Athletic budgets compared

[newsdog]

KV posted a link to this USA today article:http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/ncaa-finances.htm. As expected, we suck at fundraising. A few numbers for comparison (from the 'Subtotal operating revenue' numbers (in millions):<div>
</div><div>SEC</div><div>Bama: $123.8</div><div>UF: $106.6</div><div>UT: $101.8</div><div>Auburn: $89.3</div><div>UGA: $85.6</div><div>LSU: $85.0</div><div>UK: $71.7</div><div>USo.Car.: $66.5</div><div>UArk: $66.2</div><div>Ole Miss: $34.8</div><div>MSU: $30.4</div><div>
</div><div>Numbers from other conferences (picked based on my subjective "peer/emulate/should be better than" judgement):</div><div>Clemson: $59.2</div><div>GT: $54.5</div><div>NC State: $45.6</div><div>Arizona: $49.2 (for the Ninja)</div><div>Iowa State: $38.6</div><div>K-State: $49.1</div><div>Purdue: $64.2</div><div>Houston: $31.0</div><div>Memphis: $34.4</div><div>
</div><div>Talk amongst yourselves.</div><div>
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[Optimus Prime 4]

money from the M Club or whatever it's called that actually pays the majority of salaries etc, because of how Mississippi does contracts.

 

[newsdog]

I'd be surprised if we have an extra $30 million to bring us up to the level of the bottom end of the conference. It might be enough to push us clearly ahead of the top CUSA schools, but we'd still be way below the middle of the SEC pack.

 

[patdog]

MSU's revenues were up to $36.7M and UM's were up to $41.2M.

 

[newsdog]

Sure, we're increasing revenue. That's great, but it doesn't seem like we're catching up. Our budget is less than most other similar-sized institutions in BCS conferences, and more comparable to decent CUSA programs. Maybe I should direct the discussion a bit more:<div>
</div><div>1. How do we increase revenue at a rate that allows us to close the gap between us and the rest of the SEC?</div><div>2. Do these numbers have any bearing on our on-the-field success (or lack thereof) in football, basketball, etc.? If so, have our on-field efforts failed to meet/met/exceeded what you might predict based on the revenues? </div><div>3. Realizing that we'll probably never catch up to the Bama/UF/UT's of the world, should we expect to be on par (revenue-wise) with programs like NC State, K-State, Purdue, or (insert other school)?</div><div>
</div><div>Obviously, if you had all these answers, you'd be on Keenum's short list as the next AD. I just want to get some general opinions.</div>

 

[patdog]

For 2007-2008 we were $35.8M behind #9 Arkansas. For 2008-2009 we were only $29.1M behind them. We've obviously got a long way to go, but I think we're making progress.

 

[rem101]

Sure, we're increasing revenue. That's great, but it doesn't seem like we're catching up. Our budget is less than most other similar-sized institutions in BCS conferences, and more comparable to decent CUSA programs. Maybe I should direct the discussion a bit more:<div>
</div><div>1. How do we increase revenue at a rate that allows us to close the gap between us and the rest of the SEC?<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Raise more than them
</span></div><div>2. Do these numbers have any bearing on our on-the-field success (or lack thereof) in football, basketball, etc.? If so, have our on-field efforts failed to meet/met/exceeded what you might predict based on the revenues? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Yes. It will help with salaries to get better coaches. Recruiting budget goes up. Nicer facilities attract better players. Better Players + better coaches = better success on field.
</span></div><div>3. Realizing that we'll probably never catch up to the Bama/UF/UT's of the world, should we expect to be on par (revenue-wise) with programs like NC State, K-State, Purdue, or (insert other school)? <span style="font-weight: bold;">Yes. Obviously there are some schools that we'll never compete with. But teams like this that don't have great success year after year, kind of like us, we should be on par with. </span>
</div><div>
</div><div>Obviously, if you had all these answers, you'd be on Keenum's short list as the next AD. I just want to get some general opinions.</div>

 

[LAMSUFAN]

B/c if they were LSU would be at or near the top, the TAF makes the LSU football program self suffieicient from school funds. While that may not be true of the Bulldog Club or OM's club it could one day be a possibility.