Is Maturi lying about being able to pay Tubby?

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FireCosgroveGuy

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CNBC has Minnesota as the 5th most profitable tournament team, yet Maturi makes it sound like they are poor as hell. With profits of nearly $8M, I think he can afford to pay Tubby.

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_14702897?nclick_check=1

Smith, who left Kentucky for Minnesota in 2007, is making an annual salary of $1.75 million, which places him just under high-profile Big Ten coaches Thad Matta of Ohio State and Tom Izzo of Michigan State. Their salaries are around $2 million a year.

"We can't match that. We won't begin to try to match that," Maturi said. "We're trying to keep Tubby by allowing him to have the right staff, support staff, travel the right way, stay at the right places, (have a) recruiting budget and a practice facility," Maturi said. "Those are all of the things I can control and am working hard to accomplish."

http://www.cnbc.com/id/35860314/The_Most_Profitable_NCAA_Tournament_Teams?slide=12

5. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Profit reported: $7,843,045
Shoe & Apparel Deal: Nike
Arena: Williams Arena
Capacity: 14,625
 

Hey Cosgrove guy.....

check the football program's bottom line and you'll know why he can't afford to pay more.
 

Is FCG lying? Or, just quotes "selectively"?

Here's the full quote from Maturi:

"Right now there's a salary freeze at Minnesota, so from a raise standpoint it would be very challenging for me to do that immediately. I think Tubby understands that because, frankly, if it were about money, then he will be offered more money by other institutions. That's a fact. Somebody will offer him $3 million. We can't pay him $3 million."​

I think FCG learned his quoting style from Glenn Beck.
 




To me this was the worst part of the article ...

==============
Getting bonus on time: Smith's contract calls for him to receive a $100,000 bonus on May 1 when he leads the Gophers to an NCAA tournament, but he didn't get paid that money until July last year. A team source with knowledge of the situation said Smith was "very upset" at the delay. Maturi, who is in Milwaukee with the team, said he didn't know about the delay.

"I do not know why it happened, but it will not happen this year," said Maturi.

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At least pay the guy on time.
 

rrjackIII said:
To me this was the worst part of the article ...

==============
Getting bonus on time: Smith's contract calls for him to receive a $100,000 bonus on May 1 when he leads the Gophers to an NCAA tournament, but he didn't get paid that money until July last year. A team source with knowledge of the situation said Smith was "very upset" at the delay. Maturi, who is in Milwaukee with the team, said he didn't know about the delay.

"I do not know why it happened, but it will not happen this year," said Maturi.

=============

At least pay the guy on time.
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How is it possible that Maturi wouldn't know about that?
 

FireCosgroveGuy said:
5. Minnesota Golden Gophers

Profit reported: $7,843,045
Shoe & Apparel Deal: Nike
Arena: Williams Arena
Capacity: 14,625
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Gophers are #5 despite having one of the smallest arenas on the list - the obvious conclusion is that our ticket prices are higher than everybody else's prices. Expansion of priority seating for Gopher BB is on its way. My prediction is that we'll get the notification mailing this spring with implementation in the 2011-2012 season - that's similar to the timetable set for Michigan State's re-seating initiative (but 1 year later). IMO expansion of priority seating is totally unjustified. The Athletic Dept can no longer use the tired excuse that they need to charge high prices for BB because football revenue is lacking. With preferred seating and luxury suite income at TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers are no longer "have-nots" when it comes to football income - I have no figures to document my supposition, but I contend that the additional football income strictly related to extra fees for preffered seating and suites more than make up for the relatively low seating capacity at TCF Bank Stadium.
 

Southpaw said:
Gophers are #5 despite having one of the smallest arenas on the list - the obvious conclusion is that our ticket prices are higher than everybody else's prices. Expansion of priority seating for Gopher BB is on its way. My prediction is that we'll get the notification mailing this spring with implementation in the 2011-2012 season - that's similar to the timetable set for Michigan State's re-seating initiative (but 1 year later). IMO expansion of priority seating is totally unjustified. The Athletic Dept can no longer use the tired excuse that they need to charge high prices for BB because football revenue is lacking. With preferred seating and luxury suite income at TCF Bank Stadium, the Gophers are no longer "have-nots" when it comes to football income - I have no figures to document my supposition, but I contend that the additional football income strictly related to extra fees for preffered seating and suites more than make up for the relatively low seating capacity at TCF Bank Stadium.
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It's the second smallest football stadium in the Big Ten. Minnesota is still a have not.
 



Maximus said:
It's the second smallest football stadium in the Big Ten. Minnesota is still a have not.
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True, but I think that was part of the Athletic Dept's pricing stategy. Building the stadium so small never made much sense to me - are we really aspiring to be like the Northwestern and Indiana football programs or do we want to play with the big boys? However, the small capacity leads to high demand which in turn allows the AD to charge a premium for a relatively large percentage of the seating areas/ suites in the stadium - I don't think fans would be willing to pay that premium if additional non-premium seating were available. Bottom line: because of seat premiums, the Athletic Dept can make more money with a smaller stadium than they could with a larger stadium with a much smaller percxentage of premium seat fees.
 

If Minnesota is indeed charging more than other schools for BB tickets (I'm not yet willing to concede the point, it shouldn't be difficult to look up what tickets cost at other schools), and the tickets are getting sold, it indicates that people are willing to pay that price for them. If they were not willing, the ticket prices would be lower. If they were willing to pay even more, then we should expect the ticket price to increase. Economics 101.

The BB team is not subsidizing the football team, that's just internal smack that we could all do without. Smack some other colleges teams. The price of BB tickets is based on what people are willing to pay. If you want cheap college BB tickets there are any number of D-II and D-III schools in the area. The reason they are cheap is that few people want to attend.
 

Southpaw said:
True, but I think that was part of the Athletic Dept's pricing stategy. Building the stadium so small never made much sense to me - are we really aspiring to be like the Northwestern and Indiana football programs or do we want to play with the big boys? However, the small capacity leads to high demand which in turn allows the AD to charge a premium for a relatively large percentage of the seating areas/ suites in the stadium - I don't think fans would be willing to pay that premium if additional non-premium seating were available. Bottom line: because of seat premiums, the Athletic Dept can make more money with a smaller stadium than they could with a larger stadium with a much smaller percxentage of premium seat fees.
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We got all the stadium we could get, if we had tried to build an 80,000 seat stadium like some wanted, we wouldn't have gotten funding from the state. We can expand at a later date if there is need. In any case, there's a world of difference between 50,000 people in a 50,000 seat stadium than the same number in an 80,000 seat stadium. In the former, its a tremendous atmosphere, in the later, it feels like a tomb. Perceptions do matter.
 

RodentRampage said:
If Minnesota is indeed charging more than other schools for BB tickets (I'm not yet willing to concede the point, it shouldn't be difficult to look up what tickets cost at other schools), and the tickets are getting sold, it indicates that people are willing to pay that price for them. If they were not willing, the ticket prices would be lower. If they were willing to pay even more, then we should expect the ticket price to increase. Economics 101.

The BB team is not subsidizing the football team, that's just internal smack that we could all do without. Smack some other colleges teams. The price of BB tickets is based on what people are willing to pay. If you want cheap college BB tickets there are any number of D-II and D-III schools in the area. The reason they are cheap is that few people want to attend.
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I don't think anybody is saying that the BB team is subsidizing the football team. I think the point someone tried to make above is that because the football team isn't as profitable as some other schools, more is needed from basketball (and hockey) to help run the entire athletic operation.
 



Hates Monikers said:
I don't think anybody is saying that the BB team is subsidizing the football team. I think the point someone tried to make above is that because the football team isn't as profitable as some other schools, more is needed from basketball (and hockey) to help run the entire athletic operation.
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Thanks for stating it so clearly - that was exactly my point. Profits from the big 3 programs (Mens FB, BB & Hockey) need to pay for all the Mens and Womens sports programs that are operating at a loss.

I'll be very interested to see the profit figures for Gopher FB from the first year in TCF Bank Stadium - my guess is that the figures will show that we've moved from the lower tier to the middle-to-upper tier of big time FB programs in terms of profitabilty. Combined with the upper tier profitabilty of Mens BB and a second-to-none profitability of Mens Hockey, the Athletic Dept shoud be in decent shape financially. Given the already profitable nature of Mens BB (due primarily to high ticket prices), IMO there is absolutely no justification for a major expansion of priority seating.
 

Is Minnesota's athletic department budget self contained or is it part of the University's general fund?
 


Quick question. How does the department handle paying scholarship for student athletes. Does that come out of the general budget of the department or is there a seperate club raising that money?
 

mnboiler said:
Quick question. How does the department handle paying scholarship for student athletes. Does that come out of the general budget of the department or is there a seperate club raising that money?
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Typically the latter but IDK about Minnesota specifically.
 

Friend Of Tubby said:
Typically the latter but IDK about Minnesota specifically.
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I know in Purdue's case they have the John Purdue Club that's job is to raise money for scholarships and also facilities. But I was wondering in Minnesota's case specifically. For any athletic department scholarship's are a huge expenditure, especailly if you have alot of out of state athletes.
 

mnboiler said:
I know in Purdue's case they have the John Purdue Club that's job is to raise money for scholarships and also facilities. But I was wondering in Minnesota's case specifically. For any athletic department scholarship's are a huge expenditure, especailly if you have alot of out of state athletes.
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Cincinnati does it that way (JPC) also. Ditto Kentucky. Likely the Gophers do, too.
 

Tubby the target

Rick Mons said:
Here's the full quote from Maturi:

"Right now there's a salary freeze at Minnesota, so from a raise standpoint it would be very challenging for me to do that immediately. I think Tubby understands that because, frankly, if it were about money, then he will be offered more money by other institutions. That's a fact. Somebody will offer him $3 million. We can't pay him $3 million."​

I think FCG learned his quoting style from Glenn Beck.
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And people wonder why Tubby is a target for anybody in the country who has a coaching vacancy *duh*. If I were them, I'd go after Tubby too.
 

I just did some quick research and the athletic departments yearly scholarship bill is 8.8 million. It doesn't break it down in the way if that is all in state or all out of state or what percentage of each. But that is alot of dough. This shows why scholarship endowments are so important. If all of those are endowed that is a lot of extra money the department has to improve other parts of the department.
 

Maturi isn't lying. Don't blame him, blame Pawlenty if you want to be mad.

Minnesota is a state University, all coaches and professors are state employees. Tim Pawlenty put in a wage freeze for all state employees, that includes Tubby Smith.

Nothing Maturi can do, he may be the head of the athletic department but last time i checked thats not enough power to change state legislation.
 

Tubby could get a raise if he gets a new contract correct? With a higher pay of course.
 

mnboiler said:
Tubby could get a raise if he gets a new contract correct? With a higher pay of course.
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theoretically, yes.

But a bad idea from a political standpoint -- both in terms of the royally pissing off the Governor, the legislature and constituencies within the University. There have been unprecedented cuts in terms of human services, health services, public assistance, etc.

The only solution may be to offer a "We Love Tubby" license plate and use the proceeds to supplement Tubby's salary. By precedent, the Governor would be hard-pressed to frown on that since he's used a similar ploy to fund a "veteran affairs" staff person on his staff.
 

Rick Mons said:
theoretically, yes.

But a bad idea from a political standpoint -- both in terms of the royally pissing off the Governor, the legislature and constituencies within the University. There have been unprecedented cuts in terms of human services, health services, public assistance, etc.

The only solution may be to offer a "We Love Tubby" license plate and use the proceeds to supplement Tubby's salary. By precedent, the Governor would be hard-pressed to frown on that since he's used a similar ploy to fund a "veteran affairs" staff person on his staff.
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That's silly. Most other schools pay thier men's and women't coaches the same salary and the then 'University Booster Club' pays the football and men's basketball coaches thier additional millions via a shoe deal, radio show, etc. There's no reason that can't be done here. The fact that Maturi can't seem to figure it out is disturbing.
 

RodentRampage said:
If Minnesota is indeed charging more than other schools for BB tickets (I'm not yet willing to concede the point, it shouldn't be difficult to look up what tickets cost at other schools), and the tickets are getting sold, it indicates that people are willing to pay that price for them. If they were not willing, the ticket prices would be lower. If they were willing to pay even more, then we should expect the ticket price to increase. Economics 101.
Click to expand...

As far as ticket costs, here are the highest student ticket costs:
The Nation's Most Expensive Student Season Tickets
Posted: Feb 17, 2009 5:21 PM CST Updated: Feb 18, 2009 3:34 PM CST
1. Oklahoma State $242
2. Indiana $220
3. Wisconsin $180
4. Texas A&M $175
5. Purdue $170
6. Michigan State $168
T-7. Kansas State $160
T-7. Syracuse $160
9. Illinois $133
10. Colorado $130

Gopher tickets this year were $131 (this list is from last year) - so without other schools raising their prices, we are amongst the top 10 highest priced student tickets in the nation.

For the life of me, I can't find the price for public tickets - I want to say someone posted it a few years ago on here, and the U was top 10 or 25 in the nation....and possibly the most expensive in the Big 10. Is there anyone that can find that?

Quite honestly, I think this is a moot point. If Tubby wanted, he could of been paid more at UVA, and I'm sure a lot of other schools are willing to offer a lot. It's not like he's barely making enough to feed his family (like Latrell Spreewell). I think he's to a point where his quality of life and happiness is a lot more important than a pay increase.

Southpaw - I just heard the new seating will be in 2 years.

Our basketball has always made good $, and has been very profitable. Most schools that have the big buck though, are from Football. This is from 2008

http://scottdo.wordpress.com/2009/0...mparisons-with-iowa-state-notre-dame-big-ten/

MN is making less than half of the MI, OSU's, and PSU of the world (however, we spent more in recruting than anyone other than MI). I'm sure this number will go up with the new stadium - but if we were making 25 Million more with our FB program, we'd easily have enough to go around (stating the obvious).
 

howeda7 said:
That's silly. Most other schools pay thier men's and women't coaches the same salary and the then 'University Booster Club' pays the football and men's basketball coaches thier additional millions via a shoe deal, radio show, etc. There's no reason that can't be done here. The fact that Maturi can't seem to figure it out is disturbing.
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What are you talking about? That IS being done here, right now. Tubby made $1.81 million this year in base salary. $1.15 million of that is from "other" sources, i.e. radio show, TV show, speaking fees, camps, etc. Tubby's "base pay" this year was $660,000. His total compensation ($1.81 million) places him amongst the Top 20 highest paid coaches in the nation, fourth highest in Big Ten. He also got $100,000 for reaching the NCAA tourney this year and another $100,000 last year for making the field. That doesn't even include his Nike deal, as well as "camp income." He not only gets to keep the profits from his camp, but the University pays him $50,000 per year for running his camps. He is well compensated. If Auburn comes in with a $3 million per year offer, that will be hard to get here. It just will. And, frankly, I wouldn't blame Maturi for hedging. That is too much money. Tubby has been good, but he hasn't been THAT good, IMO. And, I'm a monster Tubby fan.
 

tjgopher said:
What are you talking about? That IS being done here, right now. Tubby made $1.81 million this year in base salary. $1.15 million of that is from "other" sources, i.e. radio show, TV show, speaking fees, camps, etc. Tubby's "base pay" this year was $660,000. His total compensation ($1.81 million) places him amongst the Top 20 highest paid coaches in the nation, fourth highest in Big Ten. He also got $100,000 for reaching the NCAA tourney this year and another $100,000 last year for making the field. That doesn't even include his Nike deal, as well as "camp income." He not only gets to keep the profits from his camp, but the University pays him $50,000 per year for running his camps. He is well compensated. If Auburn comes in with a $3 million per year offer, that will be hard to get here. It just will. And, frankly, I wouldn't blame Maturi for hedging. That is too much money. Tubby has been good, but he hasn't been THAT good, IMO. And, I'm a monster Tubby fan.
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Fine. But it all comes from the U and not from a seperate booster club, correct? Therefore, they are subject to the salary freeze, etc? At most other schools, the University Athletic Association, etc. is seperate from the University and would not be subject to the restrictions...
 

howeda7 said:
Fine. But it all comes from the U and not from a seperate booster club, correct? Therefore, they are subject to the salary freeze, etc? At most other schools, the University Athletic Association, etc. is seperate from the University and would not be subject to the restrictions...
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Tubby Smith won't be subject to the wage freeze.
 

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