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Antarius Offline
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Post: #21
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 06:18 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  At least there were no Zimbabwe references present today.

Eh, lets keep with it. The parallels are pretty impressive.

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-an...ed-airline

The above still makes more sense than the new Roost. As comical as that may seem.
(This post was last modified: 06-18-2018 06:37 PM by Antarius.)
06-18-2018 06:34 PM
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exowlswimmer Offline
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Post: #22
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 06:34 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 06:18 PM)tanqtonic Wrote:  At least there were no Zimbabwe references present today.

Eh, lets keep with it. The parallels are pretty impressive.

https://www.economist.com/middle-east-an...ed-airline

The above still makes more sense than the new Roost. As comical as that may seem.

Rice, the new home for the United States Space Force Academy. Rice athlete and NASA administrator Bridenstine could set up the newest Federal Academy (federal private partnership) with a small USCGA footprint, commissioning about 250 a year. Full federal ride scholarships and if they don’t like the service they can stay on as Rice Owls outside of the Space Force. Win win win and keeps Rice close to the JSC and space science expertise.
06-18-2018 07:34 PM
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Owl 69/70/75 Offline
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Post: #23
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
Antarius hit the nail on the head. The problem is that the program simply doesn't bring in enough revenues to survive.
The ticket sales number is a real head scratcher for me. Let's assume the following:

6 home football games with average ticket sales of 10,000 = 60,000
12 home basketball games with average ticket sales of 1,000 = 12,000
20 home baseball games with average ticket sales of 2,000 = 40,000

That's 112,000. To get to $1.89 million means an average ticket price of roughly $17. That seems awfully low. Anybody have an explanation?
06-18-2018 07:40 PM
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tanqtonic Online
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Post: #24
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
I would think that when you have a product that no one really buys, that a huge amount of it ends up as give-aways and in the bargain bin.

Think: bargain outlet products and why they are there.....
06-18-2018 08:57 PM
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I45owl Offline
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Post: #25
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 07:40 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Antarius hit the nail on the head. The problem is that the program simply doesn't bring in enough revenues to survive.
The ticket sales number is a real head scratcher for me. Let's assume the following:

6 home football games with average ticket sales of 10,000 = 60,000
12 home basketball games with average ticket sales of 1,000 = 12,000
20 home baseball games with average ticket sales of 2,000 = 40,000

That's 112,000. To get to $1.89 million means an average ticket price of roughly $17. That seems awfully low. Anybody have an explanation?

60,000 × 20 = $1.2 mm
12,000 × 12 = $144 k
40,000 × 8 = $320 k
Sum is about $1.66 mm

Those are estimated prices and likely wildly inaccurate.
06-18-2018 09:08 PM
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Antarius Offline
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Post: #26
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 07:40 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  Antarius hit the nail on the head. The problem is that the program simply doesn't bring in enough revenues to survive.
The ticket sales number is a real head scratcher for me. Let's assume the following:

6 home football games with average ticket sales of 10,000 = 60,000
12 home basketball games with average ticket sales of 1,000 = 12,000
20 home baseball games with average ticket sales of 2,000 = 40,000

That's 112,000. To get to $1.89 million means an average ticket price of roughly $17. That seems awfully low. Anybody have an explanation?

Replace 10000 FB with 3500. 1000 MBB with 300. That gives us roughly 30 USD per ticket. Now, there are season ticket holders who pay more for premium seats, so slide that 3500 down even further for realistic numbers. I can say with 100% confidence that Rice does not have 10000 paying ticket holders at the game, let alone 60000 a year - IIRC on a back of the napkin calc, when Katy-Pearland drew 45000 several years ago, it was more than the entire Rice season combined or close.

What you have is Air Zimbabwe. A financially insolvent money churning machine that caters to well connected interests on someone else's dime. Or Sears under Eddie Lampert. Sears is dead, no one wants it anymore, but it benefits Lampert and his company while the shareholders (/someone else) is paying for it.

With numbers like this, Rice Athletics would be the greatest short since the Mortgage Backed Security failure in 2008. There is simply no way for revenue to even come close to cost anymore.
(This post was last modified: 06-18-2018 09:33 PM by Antarius.)
06-18-2018 09:11 PM
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WoodlandsOwl Offline
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Post: #27
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
$1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.

Too bad Bailiff wasn't required to work as a Flight Attendant for Air Zimbabwe as part of his buyout.
(This post was last modified: 06-18-2018 10:44 PM by WoodlandsOwl.)
06-18-2018 10:31 PM
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Post: #28
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 10:31 PM)WoodlandsOwl Wrote:  $1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.

It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
06-18-2018 11:25 PM
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FireFox Offline
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Post: #29
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 09:11 PM)Antarius Wrote:  With numbers like this, Rice Athletics would be the greatest short since the Mortgage Backed Security failure in 2008. There is simply no way for revenue to even come close to cost anymore.

Come and get your put options; ripe for the Rice Owls bear market.
06-19-2018 12:47 AM
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Post: #30
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 10:31 PM)WoodlandsOwl Wrote:  $1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.

It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.

That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.
06-19-2018 07:32 AM
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Owl 69/70/75 Offline
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Post: #31
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 10:31 PM)WoodlandsOwl Wrote:  $1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.
It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.
06-19-2018 07:40 AM
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Antarius Offline
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Post: #32
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 10:31 PM)WoodlandsOwl Wrote:  $1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.
It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2018 12:10 PM by Antarius.)
06-19-2018 12:09 PM
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Post: #33
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 10:31 PM)WoodlandsOwl Wrote:  $1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.
It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.

There are something like 20 schools in the country where revenue is larger than costs. It’s fundamental to the university to fund athletics. You can’t just say that it’s wasted expense if you agree with that. The point of an athletic department isn’t to turn a profit.
06-19-2018 12:24 PM
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Antarius Offline
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Post: #34
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:24 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.

There are something like 20 schools in the country where revenue is larger than costs. It’s fundamental to the university to fund athletics. You can’t just say that it’s wasted expense if you agree with that. The point of an athletic department isn’t to turn a profit.

If you talk to Alitalia's management or Union leaders, they will say the same. It is fundamental to the university/country to fund athletics/national airline. And in both cases, why?

If athletics was performing a public service for a viable contingent of people, then expenditure is justified. Building roads, running trains etc. those don't always have revenue meeting cost - but they serve a large group of people. Rice Athletics with 3000 people in a FB stadium, 300 in MBB and 1000 at Baseball isn't a large contingent of people.

So the question again is WHY and for WHO does Rice need to fund athletics. Clearly not the students, clearly not the alums, clearly not the community. So who is benefiting from this cycling of money?

(Also, to restate, just because there are 50 other non viable programs doesn't mean ours is justifiably viable).
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2018 12:43 PM by Antarius.)
06-19-2018 12:41 PM
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Brookes Owl Offline
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Post: #35
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 10:31 PM)WoodlandsOwl Wrote:  $1.32 million in Media Rights and Royalties, Licensing and Ads is pathetic
But when you are a part of the impotent CUSA Media Contract with numerous Facebook Live and other Social Media Broadcasts to distribute your product, you are left with the option of body Bag Games for OOC to raise revenue.
It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.

Well, let's speculate: If the university admin is willing to support the department to the tune of, say, $20MM per year, and right now they're dumping in $23MM, then an extra $4MM would be pretty nice. I have no idea how much corporate money is out there but I believe we've heard here before that our rate is exceptionally small for a D1 university.
06-19-2018 12:43 PM
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Antarius Offline
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Post: #36
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:43 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  
(06-18-2018 11:25 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  It's definitely pathetic, but it's not just the bad CUSA media contract. If I'm understanding things correctly, this category includes corporate sponsorship, where we have self-imposed restrictions on solicitation. There's a lot of money out there if you ask for it, but apparently we're not allowed to.
That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.

Well, let's speculate: If the university admin is willing to support the department to the tune of, say, $20MM per year, and right now they're dumping in $23MM, then an extra $4MM would be pretty nice. I have no idea how much corporate money is out there but I believe we've heard here before that our rate is exceptionally small for a D1 university.

I mean, definitely. More is always better than less.

That said, 23 million or 20 + 4 million has gotten us to empty stadiums with no fans, no path forward and no revenue potential. So adding 4 million isn't going to fundamentally change this equation. The university spends less, which is good, but then the question becomes is 20 million (vs 23 million) too much to pay for the near zero return we get?

In summary, 4 million is nice to have, but it is on the lines of changing the brand of coffee in the office to save money when you lost a quarter billion dollars in a quarter (this is a true story). The dent it makes will not result in a paradigm shift. So while the Rice spend drops to 20 million from 23 now.. it will be back up to 23 million in a few years anyways as costs rise and our revenue stays the same (or drops)
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2018 12:55 PM by Antarius.)
06-19-2018 12:45 PM
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Brookes Owl Offline
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Post: #37
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:41 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:24 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.

There are something like 20 schools in the country where revenue is larger than costs. It’s fundamental to the university to fund athletics. You can’t just say that it’s wasted expense if you agree with that. The point of an athletic department isn’t to turn a profit.

If you talk to Alitalia's management or Union leaders, they will say the same. It is fundamental to the university/country to fund athletics/national airline. And in both cases, why?

If athletics was performing a public service for a viable contingent of people, then expenditure is justified. Building roads, running trains etc. those don't always have revenue meeting cost - but they serve a large group of people. Rice Athletics with 3000 people in a FB stadium, 300 in MBB and 1000 at Baseball isn't a large contingent of people.

So the question again is why and for WHO does Rice need to fund athletics. Clearly not the fans, clearly not the alums, clearly not the community. So who is benefiting from this cycling of money?

(Also, to restate, just because there are 50 other non viable programs doesn't mean ours is justifiably viable).

I'm pretty fond of the expression that athletics is the front porch of a university. If your argument is that we're not doing it right, well, yeah - that's probably correct. That we haven't figured it out yet doesn't mean it can't be figured out. I don't want to give up because I think Rice will be all the poorer for quitting.
06-19-2018 12:54 PM
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Brookes Owl Offline
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Post: #38
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:45 PM)Antarius Wrote:  That said, 23 million or 20 + 4 million has gotten us to empty stadiums with no fans, no path forward and no revenue potential. So adding 4 million isn't going to fundamentally change this equation. The university spends less, which is good, but then the question becomes is 20 million (vs 23 million) too much to pay for the near zero return we get?

In summary, 4 million is nice to have, but it is on the lines of changing the brand of coffee in the office to save money when you lost a quarter billion dollars in a quarter (this is a true story). The dent it makes will not result in a paradigm shift. So while the Rice spend drops to 20 million from 23 now.. it will be back up to 23 million in a few years anyways as costs rise and our revenue stays the same (or drops)

- No revenue potential? You'll have to explain your definition of revenue.
- Saying we get a "near zero return" is just arm waving. The revenue numbers speak for themselves but it's simply not correct to say that the university gets nothing from athletics. The school would be vastly different without D1 athletics.
- There is no reason to think that revenue has to stay the same.
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2018 01:08 PM by Brookes Owl.)
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Post: #39
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 12:41 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:24 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:09 PM)Antarius Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:40 AM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 07:32 AM)tanqtonic Wrote:  That's interesting. At the Coaches Caravan I had a bit of a private aside with JK and specifically asked why we didnt 'open the door' more to the concept of corporate sponsorship. His answering was pretty much 'we are are doing awesome with it'. The above numbers kind of toss doubt on that entire statement.

We are doing "awesome" with it within the constraints under which we operate. These numbers reflect how unrealistic those constraints are.

Unless there is 40 million on the proverbial table we are unable to use, is the corporate sponsorships a game changer? Say the number went from 1.32 million to 6 million; a 4 fold increase. It still doesn't materially change that cost outstrips revenue by a massive amount, leaving a revenue gap in the tens (if not hundreds) of millions.

And extra 4.5 million may have made a difference a decade ago towards steering the ship somewhere. 5 million now is like a trying to turn a cruise ship with a soup ladle.

There are something like 20 schools in the country where revenue is larger than costs. It’s fundamental to the university to fund athletics. You can’t just say that it’s wasted expense if you agree with that. The point of an athletic department isn’t to turn a profit.

If you talk to Alitalia's management or Union leaders, they will say the same. It is fundamental to the university/country to fund athletics/national airline. And in both cases, why?

If athletics was performing a public service for a viable contingent of people, then expenditure is justified. Building roads, running trains etc. those don't always have revenue meeting cost - but they serve a large group of people. Rice Athletics with 3000 people in a FB stadium, 300 in MBB and 1000 at Baseball isn't a large contingent of people.

So the question again is WHY and for WHO does Rice need to fund athletics. Clearly not the students, clearly not the alums, clearly not the community. So who is benefiting from this cycling of money?

(Also, to restate, just because there are 50 other non viable programs doesn't mean ours is justifiably viable).

I’d say the athletes think of it as a benefit.

What do you mean it’s clearly not for the students? I wouldn’t have gone to Rice if there weren’t D1 athletics (and I wasn’t an athlete).

Again what is non-viable? Athletic departments aren’t meant to make $. I’d wager a guess and say athletic departments never turned a profit until 10, maybe 15 years ago. There are something like 128 schools that play D1 football and only 20ish turn a profit (UT, A&M, Bama, Ohio state). Does that mean everyone else should drop athletics?
06-19-2018 01:15 PM
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Antarius Offline
Say no to cronyism
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Post: #40
RE: where does Rice athletics $s come from
(06-19-2018 01:08 PM)Brookes Owl Wrote:  
(06-19-2018 12:45 PM)Antarius Wrote:  That said, 23 million or 20 + 4 million has gotten us to empty stadiums with no fans, no path forward and no revenue potential. So adding 4 million isn't going to fundamentally change this equation. The university spends less, which is good, but then the question becomes is 20 million (vs 23 million) too much to pay for the near zero return we get?

In summary, 4 million is nice to have, but it is on the lines of changing the brand of coffee in the office to save money when you lost a quarter billion dollars in a quarter (this is a true story). The dent it makes will not result in a paradigm shift. So while the Rice spend drops to 20 million from 23 now.. it will be back up to 23 million in a few years anyways as costs rise and our revenue stays the same (or drops)

- No revenue potential? You'll have to explain your definition of revenue.
- Saying we get a "near zero return" is just arm waving. The revenue numbers speak for themselves but it's simply not correct to say that the university gets nothing from athletics. The school would be vastly different without D1 athletics.
- There is no reason to think that revenue has to stay the same.

1. No revenue potential - no potential for revenue to approach cost. The conference TV contract collapse ensures that while our small fan base means streaming is not a viable revenue get either

2. Saying the university gets something from athletics is arm waving too. What are the benefits? We get no exposure, the tiny student turnout shows that athletics isn't and wasn't a deciding or key factor in most Rice students decisions while the average season ticket holder at Rice being 60+ also shows that this isn't a recent phenomenon.

3. The school would be vastly different without D1 athletics. - Maybe, maybe not. The university has spent roughly a quarter BILLION on athletic subsidy in the last 12 years. Think what else a quarter billion could get Rice. Different maybe.. better even?

3. "There is no reason to think that revenue has to stay the same." See point 1. also how do we get more?
06-19-2018 01:19 PM
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