(08-13-2019 09:09 AM)CliftonAve Wrote: (08-13-2019 08:55 AM)BearcatMan Wrote: Every time I look at a report like this, it further solidifies my belief that the MAC will be the first FBS conference to fall. Just way too many warning signs...
You and I have discussed this before but within our borders Wright State, Cleveland State, Akron and BGSU are Dead Men Walking. They won't exist in their current form 15 years from now. Those schools have money issues that extend beyond their athletic departments.
Wright State will be the first domino to fall.
I foresee Wright State and Cleveland State falling WELL before any other institutions, and I'm with you on Wright State. If they weren't tied into the research programming at WPAFB they'd be gone already with all of the budgetary issues along with the H1 immigration problems they've had in the recent past. The other will likely consolidate into regional educational consortia and I don't know if Toledo or BGSU will be the reason behind that in NW Ohio honestly. Toledo does bring in tons more overhead from research heavy areas and has more invested in future driven educational areas (engineering, medicine, health/human sciences, pharmacy, and nursing), but there are going to be huge bumps in the road for both...sooner rather than later. Luckily the state bumped the SSI for all institutions and allowed schools to increase tuition for the first time in 6 years for both this year as a part of the approved budget, but that probably won't balance off the enrollment losses you're going to see reported from most of the secondary institutions in the state this fall.
I posted this in the Toledo forum because I'm also a fan (among other things) of that University...but here are the net losses from each MAC AD last year (alphabetically).
Akron: ($24,561,565)
Ball State: ($20,570,246)
Bowling Green: ($13,739,315)
Buffalo: ($30,741,575)
Central Michigan: ($22,929,107)
Eastern Michigan: ($21,908,659)
Kent State: ($21,511,752)
Northern Illinois: ($15,606,856)
Miami (Ohio): ($25,840,399)
Ohio: ($22,391,704)
Toledo: ($20,883,227)
Western Michigan: ($26,296,565)
Now those numbers alone are crazy to think about, but when you couple that with the FACT that 7 of those institutions operate at a yearly loss, and all but one of those institutions operate with a net "profit" AS AN INSTITUTION of less than $500,000/year, you're going to have huge issues trying to justify continued operation of a department that loses you that much money per year. As a measure of expenses, the athletics departments at most of these institutions contribute anywhere between 3%-6% while only contributing around .2%-.4% to their institution's operating revenue. It's a complete loss and something that needs to start being looked at more thoroughly as cuts are made at multiple institutions without affecting the ADs there.
Luckily schools like UC, UCF, USF, Houston, etc. have the benefit of seeing continued increases in tuition revenue and giving from increased enrollment or smart financial moves, but schools in the MAC are running into issues because those values are dropping as well since most have seen contraction of student bodies and alumni bases. It's a zero sum game for them, and I don't see the current state of things lasting much more than a decade. The issue we run into now is that education isn't a re-electable policy platform when you're talking about reorganization at the fundamental level that I think our state needs. Most of the educators will rally against you from one side, and the other side will wonder why you're worrying about education reform to begin with, and that's all our politicians care about. The BOR for the state don't care because most, if not all, are tied in some way to the Goliath and don't want to lose their position for fear of reducing their 5 Year Average for OPERS/STERS.