Topic: MU athletics is seeing green

[biggreenarms]

However, a report by USA Today newspaper showed that while Marshall University is considered one of the smaller athletic departments the Thundering Herd was able to take care of its end for the 2015-16 fiscal year and finished with a near $1.2 million profit when comparing revenue and expenses.

For the first time in program history, Marshall finished above the $30 million mark in revenue and that pleased athletic director Mike Hamrick. While Hamrick was happy about the benchmark, he was most pleased to see that Marshall carried one of the lowest subsidy rates in Conference USA, which refers to university-provided funding.

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/sports/marshall_sports/mu-athletics-is-seeing-green/article_9a12c3ff-bf57-5dd3-9e29-8854b1d9989a.html

[Buffalo Bop]

There's nothing like seeing Big Green and the other "green" too!

[Daherdboy]

The Athletic Dept. needs to take $200,000. of that surplus and put lights on the softball field.
Along with the new synthetic turf that is going to installed this summer (not done, as of now), and the new outfield fencing installed at the beginning of last season, The Dot will look very nice with the upgrades.  While they are at it, they need to put in a new section of raised bleacher seating in right field.

[iherdya]

The Athletic Dept. needs to take $200,000. of that surplus and put lights on the softball field.
Along with the new synthetic turf that is going to installed this summer (not done, as of now), and the new outfield fencing installed at the beginning of last season, The Dot will look very nice with the upgrades.  While they are at it, they need to put in a new section of raised bleacher seating in right field.

while i don't disagree with you, why should they do that? why not start building up a fund for a baseball stadium? why not put that money to football or basketball's facilities since they drive revenue?

[Daherdboy]

A baseball stadium, done right, would cost from $20 to $30 million....a new basketball practice facility, again done right, would be around $25 million (what the 'eers paid for theirs). 
$200,000. would be a drop in the bucket for those two facilities.

For the softball upgrades, the $200,000. would pay for it.
Money goes a long way in the Olympic Sports area.

[iherdya]

A baseball stadium, done right, would cost from $20 to $30 million....a new basketball practice facility, again done right, would be around $25 million (what the 'eers paid for theirs). 
$200,000. would be a drop in the bucket for those two facilities.

For the softball upgrades, the $200,000. would pay for it.
Money goes a long way in the Olympic Sports area.

every penny counts when fundraising/saving to build a baseball stadium.

softball has a fantastic facility, sure there are room for improvement, but compared to what baseball and other sports have it's amazing!

why not put $200,000 into redoing the floor, adding some stuff to gullickson so volleyball/basketball programs have second quality practice facility? why not put $200,000 into updating the basketball lockerrooms that haven't been touched in 8+ years?

[MUther]

every penny counts when fundraising/saving to build a baseball stadium.

softball has a fantastic facility, sure there are room for improvement, but compared to what baseball and other sports have it's amazing!

why not put $200,000 into redoing the floor, adding some stuff to gullickson so volleyball/basketball programs have second quality practice facility? why not put $200,000 into updating the basketball lockerrooms that haven't been touched in 8+ years?

It said 1.2 Million surplus.  Seems to me like that's 6, $200,000 projects.  But the truth of the matter is that was for '15-'16.  I imagine '16-'17 used up any surplus we had.  And if it didn't, it will get used this year.

[coalherd]

every penny counts when fundraising/saving to build a baseball stadium.

softball has a fantastic facility, sure there are room for improvement, but compared to what baseball and other sports have it's amazing!

why not put $200,000 into redoing the floor, adding some stuff to gullickson so volleyball/basketball programs have second quality practice facility? why not put $200,000 into updating the basketball lockerrooms that haven't been touched in 8+ years?

BB locker rooms had a major renovation in one of Donnie Jones' last couple of years, IIRC.  That would make it about 9 years or so.  Cost was over $1 million and I do remember a blurb on one of the local stations' sports broadcasts in which Donnie said that visiting teams would be surprised on how nice the visitor's locker room was.  Believe the former home locker room were made into the visitor's locker room during that renovation.  Since then, don't believe much has been done to the locker rooms, except, perhaps for some cosmetic touch ups, painting, etc.  Not sure if Danny was hoping for, and maybe requested, some significant upgrades on them once he got here.  Others may know more about the subject.

Other than that, during Hammy's tenure, there have been some upgrades and improvements to the HC's ventilation and sound systems, also, I believe, maybe some changes in the arena lighting.  And, of course, there has been some painting to reflect the "official change" in school colors to include Kelly Green! :D

[iherdya]

BB locker rooms had a major renovation in one of Donnie Jones' last couple of years, IIRC.  That would make it about 9 years or so.  Cost was over $1 million and I do remember a blurb on one of the local stations' sports broadcasts in which Donnie said that visiting teams would be surprised on how nice the visitor's locker room was.  Believe the former home locker room were made into the visitor's locker room during that renovation.  Since then, don't believe much has been done to the locker rooms, except, perhaps for some cosmetic touch ups, painting, etc.  Not sure if Danny was hoping for, and maybe requested, some significant upgrades on them once he got here.  Others may know more about the subject.

Other than that, during Hammy's tenure, there have been some upgrades and improvements to the HC's ventilation and sound systems, also, I believe, maybe some changes in the arena lighting.  And, of course, there has been some painting to reflect the "official change" in school colors to include Kelly Green! :D

i was thinking it was 2008/2009 when the new locker rooms were built. 9-10 years is about the lifespan of a locker room being up to date, i mean we renovated the football locker room during snyder's tenure here and just did another renovation thanks to vinny's donations and help.

the new visiting team locker room is the old home locker room, but it's not that nice. it's just much bigger, and not upstairs like i believe it was before.

[MUonium]

from this outsider's perspective, it appears the AD did a tremendous job (about the same time the TV revenue fell to rock bottom) of being as frugal and efficient as possible and deserve credit where due.  it's obvious MU, for the most part and over the long term, gets pretty high marks for doing the most for what they have to work with...this in itself should make Herd fans proud.

those occasional surpluses would seem to me to be absolutely necessary to reserve for future down-revenue years for basic operations, i.e. less gate revenue, less "pay days". 

as far as infrastructure improvement priorities, i think visitor locker rooms should not be any where near the top of the list of priorities.  fan experience should be the top priority period and i don't necessarily mean reducing gate pricing...and then consider low-cost or reasonable upgrades such as mentioned, to the Dot. 

this doesn't mean that the AD/top leadership's job are absolved from the responsibility of raising money for major infrastructure....and neither are alumni and fans (baseball field, etc).

[HerdKelly]

Seems a little odd to act like Hamrick "made money" when much of the money comes from the University's general fund. 

Want to make more money?  Take more from the general fund. 

[iherdya]

Seems a little odd to act like Hamrick "made money" when much of the money comes from the University's general fund. 

Want to make more money?  Take more from the general fund.

we take significantly less from the university than our peers do, and we've actually cut $1.5m-$2m from what we were taking from school funds the last couple of years.

[HerdKelly]

we take significantly less from the university than our peers do, and we've actually cut $1.5m-$2m from what we were taking from school funds the last couple of years.

If true he does deserve credit for that

[iherdya]

If true he does deserve credit for that

per the reports on yahoo we took $10,059,341 in school funds in 2014, $10,491,761 in 2013, $10,237,332 in 2012. in 2015 we took $8,117,328, and last year we took $8,681,538.

we're in a much better position than most of our peers going forward if universities start limiting the amount of "university money" is flowing to athletics.

[svherd]

Unfortunately, increasing enrollment seems to be one of the very few revenue streams we have left. TV is gone.

[iherdya]

Unfortunately, increasing enrollment seems to be one of the very few revenue streams we have left. TV is gone.

which would increase student fee sums, but not the other money kicked in by the university. our development of ticket revenues, contributions, etc are significantly higher than most g5s, which should help us in the future.

[goherd50]

Any idea what the breakdown is between student fees and other revenue from the university?  Others may look at it differently, but I don't consider the student fees to be university subsidy.  It is simply forcing students to pay for tickets whether they go to games or not.  Through fees students are also forced to support artist series, etc. whether they participate or not.  Student subsidy, yes.  University subsidy, eh?

[iherdya]

Any idea what the breakdown is between student fees and other revenue from the university?  Others may look at it differently, but I don't consider the student fees to be university subsidy.  It is simply forcing students to pay for tickets whether they go to games or not.  Through fees students are also forced to support artist series, etc. whether they participate or not.  Student subsidy, yes.  University subsidy, eh?

last year $5,080,886 in student fees, $8,681,538 in school funds.

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

[goherd50]

Thanks.

[MUther]

which would increase student fee sums, but not the other money kicked in by the university. our development of ticket revenues, contributions, etc are significantly higher than most g5s, which should help us in the future.

It also increases the number of graduates/alumni which can increase the number of donations from supporters in the future, or at least ensure it doesn't drop.  Enrollment increase is the biggie.  It helps on so many fronts that it becomes imperative.  Yet seems to be the biggest obstacle at the same time.

[iherdya]

It also increases the number of graduates/alumni which can increase the number of donations from supporters in the future, or at least ensure it doesn't drop.  Enrollment increase is the biggie.  It helps on so many fronts that it becomes imperative.  Yet seems to be the biggest obstacle at the same time.

we've done a better job advertising/promoting marshall in the region this last year, i hope it pays off!

it's to the point where the state has cut higher ed so much though, that marshall and wvu are no longer cheaper options for out of state students because we've both had to jack up tuition. if you were a parent of a kid in central kentucky, would you want your kid to go to marshall for $17k/year or stay in state at eku, morehead, wku, and pay $8k-$10k less per year? over a 4-5 year college career that's a massive difference.

but like i said, dr gilbert has been aggressive in promotion and advertising in the cincinnati, lexington, norfolk, etc areas (and more). i hope it helps. i think dr. kopp's plan with the into program was a great one as well, but given the current political climate and the fact that it looks like many international students are having at least some reservations about coming here for education, smart play by dr. gilbert to focus on those areas i mentioned.

[chris88]

So student fees/school funds make up about 13.8M in revenue, where is the rest coming from??

Ticket sales
Merchandising
CUSA/TV funds
IMG
Other

What is the breakdown?

[iherdya]

So student fees/school funds make up about 13.8M in revenue, where is the rest coming from??

Ticket sales
Merchandising
CUSA/TV funds
IMG
Other

What is the breakdown?

http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/finances/

breaks it down a bit more, for most/all public d1 schools.