East. Wash. Budget Situation...

[PBP]

With a Hat Tip to my broadcast partner Brad.

The Eastern Washington AD resigned last week to take the AD position at North Dakota. (A position I think Jeff applied for and made it through the initial interviews a few years ago...).

He leaves EWU with an athletic budget deficit of over FIVE MILLION DOLLARS!

This from a school that has a football program that usually goes deep into the FCS playoffs and brings in more money.

Brad says Eastern is discussing potentially only playing four home games a year in the near future because they need to play more money games.

Maybe Colin Cowherd can help them. LOL. :lol:

PBP

 

[Tacoma5]

I was reading about this earlier today. Can't imagine the wake left from that move and leaving the athletic department in such a mess. Of course we only hear half the story. Did the AD cause this, was it above his head? Who knows, but it sure looks suspect. $5 mil is an insane amount of money for any Big Sky team to dig out of.

 

[otis campbell]

Montana had a similar situation 13-14 years ago, and AD Wayne Hogan lost his job. The amount of that deficit was "only" $600,000-$1m. Kemajic on eGriz had some good insight and details on this affair, for those interested. As I remember, they had 'body bag game$' for several years in the years to follow. Their 'ace in the hole' was 25,000 butts in the seats each paying $30-$50 per seat, depending on the game. Do the math. A university-wide audit should be forthcoming, and maybe prosecutions. $5.8m doesn't just disappear. Their former AD might have an all expense paid flight BACK to Spokane County, board and room included. Bears watching.

 

[Skippy]

This is a cumulative deficit, didn’t happen over night. EWU is in the same boat as ISU — most of its funding comes from the university and students. When its enrollment goes down, so do student fees that help supplement the athletic department.According to this story, EWU is aggressively looking for outside sources of income.
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2018/jan/13/eastern-washington-tries-to-address-58-million-ath/?amp-content=amp

 

[demian]

Didn't University of North Dakota report a deficit of a few million dollars last year or the year before

 

[Skippy]

Yes and it was one of the drivers behind UND looking to get out of the Big Sky.
http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/all-individual-sports-at-ndsu-und-lose-money/article_a9ea7b3f-6826-5348-8cb5-d0eadb369df0.amp.html

 

[sasquatch]

EWU is in the same boat as ISU — most of its funding comes from the university and students.

Actually EWU is in the same boat as MOST universities. Check out USA Today's look at athletic budgets and the amount and percentages (of budget) attributed to university/student $ contributions. For Big Sky schools, ISU certainly isn't getting more support, both in total amount and as a percentage, then most.

Montana $7,546,272 34.15%
Montana State $9,660,499 51.14%
Idaho $11,788,771 53.34%
Weber State $8,513,080 64.82%
Idaho State $8,618,990 66.74%
Eastern Washington $9,585,391 71.77%
Northern Colorado $10,924,955 72.18%
Portland State $10,190,286 74.10%
Northern Arizona $12,543,665 75.21%
Southern Utah $8,888,398 78.83%
Sacramento State $22,683,890 84.83%

ISU was in a $1 million deficit after Paul Bubb left, and that's when the twice yearly FBS body bag games began. Unfortunately they never stopped.

 

[Skippy]

Yes most FCS schools, and a lot of Group of 5 FBS schools, heavily subsidize their athletic departments. Don’t see that changing in the near future. “Body bag” games are the third largest source of income for ISU’s athletic department, behind tax dollars and student fees. I know ISU would like to get away from two money football games a year, but then they’d have to figure out how to replace $300 to $400 K a year in revenue.

 

[demian]

Yes most FCS schools, and a lot of Group of 5 FBS schools, heavily subsidize their athletic departments. Don’t see that changing in the near future. “Body bag” games are the third largest source of income for ISU’s athletic department, behind tax dollars and student fees. I know ISU would like to get away from two money football games a year, but then they’d have to figure out how to replace $300 to $400 K a year in revenue.

I remember hearing Coach Phenice saying last year prior to both games vs FBS opponents that he was not looking at the games as a negative AT ALL and that he welcomed the chance to go play the FBS schools. I loved that attitude. The schedule is the schedule and you just go play the games you have. I would imagine the players like the opportunity to play agianst the FBS opponents, i recall Coach Kramer saying the players liked it and i remember Coach Phenice said the same thing last year. I know for our family when the ISU staff came into our living room and told us that ISU plays two games every year against a FBS school and it is a major source of income for the annual football budget, myself and our son and our family loved hearing that. I dont know how any other families feel about that but i would assume it could on some level be a small recruiting tool to sell to recruits, twice a year you are going to get travel to a big time venue and play against a team that is in the Pac 12 or MWC or something along those lines, oh yeah and by doing so not only could it be fun for you and an opportunity for you to compete against the higher level schools but it will also pay for our chartered airplanes for a good percentage of our long distance road games, therefore you can be home that same night at a reasonable time to get treatment if you need it and have all day sunday to rest and get ready for the upcoming weeks academic and athletic rigors. We loved the idea. But i do understand the downside to it as well if devasting injuries are a result from those games as well. Its an imperfect situation for sure.

 

[otis campbell]

ISU was in a $1 million deficit after Paul Bubb left, and that's when the twice yearly FBS body bag games began. Unfortunately they never stopped.

No progress was made on the top end or bottom end. The use of NAIA teams to entertain the throngs in early season games continues. Dillon, being so close, is, was, and will continue to be a natural. EWU still has body bag game$. I believe it was EWU( I may be wrong)who recently had a big payday with Florida, but a hurricane killed that deal. Don't recall how much was lost, but it would be in the range of $300k to $600k, for ONE GAME.

 

[demian]

ISU was in a $1 million deficit after Paul Bubb left, and that's when the twice yearly FBS body bag games began. Unfortunately they never stopped.

No progress was made on the top end or bottom end. The use of NAIA teams to entertain the throngs in early season games continues. Dillon, being so close, is, was, and will continue to be a natural. EWU still has body bag game$. I believe it was EWU( I may be wrong)who recently had a big payday with Florida, but a hurricane killed that deal. Don't recall how much was lost, but it would be in the range of $300k to $600k, for ONE GAME.

I think that was Northern colorado who lost out on that game at florida this past season due to hurricane. I think EWU plays at U of Florida next season possibly

 

[otis campbell]

Thanks. I remembered it was BSC, but ...

 

[Skippy]

Idaho got paid $900 K to play a couple of plays before the storm hit. Now that’s the kind of body bag game you want to schedule.

 

[SLCBengal]

Northern Colorado was set to receive $625,000 for the game. Apparently they will receive something from Florida, but as of last month, they were still waiting for the check...

"There have been a number of conversations (between Florida and UNC), and I feel confident about the outcome for our athletic department," (AD) Dunn said.

The conversations have been between officials from both schools, not specifically those of the athletic departments.

"There are details to work through and a resolution to work through," Dunn added.

When asked if he felt the Florida settlement would be less than the original guarantee, Dunn said, "Not necessarily. I'm not sure what the number will be, though."

Greeley Tribune: University of Northern Colorado still expecting a check in the mail from Florida