BusinessJournal: Gophers among top moneymakers in NCAA hoops

[BleedGopher]

http://www.bizjournals.com/twinciti...10/gophers-among-top-moneymakers-in-ncaa.html

"The University of Minnesota men's basketball team hasn't advanced past the first round of the NCAA tournament since its Final Four run in 1997, but the Gophers can still rake in the cash.

Minnesota generated more than $13.7 million in revenue from men's basketball team during the 2009-10 season, the latest for which data from the U.S. Department of Education is available. That ranked 16th among 339 NCAA schools and sixth in the Big Ten Conference.

With expenses of about $5.7 million, the program turned a profit of more than $8 million for the year.

It should come as no surprise that basketball powerhouse Duke University led the NCAA with $26.6 million in revenue in 2009-10. It also led the nation with $12.2 million in expenses."

Go Gophers!!

 

[GopherinPhilly]

How is it our MBB program turns an $8 mil per year profit but can't afford to finance a $12 mil practice facility? Oh yeah...we need that money for the baseball and rowing teams. And they are going to raise even more $$$ with higher premium seat donations and still say they can't build a practice facility? Absurd!

 

[The-Real-Truth]

GopherinPhilly, last week, you mentioned about not paying attention to BB as a money-making sport. I wanted to say this but I did not remember the details. I remembered similar report from last year that Gophers were in the top 25 in moneymakers chart. They should be able to get a loan for a practice facility for sure.

Go Gophers

 

[jovs]

How is it our MBB program turns an $8 mil per year profit but can't afford to finance a $12 mil practice facility? Oh yeah...we need that money for the baseball and rowing teams. And they are going to raise even more $$$ with higher premium seat donations and still say they can't build a practice facility? Absurd!

Agree, baseball, come on, fix the field, who cares about the stands. It really says alot about being successfull.

Rowing was title 19 not sure what you could do about that.

 

[From the Barn]

I wonder if we are looking at the practice facility vis a vis Tubby's contract the wrong way. It very well may be that they want Tubby locked into a longer term deal before getting to work on the practice facility. If Tubby left soon, and the assumption is the new coach wouldn't require a practice facility and they program would be less profitable, then the lack of urgency around the practice facility would be understandable. Of course, without a practice facility, Tubby seems less likely to commit to a long term deal.

 

[howeda7]

The squeeze every penny from basketball to make up for the poor amount of revenue generated by the football program. But the ridiculous insistance on raisng the money for the baseball stadium before focusing on the practice facility is the biggest issue, IMO. (We can't possibly do both, right Joel?)

I think it's time to realize they're never going to have enough for both, take some of the $$ to upgrade baseball practice facilities, make a deal to play games at Target Field for the next 20 years when the Dome isn't available and be done with it. Honestly they will probably draw better playing at TF anyway from fans who want a to buy a cheap ticket and eat TF food, and I would think playing outdoors at TF is at least as attractive to recruits as playing in an on-campus stadium.

 

[howeda7]

I wonder if we are looking at the practice facility vis a vis Tubby's contract the wrong way. It very well may be that they want Tubby locked into a longer term deal before getting to work on the practice facility. If Tubby left soon, and the assumption is the new coach wouldn't require a practice facility and they program would be less profitable, then the lack of urgency around the practice facility would be understandable. Of course, without a practice facility, Tubby seems less likely to commit to a long term deal.

I think it's pretty obvious that every coach who is here from now on is going to be asking for one, so Tubby's status shouldn't be a factor. If anything, if he leaves it will be needed even more.

 

[From the Barn]

I think it's pretty obvious that every coach who is here from now on is going to be asking for one, so Tubby's status shouldn't be a factor. If anything, if he leaves it will be needed even more.

Hey, I never said Maturi is smarter than you.

 

[Gopher Warrior]

I'd take all the numbers with a grain of salt. If you want to try and glean a bit of perspective off of it, fine, but anything past that is a bad idea.

Valid comparisons simply cannot be made. The allocation methods employed by individual institutions vary greatly and even when comparing a single institution year over year, be aware that changes in methods can cause the figures to swing wildly.

I wonder if we are looking at the practice facility vis a vis Tubby's contract the wrong way. It very well may be that they want Tubby locked into a longer term deal before getting to work on the practice facility. If Tubby left soon, and the assumption is the new coach wouldn't require a practice facility and they program would be less profitable, then the lack of urgency around the practice facility would be understandable. Of course, without a practice facility, Tubby seems less likely to commit to a long term deal.

No, I don't think so. That would assume that the school's interest is driven by a desire to retain Tubby Smith. The school would like a new practice facility, period. I don't believe the U wants to push off building a new practice facility or 'get by on the cheap' if there is a new coach, rather the U just is not very good at getting things done.

 

[Southpaw]

I'd take all the numbers with a grain of salt. If you want to try and glean a bit of perspective off of it, fine, but anything past that is a bad idea.

Valid comparisons simply cannot be made. The allocation methods employed by individual institutions vary greatly and even when comparing a single institution year over year, be aware that changes in methods can cause the figures to swing wildly.

Agreed. I seem to recall a similar discussion last season concerning the difficulty of comparing BB revenue between schools. Minnesota, for instance, doesn't count revenue generated from parking for BB games (most schools do from what I understand) as BB revenue. They also don't count the seat fees they have been collecting since 1993 for lower deck seats in the center sections - even though the seat fees are collected specifically for BB, they are counted as general revenue rather than BB revenue. I don't know how the figures were gathered for the cited article, but I suspect that Minnesota's BB revenue is underreported due to the factors mentioned above. Further proof that we are being ripped off.

 

[sec105]

...we are being ripped off.

Truer words were never spoken.

 

[GopherinPhilly]

Agree, baseball, come on, fix the field, who cares about the stands. It really says alot about being successfull.

Rowing was title 19 not sure what you could do about that.

The issue with Title IX is the balance in scholarships. Football and wrestling are 115 for men...so we need to find 115 for women...if we cut baseball, we can cut a women's sport with an equal number of schollys like softball...we can cut golf for men and women. If we dropped golf, baseball and softball, and put that money back in the football, basketball, hockey teams which make the money and bring the most prestige with success...we might actually have something. Best thing aboug basketball and hockey facilities...they can be used by both mens and womens teams so it benefits the athletic department in multiple sports. No sense in cutting track, gymnastics, swimming/diving because we already have those facilities...so baseball, softball and golf...cuz its golf. Just my opinion...but it makes sense to me.

 

[Maximus]

No sense in cutting track, gymnastics, swimming/diving because we already have those facilities...so baseball, softball and golf...cuz its golf. Just my opinion...but it makes sense to me.

Softball has its own facility.

You better hurry on erasing the 105 year old baseball program....1.5 million more and the shovel's in the ground.

 

[JMGIII]

Best thing aboug basketball and hockey facilities...they can be used by both mens and womens teams so it benefits the athletic department in multiple sports.

That's exactly what I though back when Rider arena was being proposed. What a waste of money - could have built a BB practice facility long ago.

Totally off topic, but I could not believe the girls high school hockey made a big stink about wanting/needing to play at Excel. They could fill Rider and have a great environment, instead they play in what looks like a practically empty venue.

 

[Gophers09]

Problem is you can't play women's college hockey on an olympic size sheet. Obviously you can but...