I would not be surprised if Savannah State would be the first to give up on all athletics. They dropped from FCS/D1 to D2 recently and have been a financial mess in athletics for a long time. Another one might be South Carolina State.

I seem to remember several years ago, and it might have been when the first teams left for CUSA, that having baseball was a prerequisite for admittance to the Sun Belt for new members.

While baseball might be a losing proposition for some, Louisiana and South Alabama generate a LOT of revenue for baseball. In fact, Louisiana had $750,000 in ticket sales alone.

No men's soccer team does that.

(05-29-2020 09:53 AM)BirdofParadise Wrote:  I seem to remember several years ago, and it might have been when the first teams left for CUSA, that having baseball was a prerequisite for admittance to the Sun Belt for new members.

While baseball might be a losing proposition for some, Louisiana and South Alabama generate a LOT of revenue for baseball. In fact, Louisiana had $750,000 in ticket sales alone.

No men's soccer team does that.

I have a feeling that Lousiana's baseball and softball teams are also what has given it the social media following it has too, as they lead the SBC in terms of followers.

(05-29-2020 08:43 AM)Cajun Dave Wrote:  I would not be surprised if Savannah State would be the first to give up on all athletics. They dropped from FCS/D1 to D2 recently and have been a financial mess in athletics for a long time. Another one might be South Carolina State.

The minimum sport requirement is going to kill programs. Even low level football is self funding but when you have to foot the bill for field hockey and cross country you have not choice but to operate at a deficit or shut down.

Regarding the (sometimes) fallacy that smaller sports make money...

*note this is only one ADs unique perspective and doesn’t necessarily hold true for every school*

We had Furman’s athletic director on our radio show last week after they killed their baseball program. He told us that in their case the university subsidized baseball with loans. Those loans showed up on the baseball ledger as a revenue but is actually a net loss for the university. As are scholarships. They were accounted for as an asset investment but same story, it still costs the university money. Baseball was huge at Furman so cutting it was a big deal for them.

I’d be willing to bet more than a few other schools have had to engage in funny accounting too. Just because people buy tickets doesn’t mean the program is making a net profit. People are asking “why baseball” or “why track”...Athletic directors are being forced to make the cuts that will have the biggest net impact on their budget. That’s why a sport that seemingly “makes money” is the one that has to go...because it’s probably simultaneously the most expensive sport to sponsor. Eliminate the biggest liabilities, balance your budgets.

(05-30-2020 08:27 PM)APPdiesel Wrote:  Regarding the (sometimes) fallacy that smaller sports make money...

*note this is only one ADs unique perspective and doesn’t necessarily hold true for every school*

We had Furman’s athletic director on our radio show last week after they killed their baseball program. He told us that in their case the university subsidized baseball with loans. Those loans showed up on the baseball ledger as a revenue but is actually a net loss for the university. As are scholarships. They were accounted for as an asset investment but same story, it still costs the university money. Baseball was huge at Furman so cutting it was a big deal for them.

I’d be willing to bet more than a few other schools have had to engage in funny accounting too. Just because people buy tickets doesn’t mean the program is making a net profit. People are asking “why baseball” or “why track”...Athletic directors are being forced to make the cuts that will have the biggest net impact on their budget. That’s why a sport that seemingly “makes money” is the one that has to go...because it’s probably simultaneously the most expensive sport to sponsor. Eliminate the biggest liabilities, balance your budgets.

hopefully this will all blow over as fast as it took hold. right now any public official has to show that they are doing every single thing that the sheeple can imagine as pandemic related so as to not be shamed out of their jobs by social media. one son and daughter-in-law work for a very lefty school district and they have to be very careful that some do-gooder does not see them having guests over or doing anything in public that could be weaponized on social media. once the lead lemming makes a turn, this will all be over and be back to normal. I think sports will have a banner year once they start back up.

(05-31-2020 11:58 AM)runamuck Wrote:  hopefully this will all blow over as fast as it took hold. right now any public official has to show that they are doing every single thing that the sheeple can imagine as pandemic related so as to not be shamed out of their jobs by social media. one son and daughter-in-law work for a very lefty school district and they have to be very careful that some do-gooder does not see them having guests over or doing anything in public that could be weaponized on social media. once the lead lemming makes a turn, this will all be over and be back to normal. I think sports will have a banner year once they start back up.

Wow