the attitude of "well let's worry about it then". Wouldn't be the first time.

Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen. Or, they could have figured that the AAC would get a big enough boost in media money to solve the problem too. So this timing could mean that UConn has knowledge that the AAC media deal isn't going to be as big as hoped. Or not.

Like you, though, I in no way think this means UConn wants to join the Big East. It could mean that, it could also not mean that, I don't know.

What I do think I know, though, is that there is no hard feelings in the Big East towards UConn. We would like to have UConn back, even though it is also true that we are fine without them.
01-20-2019 01:16 PM
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Bogg Offline
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Post: #45
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 03:22 AM)Wedge Wrote:  I question whether the UConn budget numbers reported in the article quoted in the OP are accurate. Something doesn't add up.

From the article:

Quote:In an NCAA financial statement, UConn reported that total generated revenue from sports last year totaled $40.4 million, while expenses came in at $80.9 million.
Quote:The statement shows the football program had an $8.7 million deficit; men’s basketball lost about $5 million; and women’s basketball, a perennial power, lost just over $3 million.

Football is the school’s most expensive program, with operating expenses totaling just over $15.7 million.

That says athletics expenditures were $80.9 million total in the annual budget, with only $15.7 million of it for football.

Which would mean that dropping football and reducing no other spending would leave UConn with a $65.2 million annual athletic budget.

That can't possibly be true. Per the USA Today numbers, there is only one no-football D-I athletic department (VCU, at $33.6 million) that spends even half that much annually.

I suspect that the explanation is that most if not all football playing schools in D-I (not just UConn) are under-reporting the amounts they spend on football, and that in these reports, they are hiding football-related expenses under the category of expenses "Not Allocated by Gender/Sport". I'll further speculate that this means, at most of these schools, football expenditures are about twice the amount reported as football expenditures on the report to the federal Department of Education, maybe even more. (You can look up those reports here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/search )

Yea, the way that UConn reports their expenses are wonky (and it very well may not be a UConn-specific thing, it may be an industry standard) but in the FY2014 report that's public a full third of all athletic department spending was filed under "not related to specific teams". Of the athletic department expenditures allocated to specific teams, football took up a full third of the budget (and that was with ticket sales generating over twice the revenue in 2014 than they did in 2018). My guess is that there's a fair amount of additional costs for the football program hidden in that approximately third of the budget that isn't assigned to a specific team, but it's hard to tease out exactly how much from the base overhead that comes with operating any D1 athletic department.

(01-20-2019 10:22 AM)TexanMark Wrote:  Yet a few months ago UConn announces they are going to spend $45M on building a new 2500 seat Hockey Arena. The old arena was built 20 years ago and seats almost 2000. Their biggest games still won't be played in a 2000 or 2500 seat arena. This makes no sense.

To be fair, the Freitas Ice Forum was never built to be suitable for a Hockey East program (UConn was, I believe, non-scholarship in MAAC Hockey at that point. I may be wrong, I'm not a hockey historian) and is nearing the end of it's useful life as any sort of D1 home arena because it was built on the cheap to begin with. That being said, the ice arena plan that got approved has been really controversial in UConn circles, as there's a general belief that it's a half-measure that manages to still be expensive while not being suitable as a full-time home rink and that UConn should have either built a real home rink or saved the money and built nothing at all.

(01-20-2019 01:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen.

This is exactly what happened. The American was never intended to be a 20-year home, but the money for cable-driven conference expansion disappeared not too long after the split and the next round that UConn was anticipating never occurred. Now they're left in a very uncomfortable "now what?" situation.
01-20-2019 01:42 PM
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JRsec Offline
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Post: #46
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 01:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 12:07 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  This “dire” situation only helps to externally promote a move. But, Wedge also has it right that there’s something not quite on the level with this. Again, just way too convenient.

But I wouldn’t go so far as to say this ensures the Big East move. We keep forgetting UConn took this nice piece of exit money from these schools...I think they’ll be wanting some back if UConn’s the next expansion piece. It’s not like the Big East needs to expand or is really hurting here.

One alternative explanation to "setting up a move" as timing for this is just human procrastination. Yes, UConn knew all along that the Big East divorce money would run out around now, but kind of like a household that knows a big balloon payment is due in 2023, it could have had the attitude of "well let's worry about it then". Wouldn't be the first time.

Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen. Or, they could have figured that the AAC would get a big enough boost in media money to solve the problem too. So this timing could mean that UConn has knowledge that the AAC media deal isn't going to be as big as hoped. Or not.

Like you, though, I in no way think this means UConn wants to join the Big East. It could mean that, it could also not mean that, I don't know.

What I do think I know, though, is that there is no hard feelings in the Big East towards UConn. We would like to have UConn back, even though it is also true that we are fine without them.

It is the bolded part. It's the only reason they ramped up football in the first place. They just knew that with a perennial championship program in men's and women's hoops that if they had just a decent football program they would make the jump. When what they perceived as lesser compelling targets (T.C.U. and W.V.U.) made the jump they should have read the tea leaves much differently but they didn't. Denial set in. A school with a better market, better academics, and a pedigree of consistent winning in one of the 2 major sports had been passed over.

They could kind of understand the Big 10 snub for Rutgers. It was a larger, better academic, addition even though they had held out some hope. Even the T.C.U. add made sense because of logistics. But, when West Virginia made it in that should have jolted them into reality. It didn't.

Instead they felt that doing whatever it took to look viable until the next expansion became the charted course for a P5 bid. The only problem is that the ACC has had a taste of football money, and given the acrimonious past with them, their only real chance to get that P5 invite is gone.

Connecticut doesn't add enough value for the Big 10, is not in anyway a candidate for the SEC, and the Big 12 isn't expanding and even if they were it wouldn't be doing the WVU thing again.
01-20-2019 01:48 PM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #47
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
If five or so years ago UConn didn’t plan for a prolonged existence out of a power conference, that is just **** planning.

I do believe they should have figured a short stay. I was shocked enough the combination of them and say Cincy, Houston, UC/SF, or Air Force didn’t move the needle enough for the Big XII expansion. That was rather humbling for sure.

Was it them and/or FSU who approached the Big Ten some years back who were turned away because they didn’t fit the academic profile? Now, putting your chips in that one would have been awful...
01-20-2019 02:01 PM
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Post: #48
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 01:48 PM)JRsec Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 01:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 12:07 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  This “dire” situation only helps to externally promote a move. But, Wedge also has it right that there’s something not quite on the level with this. Again, just way too convenient.

But I wouldn’t go so far as to say this ensures the Big East move. We keep forgetting UConn took this nice piece of exit money from these schools...I think they’ll be wanting some back if UConn’s the next expansion piece. It’s not like the Big East needs to expand or is really hurting here.

One alternative explanation to "setting up a move" as timing for this is just human procrastination. Yes, UConn knew all along that the Big East divorce money would run out around now, but kind of like a household that knows a big balloon payment is due in 2023, it could have had the attitude of "well let's worry about it then". Wouldn't be the first time.

Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen. Or, they could have figured that the AAC would get a big enough boost in media money to solve the problem too. So this timing could mean that UConn has knowledge that the AAC media deal isn't going to be as big as hoped. Or not.

Like you, though, I in no way think this means UConn wants to join the Big East. It could mean that, it could also not mean that, I don't know.

What I do think I know, though, is that there is no hard feelings in the Big East towards UConn. We would like to have UConn back, even though it is also true that we are fine without them.

It is the bolded part. It's the only reason they ramped up football in the first place. They just knew that with a perennial championship program in men's and women's hoops that if they had just a decent football program they would make the jump. When what they perceived as lesser compelling targets (T.C.U. and W.V.U.) made the jump they should have read the tea leaves much differently but they didn't. Denial set in. A school with a better market, better academics, and a pedigree of consistent winning in one of the 2 major sports had been passed over.

They could kind of understand the Big 10 snub for Rutgers. It was a larger, better academic, addition even though they had held out some hope. Even the T.C.U. add made sense because of logistics. But, when West Virginia made it in that should have jolted them into reality. It didn't.

Instead they felt that doing whatever it took to look viable until the next expansion became the charted course for a P5 bid. The only problem is that the ACC has had a taste of football money, and given the acrimonious past with them, their only real chance to get that P5 invite is gone.

Connecticut doesn't add enough value for the Big 10, is not in anyway a candidate for the SEC, and the Big 12 isn't expanding and even if they were it wouldn't be doing the WVU thing again.

And I would add-on to that point, JR, that the Louisville addition to the ACC (once Maryland got taken by the B1G) should have been the biggest red flag yet for the UConn-to-the-P5 dream scenario. Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College was the first wave. Syracuse, Pittsburgh and West Virginia was the second. When Louisville was selected as the last team-in, given their academic-fit with the ACC schools, that should have set off some major alarms (but it didn't).

If the rumors about the new Tier A group within the AAC are true (UCF, USF, Memphis, Cincinnati and Houston), that is just another example of where the school stands in the current pecking order.
01-20-2019 02:33 PM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #49
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
UConn’s got the same problems as the other schools along the northeastern I-95 corridor. If they were in the AAU, it’s really no different than Rutgers or UMD, where it bleeds money to do business in such an expensive area, and football doesn’t necessarily showcase the athletic department.

Scary as it is, it’s no wonder all of those public schools in the New England states were pretty much playing in one 1AA/FCS conference or close to it at one time. UConn included.

What might have been if you could have a FBS conference with:

Maine
UNH
UMass
UConn
Buffalo
Stony
Temple
Delaware
Towson
JMU

Then again, maybe not...
01-20-2019 03:09 PM
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DavidSt Offline
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Post: #50
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 03:09 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  UConn’s got the same problems as the other schools along the northeastern I-95 corridor. If they were in the AAU, it’s really no different than Rutgers or UMD, where it bleeds money to do business in such an expensive area, and football doesn’t necessarily showcase the athletic department.

Scary as it is, it’s no wonder all of those public schools in the New England states were pretty much playing in one 1AA/FCS conference or close to it at one time. UConn included.

What might have been if you could have a FBS conference with:

Maine
UNH
UMass
UConn
Buffalo
Stony
Temple
Delaware
Towson
JMU

Then again, maybe not...


And Vermont if they have not dropped football and URI to make it 12. Albany is also there as well.
01-20-2019 04:44 PM
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Wedge Offline
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Post: #51
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 01:42 PM)Bogg Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 01:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen.

This is exactly what happened. The American was never intended to be a 20-year home, but the money for cable-driven conference expansion disappeared not too long after the split and the next round that UConn was anticipating never occurred. Now they're left in a very uncomfortable "now what?" situation.

It's not just UConn. Nearly every public university in the AAC is in the same boat, though the annual deficits of those other than UConn are in the $20 million/year range rather than $40 million. (The private schools may or may not have the same issues; the USA Today database includes only the public universities.) They're all running up deficits as if they were going to get their golden ticket to a wealthier conference within the first 10 years of being in the AAC.
(This post was last modified: 01-20-2019 05:50 PM by Wedge.)
01-20-2019 05:08 PM
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AllTideUp Offline
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Post: #52
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 12:40 AM)bullet Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 10:46 PM)Bogg Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 10:34 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 10:07 PM)Bogg Wrote:  
(01-19-2019 09:11 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  Heh, what a coincidence.

Coming down the pike for years, but once that special pot ran out, wow, now it’s dire.


To be fair, the new TV deal will almost certainly cover that shortfall, so it'll be a one- or two-year dip before that money's back. The flip side of that, of course, is that UConn won't see much of a benefit from any increased TV deal because it'll just be replacing the old exit fees. Instead of a, say, $6 million revenue bump they'll only be seeing a million or two in actual benefit.

How does an annual $6 million media deal cover an annual $40 million deficit?

You may want to read a little more carefully. I literally wrote "that UConn won't see much of a benefit from any increased TV deal". I've been pretty clear in my belief that football's unsustainable and this won't get better so long as the sport continues.

Football is not the issue there. Not sure what is. But football is only $7 million of the deficit. And while UConn has more than the minimum number of sports, they don't have an excessive number.

They have:
Basketball M&W
Cross Country M&W
Track M&W
Swimming M&W
Baseball
Softball
soccer M&W
hockey-M&W
golf-M
Football
Volleyball-W
Rowing-W
field hockey-W
lacrosse-W

I'd start by trimming a few of those that serve very little purpose towards generating revenue or recruiting students.

I wouldn't shudder the football program yet, but I'd evaluate every dollar. Stop trying to compete like a P5 program when you don't have the money. That means trimming salaries and amenities.

If they can get some extra money from a new American deal then maybe that salves most of the problem. If not then I would go independent in football and barnstorm as much as possible with the goal of playing Notre Dame(go to South Bend every season if you have to), BYU, Army, and UMass every season. Play independents and as many schools from your region as you can including FCS schools. You need traveling fans to come from other parts of New England and the Northeast. That and you need wins. Playing in the American doesn't accomplish much of anything unless they're paying you halfway decent money.

That could work if they're allowed to join the Big East for basketball.

If you're going to spend on athletics then you can't count on making more money later. The only value is promoting your school so do things to get on TV as often as possible.

If you can't balance the budget with student fees at that point then drop the program.
(This post was last modified: 01-20-2019 05:21 PM by AllTideUp.)
01-20-2019 05:16 PM
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Post: #53
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 08:44 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 03:22 AM)Wedge Wrote:  I question whether the UConn budget numbers reported in the article quoted in the OP are accurate. Something doesn't add up.

From the article:

Quote:In an NCAA financial statement, UConn reported that total generated revenue from sports last year totaled $40.4 million, while expenses came in at $80.9 million.
Quote:The statement shows the football program had an $8.7 million deficit; men’s basketball lost about $5 million; and women’s basketball, a perennial power, lost just over $3 million.

Football is the school’s most expensive program, with operating expenses totaling just over $15.7 million.

That says athletics expenditures were $80.9 million total in the annual budget, with only $15.7 million of it for football.

Which would mean that dropping football and reducing no other spending would leave UConn with a $65.2 million annual athletic budget.

That can't possibly be true. Per the USA Today numbers, there is only one no-football D-I athletic department (VCU, at $33.6 million) that spends even half that much annually.

I suspect that the explanation is that most if not all football playing schools in D-I (not just UConn) are under-reporting the amounts they spend on football, and that in these reports, they are hiding football-related expenses under the category of expenses "Not Allocated by Gender/Sport". I'll further speculate that this means, at most of these schools, football expenditures are about twice the amount reported as football expenditures on the report to the federal Department of Education, maybe even more. (You can look up those reports here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/search )

You're right. Nothing adds up here. DI football programs cost a lot more than $15 million a year to operate.

Also, I wonder if there are non-recurring expenses included in this $40 million deficit (like buying out fired coaches and capital costs).

But regardless of what the real numbers are (and I have never found a school that reported their real numbers) the plain fact is that whatever UConn is doing athletically, it isn't working. It's dangerous when a school starts to believe that, for whatever reason, they SHOULD be playing all sports at the top level even though their long history should tell them otherwise.

The funny thing is, I doubt that most schools even HAVE real numbers.

At the last university I worked for (a large public research school), my college did not have a written budget. Why? After some investigation, I think it's for 2 reasons: 1) There's a LOT of different sources of revenue and a LOT of rules about what each source can be used for, and 2) They were petrified of FOIA requests.

It was less painful to pool revenue sources (illegally if necessary), spend money where you think it needs to be spent, and hope you end up allright in the end.
01-20-2019 05:21 PM
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ccd494 Offline
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Post: #54
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 03:09 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  UConn’s got the same problems as the other schools along the northeastern I-95 corridor. If they were in the AAU, it’s really no different than Rutgers or UMD, where it bleeds money to do business in such an expensive area, and football doesn’t necessarily showcase the athletic department.

Scary as it is, it’s no wonder all of those public schools in the New England states were pretty much playing in one 1AA/FCS conference or close to it at one time. UConn included.

What might have been if you could have a FBS conference with:

Maine
UNH
UMass
UConn
Buffalo
Stony
Temple
Delaware
Towson
JMU

Then again, maybe not...

There are 2,000,000 reasons the earth will explode before Maine sponsors FBS football.
01-20-2019 05:38 PM
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UTEPDallas Offline
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Post: #55
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
The biggest snub was when Louisville was taken over them in November 2012. When Maryland took the B1G invite, UConn was rumored to take their spot until Clemson and Florida State started protesting another basketball addition to the ACC. At that time, the ACC was on shaky ground and a FSU BOT member stated he might be open to listen to what the Big XII had to offer. That’s when Louisville was invited. Had the two football schools not expressed their discomfort of adding another basketball school, UConn would be in the ACC instead of Louisville. Who knows, it would’ve been the end of the ACC as we know it.

I remember after Louisville was invited to the ACC, UConn fans on the BE board were in panic mode. I don’t know if the administration was in denial but the fans kind of realized their chances of getting a P5 invite were not good. The basketball schools splitting and taking the BE name with them was not a good sign either. Then UCF, Houston, Memphis and Temple being good in football along with Cincinnati and their football program going to the ground didn’t help their case either.
01-20-2019 06:08 PM
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Post: #56
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 06:08 PM)UTEPDallas Wrote:  The biggest snub was when Louisville was taken over them in November 2012. When Maryland took the B1G invite, UConn was rumored to take their spot until Clemson and Florida State started protesting another basketball addition to the ACC. At that time, the ACC was on shaky ground and a FSU BOT member stated he might be open to listen to what the Big XII had to offer. That’s when Louisville was invited. Had the two football schools not expressed their discomfort of adding another basketball school, UConn would be in the ACC instead of Louisville. Who knows, it would’ve been the end of the ACC as we know it.

I remember after Louisville was invited to the ACC, UConn fans on the BE board were in panic mode. I don’t know if the administration was in denial but the fans kind of realized their chances of getting a P5 invite were not good. The basketball schools splitting and taking the BE name with them was not a good sign either. Then UCF, Houston, Memphis and Temple being good in football along with Cincinnati and their football program going to the ground didn’t help their case either.

BC also had a block on UConn for a while. They may not anymore, but UConn sued BC when BC announced it was leaving the Big East for the ACC. For a while BC refused to play UConn in any sport, and took an "over my dead body" stance on UConn joining the ACC.

That's now ancient history, but BC's athletic department doesn't turn over much.
(This post was last modified: 01-20-2019 06:15 PM by ccd494.)
01-20-2019 06:14 PM
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Captain Bearcat Offline
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Post: #57
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 05:08 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 01:42 PM)Bogg Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 01:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  [quote='quo vadis' pid='15848213' dateline='1548008213']

Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen.

This is exactly what happened. The American was never intended to be a 20-year home, but the money for cable-driven conference expansion disappeared not too long after the split and the next round that UConn was anticipating never occurred. Now they're left in a very uncomfortable "now what?" situation.

It's not just UConn. Nearly every public university in the AAC is in the same boat, though the annual deficits of those other than UConn are in the $20 million/year range rather than $40 million. (The private schools may or may not have the same issues; the USA Today database includes only the public universities.) They're all running up deficits as if they were going to get their golden ticket to a wealthier conference within the first 10 years of being in the AAC.

Although the marketing arm of the university would argue that it's money well spent!

That $20 million buys 4-5 home football games and 10-15 home basketball games on national cable broadcasts, as well as 2-3 games on national OTA broadcasts. Each broadcast is a 2-3 hour commercial for the university, and it also results in print articles in national and local press as well as guaranteed coverage on local nightly news channels.

No media relations specialist or 5th Avenue ad firm could provide that type of press for a mere $20 million.
01-20-2019 06:21 PM
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Post: #58
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 05:08 PM)Wedge Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 01:42 PM)Bogg Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 01:16 PM)quo vadis Wrote:  Also, UConn could have been figuring that long before 2019 arrived that a promotion to a P5 would happen.

This is exactly what happened. The American was never intended to be a 20-year home, but the money for cable-driven conference expansion disappeared not too long after the split and the next round that UConn was anticipating never occurred. Now they're left in a very uncomfortable "now what?" situation.

It's not just UConn. Nearly every public university in the AAC is in the same boat, though the annual deficits of those other than UConn are in the $20 million/year range rather than $40 million. (The private schools may or may not have the same issues; the USA Today database includes only the public universities.) They're all running up deficits as if they were going to get their golden ticket to a wealthier conference within the first 10 years of being in the AAC.

It's not just an AAC problem. Pretty much every MAC program is in the ~$20 mil deficit range. I'd guess the same to be true for C-USA and MWC too.
01-20-2019 06:35 PM
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The Cutter of Bish Offline
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Post: #59
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 05:38 PM)ccd494 Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 03:09 PM)The Cutter of Bish Wrote:  UConn’s got the same problems as the other schools along the northeastern I-95 corridor. If they were in the AAU, it’s really no different than Rutgers or UMD, where it bleeds money to do business in such an expensive area, and football doesn’t necessarily showcase the athletic department.

Scary as it is, it’s no wonder all of those public schools in the New England states were pretty much playing in one 1AA/FCS conference or close to it at one time. UConn included.

What might have been if you could have a FBS conference with:

Maine
UNH
UMass
UConn
Buffalo
Stony
Temple
Delaware
Towson
JMU

Then again, maybe not...

There are 2,000,000 reasons the earth will explode before Maine sponsors FBS football.

Seriously, the list just looks absurd. There is so much variance between schools in that region; a legacy of big leaguing and petty politics. If it wasn’t such a stigma for the flagships to be non-D1, a few of these shouldn’t even be on there (and one that isn’t, URI).
(This post was last modified: 01-21-2019 02:00 AM by The Cutter of Bish.)
01-20-2019 06:38 PM
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Attackcoog Offline
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Post: #60
RE: UConn loses $40 million in 2018 trying to keep up
(01-20-2019 05:21 PM)Captain Bearcat Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 08:44 AM)ken d Wrote:  
(01-20-2019 03:22 AM)Wedge Wrote:  I question whether the UConn budget numbers reported in the article quoted in the OP are accurate. Something doesn't add up.

From the article:

Quote:In an NCAA financial statement, UConn reported that total generated revenue from sports last year totaled $40.4 million, while expenses came in at $80.9 million.
Quote:The statement shows the football program had an $8.7 million deficit; men’s basketball lost about $5 million; and women’s basketball, a perennial power, lost just over $3 million.

Football is the school’s most expensive program, with operating expenses totaling just over $15.7 million.

That says athletics expenditures were $80.9 million total in the annual budget, with only $15.7 million of it for football.

Which would mean that dropping football and reducing no other spending would leave UConn with a $65.2 million annual athletic budget.

That can't possibly be true. Per the USA Today numbers, there is only one no-football D-I athletic department (VCU, at $33.6 million) that spends even half that much annually.

I suspect that the explanation is that most if not all football playing schools in D-I (not just UConn) are under-reporting the amounts they spend on football, and that in these reports, they are hiding football-related expenses under the category of expenses "Not Allocated by Gender/Sport". I'll further speculate that this means, at most of these schools, football expenditures are about twice the amount reported as football expenditures on the report to the federal Department of Education, maybe even more. (You can look up those reports here: https://ope.ed.gov/athletics/#/institution/search )

You're right. Nothing adds up here. DI football programs cost a lot more than $15 million a year to operate.

Also, I wonder if there are non-recurring expenses included in this $40 million deficit (like buying out fired coaches and capital costs).

But regardless of what the real numbers are (and I have never found a school that reported their real numbers) the plain fact is that whatever UConn is doing athletically, it isn't working. It's dangerous when a school starts to believe that, for whatever reason, they SHOULD be playing all sports at the top level even though their long history should tell them otherwise.

The funny thing is, I doubt that most schools even HAVE real numbers.

At the last university I worked for (a large public research school), my college did not have a written budget. Why? After some investigation, I think it's for 2 reasons: 1) There's a LOT of different sources of revenue and a LOT of rules about what each source can be used for, and 2) They were petrified of FOIA requests.

It was less painful to pool revenue sources (illegally if necessary), spend money where you think it needs to be spent, and hope you end up allright in the end.

I also think the way each school looks at allocating shared costs is a factor as well. My guess is there are fixed costs for the overall university that are partially allocated to the athletic department. In reality, those costs add to the expense report of the athletic department---but they would exist even if the entire athletic department was closed and shuttered. The only difference is every unit of the university would have slightly higher allocated costs.
(This post was last modified: 01-20-2019 07:13 PM by Attackcoog.)
01-20-2019 07:12 PM
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