UM Athletics Operated in Red Last Year

Reserve fund was almost depleted to cover shortfall.

https://missoulian.com/news/local/university-of-montana-athletics-operated-in-red-last-year-nearly/article_eaf6eb62-e7a4-580b-8f86-e3bfe835f039.html#tracking-source=home-top-story

I thought it was a good story, they sort of tap danced around the issue of raising the price of tickets though. When you look at how forceful the talk was about the cost of recruiting and that part of the budget, compared to the squishy talk about increasing revenue from increasing ticket prices. I was surprised there was no mention of how much the Oregon game will generate and what that means to the budget.

I'm not sure how much longer Frank will be around. He's too talented.

This is the Missoulian, remember that. Fiscal Year 2018 was for the period Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, 2018, correct? Includes the last year of the Stitt show, the years WGS fans wore aluminum colored clothes, yet the numbers were mitigated by the influx of Bobby Ball fans for the month of September. WGS fans already pay the highest ticket prices in the league. As for the number of basketball fans not showing up, someone else will have try to explain that.
From what I have read in the past, Griz Football and Basketball have been used as a cash cow for the University. All other sports feed of the teat, and contribute little to nothing to the bottom line. I don't trust this or any other administration to tell the truth or keep their fingers out of the till to prop up this or that program or building/construction projects. Someone well versed in BudgetSpeak will need to go through this smoke/mirrors/paper/ink monster and explain it in real life terms.

U of M has some strange accounting practices.

The “keeping up with the Jones’s arms race” in college sports is a race to the bottom for everyone below the elite.

Further down the road could imagine only Texas, Nortre Dame, Alabama and Oregon fielding championship caliber teams.

Survivors will need a serious sugar daddy sponsor along with hefty TV contracts.

Don't raise the price of tickets, raise the amount of tickets sold. Sell beer in the stadium for athletics.

The maintenance of the Champion Center was noted in the article as an increased hit on the athletic budget. While we're all clearly elated to have it I'm not aware that the Washington's and any of the other generous donors built in any ongoing money for that purpose ? Makes me think of somebody gifting you a great dog but leaving you to budget for food, kennels and vet bills. Factoring in that continuing cost will be a major challenge for Haslam.

The article also raises the uncomfortable feeling that with a university still in decline athletics will draw even more scrutiny from those both favorable and particularly those who are antagonistic toward the department. If there is a light at the end of the tunnel we're not seeing it.

Reading that article makes me think we might just see few more FBS money games show up on up coming schedules, like it or not. Looking more necessary.

I think UM is in tricky spot here with regards to football. They can’t really raise ticket prices right know. Maybe they can in a year or two if Bobby really gets things turned around. Make a couple of deep playoff runs or play in a NC game and you may get some folks willing to pay a few more bucks and might get more butts in the seats as well.

I think beer sales in the stadium would help some as well and may even keep more fans in there seats to start the 3rd quarter. Just stop all beer sales as soon as the 4th quarter starts. The more fans you can keep in the stadium through halftime the better. Beer sales also means more food sales..

I also think having top level OOC games will help. No more DII games. Bring in more top level FCS teams. Maybe see about doing some home and away games with NDSU for a few years as long as NDSU is on top. We know there fans travel well to WaGriz and visa versa. Benefit for both programs.

Scheduling OOC games in the upper Midwest, Northwest, or at lest West coast would help with reducing travel costs. Whats the point of traveling to the east coast to play Albany? It’s not as if its for recruiting, as we don’t get a ton of recruits from the east coast anyhow. Additionall, the payout going to the east coast really is not worth it.

I think getting a Pac-12 game on the schedule for the next few years would help. Games against the Cougars, Huskies, Beavers, Ducks and possibly Gloden Bears could be good. Fairly easy to drive to for fans and I would assume relatively cheap for the Griz to travel to with good pay outs.

I know the last time the Griz traveled to Eugene I heard from a lot of Duck fans how impressed they were with how well the Griz fans traveled. If the Griz can offer up a comepative game and bring fans It could be seen as a positive by the PAc12 schools as well. Offering good competition for there teams and maybe make more money from traveling fans as well.

The rise in “other operating expenses” also came from one-time fees for the football team’s mobile tackling dummies

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Plural?!? You mean we bought more than one of those pieces of shit?!? No wonder.

I bet the only time Bobby uses those things is when he challenges Rosy to a life-sized game of electric football; and they sit up in the president’s box with the remotes, stogies, and animal beer.

How much revenue has the program lost not hosting playoff games the couple years?

retiredpopo said:

U of M has some strange accounting practices.

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Please expand on your knowledge of this. Governmental accounting is not like for profit accounting and things are just weird based on the flow and timing of donations and large project expenses. It makes comparability super difficult from year to year. I would love to hear more about UM’s strange accounting practices which are subject to audit due to revenue bonding. As such, any strange material accounting issues would likely be caught.

The Griz definitely need a deep home playoff run, which would help? What about eliminating both a men and women's athletic team, like golf, tennis or cross country?

GlacierGrizX said:

The Griz definitely need a deep home playoff run, which would help? What about eliminating both a men and women's athletic team, like golf, tennis or cross country?

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I believe that UM currently offers the minimum men's sports (6) to remain a NCAA Division 1 program and even though the (9) womens programs exceed the minimum by 1, they are necessary to meet Title IX scholarships.

We're only 1 word away from problem solved>>>> BEER!!

I worry about generational differences and the longevity of traditional sports. Basketball has dropped off and millennials are used to streaming games on their phones, Apple TV, etc. Not sure how much they are willing or able to spend on college games. Sports are not the past times or main focus that they once were. I believe tech and other alternatives for kids will continue to have an impact on participation and interest in sports.

Copper Griz said:

I worry about generational differences and the longevity of traditional sports. Basketball has dropped off and millennials are used to streaming games on their phones, Apple TV, etc. Not sure how much they are willing or able to spend on college games. Sports are not the past times or main focus that they once were. I believe tech and other alternatives for kids will continue to have an impact on participation and interest in sports.

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Even if this isn’t the main issue here, 10 to 15 to 20 years down the road, it will most certainly be.

alabamagrizzly said:

Copper Griz said:

I worry about generational differences and the longevity of traditional sports. Basketball has dropped off and millennials are used to streaming games on their phones, Apple TV, etc. Not sure how much they are willing or able to spend on college games. Sports are not the past times or main focus that they once were. I believe tech and other alternatives for kids will continue to have an impact on participation and interest in sports.

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Even if this isn’t the main issue here, 10 to 15 to 20 years down the road, it will most certainly be.

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It's already a problem for our military. Most kids cannot serve...obese, mental health, and other issues. We need to get PE back into our schools. Did you know kids can take PE online in some schools? HTF does that work?

Anyway, back to the budget...

Glad I probably won't be around to see it.

tourist said:

Glad I probably won't be around to see it.

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Nor I grasshopper!

Igotgoodsources said:

We're only 1 word away from problem solved>>>> BEER!!

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I was under the impression that concession revenue went to student services; if true, beer sales may help the university financial picture overall, but it wouldn't help the notion that athletics operated in the red. For that matter, does anyone know how much revenue was generated by concessions last year?