Most Revenue Generated Men's College Basketball in 2023

60's Guy

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Would You Have Guessed Minnesota Sits at #20?
Of 14 Big Ten Teams in 2023...only NW and Rutgers did not make the list.
Illinois at #4 earned $10 million more than Minnesota at #20.
 
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Attendance Relative To Arena Capacity
So, we are 50% attendance and #20 on the revenue list...hmmm
 

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Would You Have Guessed Minnesota Sits at #20?
Of 14 Big Ten Teams in 2023...only NW and Rutgers did not make the list.
Illinois at #4 earned $10 million more than Minnesota at #20.
We've always been high, but I'd think it have dropped more with the bad attendance.

FYI Northwestern is never listed because they don't report this data.
 





Not 100% sure on this, but I think John Thomas & Trevor Winter (93-94, 94-95, 96-97) are the only Gophers to be part of 3 NCAA Tournament teams.

Am I missing anyone (not counting walk-ons)?
 


So is Louisville and they were #1 on the revenue list
Makes you wonder what counts as "revenue generated". Rutgers was also in the 100% of arena capacity and not in the top 50 (Rutgers is a public school, btw).
View attachment 32098
Attendance Relative To Arena Capacity
So, we are 50% attendance and #20 on the revenue list...hmmm
Let's look at schools in metro areas with NBA teams (often cited as a deterrent to attendance)

100%: Nova
95%: Houston
90%: Marq, Miami
80%: Butler, NW
70%: MD, UCF, SMU, TCU, Washington
60%: Memphis, USC, BC
50%: ASU, Utah, GT, MN, UCLA (!)
40%: St. John's, Stanford
<40%: Georgetown, Cal, DePaul

(I'm not counting Okla, Colo, Rutgers, Seton Hall, or Michigan, all of which are pretty close to being in their closest metro. I did count MD because College Park is a stop on the subway system in DC.)

I think it shows MN is still pretty bad, even among NBA market campuses. A winning program does seem to help, though.
 



Ticket sales are only about 3 mil of the revenue at least 22-23 by the u budget. Basketball is extremely profitable. There is around 4 mil in donations. I wish we could see how that matches up with other schools. With increased attendance we could be a top 15 revenue school

Could some of that 4 million be funneled into nil in the future? Don’t know.
 

the other side of the coin is expenses. Revenue figures alone don't tell the story. a school could have lower revenue but finish with a higher profit based on controlling expenses.

also as rivergopher noted, it would help to see all the sources of revenue that are included in this ranking.

and, stating the obvious, I assume this covers traditional sources of revenue and does not cover NIL. in today's game, NIL impacts on-court performance, which impacts ticket sales, etc.
 

Just think if we had a team that consistently made the NCAA tournament.
Yeah. And if we won more than 2 NCAA Tournament games in 27 years.

We've always had the money though. A few years back Forbes ranked us as the #17 most valuable college basketball team. That's why I previously said that I don't believe the administration propaganda about us not having money to keep our players.
 

In terms of revenue, yes it keeps rising. But attendance is on a gradual decline. 2018/19 saw 27 million attend D1 games whereas 2023 had attendance of about 24 million. Covid broke the positive momentum and changes since are not helping. Over time, keeping attendance up under the current rules will be challenging and just watching on TV may become more prevalent.
 



Yeah. And if we won more than 2 NCAA Tournament games in 27 years.

We've always had the money though. A few years back Forbes ranked us as the #17 most valuable college basketball team. That's why I previously said that I don't believe the administration propaganda about us not having money to keep our players.
You really don’t understand the whole thing about the university, or athletic department can’t feed the NIL fund do you? You got a real shtick going but it’s a really dumb one. It doesn’t matter how much the school has in the coffers, they can’t fund NIL. I gave you the example of Texas Tech, they have several people feeding their fund, two of which are one oil guy and the other is a software guy if I remember correctly. They are not employees or in any way on the schools payroll. Look I don’t like it anymore than you do, but here we are and until someone with a lot of money funds our NIL fund, we will be behind the proverbial 8 ball.
 

You really don’t understand the whole thing about the university, or athletic department can’t feed the NIL fund do you? You got a real shtick going but it’s a really dumb one. It doesn’t matter how much the school has in the coffers, they can’t fund NIL. I gave you the example of Texas Tech, they have several people feeding their fund, two of which are one oil guy and the other is a software guy if I remember correctly. They are not employees or in any way on the schools payroll. Look I don’t like it anymore than you do, but here we are and until someone with a lot of money funds our NIL fund, we will be behind the proverbial 8 ball.
Ok. At least Coyle said he's on it now. Conducting research on how to coordinate and potentially model the Texas Tech method. We don't have oil or software here...but how about natural gas? Or mining? Then we can pay guys like Payne & Hawkins $500K.
 

Hey since basketball is now separate...can the U of MN venture into...how about the restaurant business? Or how about use the money from textbook sales?
 



View attachment 32098
Attendance Relative To Arena Capacity
So, we are 50% attendance and #20 on the revenue list...hmmm

Williams Arena is on the larger end of CBB venues.....which makes attendance compared to arena capacity maybe not super relevant when considering revenue.

My thoughts are that season tickets might be skewing us upwards as well. I know that when I look at ticket availability, it's pretty sparse pickings on the lower level. So....while you may see a lot of open seating in prime seating areas during the season....I think for the most part a lot of those seats are sold regardless of whether the ticket holder comes to the game.
 

Ok. At least Coyle said he's on it now. Conducting research on how to coordinate and potentially model the Texas Tech method. We don't have oil or software here...but how about natural gas? Or mining? Then we can pay guys like Payne & Hawkins $500K.
Give it a break. Yes, Minnesota is full of large corporations, but they are not going to fund NIL. You need to find enthusiastic individuals, usually alums, that are willing to participate. Unfortunately, Glen Taylor went to Mankato, but you still have Stanley Hubbard and I think some of the Gargill heirs you could hit up.
My suggestion is to get off this board and start making some calls.

spanky-telephone.gif
 

Are you a 13-year-old girl?
You'd have to be to believe all the bullshit we're being spoon-fed.

But it's just entertainment. If believing the fantasy that we couldn't pay Payne & Hawkins makes it more fun for you...that's fine.
 

Give it a break. Yes, Minnesota is full of large corporations, but they are not going to fund NIL. You need to find enthusiastic individuals, usually alums, that are willing to participate. Unfortunately, Glen Taylor went to Mankato, but you still have Stanley Hubbard and I think some of the Gargill heirs you could hit up.
My suggestion is to get off this board and start making some calls.

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Well at least Coyle is right on top of it now.
 




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