The ULAA was in great shape financially when Jurich was defrocked. It's been on a nosedive since. That red bar at the right is Tyra's, and the next one's trending worse (2019)...
And donors have disappeared and attendance is down across the board. It's still a little early, but Tyra's failing about every way an AD can fail...
Thanks for the chart Zipp. Much of what has affected the 2018 red line may be things beyond Tyra’s control. In order for us to be able to better judge Tyra’s impact on the finances, perhaps you could provide a little more context as to whether or not the following items affected the amount there?
(1) The extra $2.4 million UofL athletics now pays for the downtown arena. (Again, the 2nd and Main arena location was essentially demanded by Ramsey and Jurich instead of the much more financially sensible location a few blocks further south, and as the primary tenant and beneficiary of the arena, the UofL Board decided it would be prudent to cough up some of the extra cost related to the Main Street. location. Difficut to say that Tyra is responsible for that extra cost.)
(2) The $7 million cost of the Jurich settlement. (Tyra had no responsibility for this.)
(3) Refund of NCAA basketball tournament revenue due to the stripper scandal. (Tyra had no role in what led to this.)
(4) Legal fees involved in the NCAA investigation. (Again, Tyra had no role in what led to this.)
(5) Loss of revenue due to decreased basketball attendance as a result of “scandal fatigue”. (Once again, Tyra had no role in causing this.) The average attendance for the first five years at the downtown arena was consistently just under 21,000. The attendance started slipping noticeably in the 2015-16 season (when the stripper scandal surfaced), getting to a low last season of just under 17,000 per game. At a cost of $50 per ticket for roughly 20 games, that’s $4 million a year.
(6) The decision to end the subsidy by the University to the athletic department for the LG&E costs associated with the football stadium. (Admittedly, that was a pretty slick deal on Jurich’s part to get the University to do that, but I think it's hard to defend that as an appropriate arrangement. I’m not sure what Tyra’s role might have been in ending that subsidy, but I agree with the decision, even with the impact on the athletic department.)
(7) The University decision to cut the student subsidy of the athletic department in half. (Again, a slick deal for the athletic department in terms of it’s own finances, but probably not fair for students who are targeted with ever-increasing tuition.)
Zipp, it is clear that you are right about major donations and that they have not been coming in since Jurich’s departure. From where I sit, Tyra deserves a little more time to see if he and President Bendapudi can turn that around. Hopefully, those who have supported UofL in the past will see fit to continue to support the University in the future. Perhaps securing a coach like Jeff Brohm will re-energize some donors.
