It looks like the Abilene Christian game is Dec. 17, Southern Utah Dec. 19

Maybe I missed something and you're only talking about schools with football. But those reports don't take into account the massive amounts of money taken in from merchandise and donations. Not to mention all of the TV money they get because they play football and are in certain conferences. That covers a lot of costs right there. I know a lot of those things aren't attributed to football directly in the books, but it's football that generates that money. And that doesn't take into account the free advertising/publicity generated or the enrollment numbers that are up because of football.

It certainly can't be all of DI as I know WSU has been in the black for at least the last decade if not a little longer. Basketball keeps us in the black but our baseball usually turns a profit and volleyball is usually pretty close. Some years it does and some it doesn't.

And for the record, I don't care about college football personally. But it's not quite the black hole people claim, especially in the top conferences. Even the crap teams generate money when everything is taken into account. The lower the conference level the more in question that becomes, but some of them have dreams of getting into one of the big money conferences if expansion keeps going.

_________________
The Roundhouse

Update:

NON-CONFERENCE (9 + MTE)
1. at Michigan St. (Nov. 21)
2. at Kent St. (Nov. 29)
3. at UIC (Dec. 6)

LAS VEGAS CLASSIC (4)
4. Abilene Christian (Dec. 17) HOME
5. Southern Utah (Dec. 19) HOME
6. Texas Tech (Dec. 22) at Vegas
7. Boise State/Houston (Dec. 23) at Vegas

8. Tulane
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.

MVC REGULAR SEASON (18)

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

Nice, sub you see the accounting tricks that can be played. Most private schools don't publish numbers and so you have a chunk that can't be analyzed. Loyola never releases their numbers and most senior staff don't really know. I think that's a poor policy used to keep people in the dark and cover certain people's behinds.
At WSU who does the AD report to?
also
Is donor directive giving a big thing with your boosters?

Sub--

There are a lot of crossover/gray areas where the numbers can go either way. Consider facilities, medical expenses, administrator salaries and benefits, and merchandising. When people buy a WSU t-shirt, most of them consider the academic part of the institution as well as the sports team, even if it just says "Shockers" or "Wichita State" with no logo. If an administrator making $200k or more (plus benefits) works in the President's office but spends most of their time overseeing the athletic department and their facilities, that expense is probably not in the athletic budget. What is the extra cost of insurance to cover the athletic department and their higher rate of knee surgeries and MRIs? What is the opportunity cost of donations specifically for sports or sports-only facilities-- would the same effort yield a similar donation for the biology department? How do you credit donations for multipurpose facilities that are primarily for sports? Are part of the salaries and benefits for people in the Development, Marketing, and other areas of the institution that work on athletic-related projects counted as an expense to the athletic department? And how are scholarships for athletics counted, if at all?

WSU is an exceptionally well-functioning athletic department with (as your fans often brag) some of the best attendance and most loyal fans in all of college sports. If WSU is, as you say, just into the black with their athletic department, what does that mean for schools like Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Pepperdine, UMKC, Drexel, or any school drawing 4000 or less per game for men's basketball?

My understanding is the AD reports straight to the President.

I have no money and I'm not sure how everything else works. I do know that for academics, President Bardo does a lot of behind the scenes work to raise money/donations for new facilities/improvements/programs. I know AD Sexton was hired mostly because of his ability to fundraise and his connections in the Wichita metro area. He played golf at WSU and his dad is a football legend here. He's well connected.

I do know we've seen more donations made to non-revenue sports lately. Softball and golf have recently had some nice additions/upgrades thanks to donors.

And I'm no discounting student fees that are earmarked for athletics. But we have the lowest tuition in the area and those fees are going to increase soon. But mostly for the academic growth that is planned here. Over a dozen new buildings are being planned over the next 10 to 15 years as we expand the size of campus and the enrollment. Both of those can be attributed to the vision and leadership of President Bardo and those around him as well as the national publicity that the basketball team has received.

Just to add, it's been awhile, but I remember at one point seeing numbers for how much each school in the Valley (publics) are subsidized by fees and state monies, and believe WSU is actually pretty low on that list. Even from a national perspective. And I'm not sure if any of our state money goes into athletics at all. I'd have to check in on that. I think it all goes to the academic side. But for every dollar that goes there, it technically frees up a dollar to go somewhere else.

I've rambled. Please forgive.

_________________
The Roundhouse

No doubt that a lot of those things can be attributed to a number of areas in some form. But basketball and football generate a lot of T-Shirt Fans. More so than the other sports. I'm not sure how all of the insurance costs are taken into account as I haven't looked that into things.

Scholarships are supported by SASO (Shocker Athletic Scholarship Organization) donations which are a part of every season ticket sold. At least to basketball. Optional giving is accepted for other sports. Baseball might require SASO donations though I'm not sure.

And you're right about us having an advantage over a number of other schools due to a large and loyal fanbase. We also have very reasonable ticket prices considering. I think they want to raise ticket prices and season ticket requirements, but won't do so until the local economy is in better shape. Wichita is still struggling a bit due to the reliance on aviation. But I'd also say that we spend a lot more than those schools do on their programs. Yes, the advantage of having money and not having to pinch pennies for fear of being in the red. And I'm not going to lie, big money donors help. I know a private plane is at the disposal of Coach Marshall just about anytime he wants for recruiting or a family vacation. I don't think that comes out of the budget at all and is a perk he and his assistants enjoy.

I know we had some financial issues in the late 80s, which lead to the disbanding of the football program, that carried over into the 90s. I don't think the numbers were horrible in the 90s, but they were mostly in the red. But we still had a very loyal fanbase but poor leadership at the top. And AD and President that couldn't generate anything. It wasn't until around 2000 when President Beggs came in and hired AD Schaus. Prior to those additions, basketball was averaging between 6 and 7 thousand. Baseball was turning a profit though. Their vision lead to a renovated arena and a rejuvinated fanbase. I want to say that we haven't been in the red since at least 2002.

But I'm not going to appologize for having big money donors who care about both the academic and athletic sides of this university. Those donors are important to every school out there. Charles Koch, love him or hate him, has given so much to both sides of the University and I've heard may be a big influence on the direction the school is taking to grow itself with our new Innovation Campus. That will be huge for academics and is only going to help athletics as it offers more opportunities for student-athlete in the future. Not that he's overly involved, but I think his support of President Bardo's ideas go a long way.

At this point, I have no idea if I've answered anything.

_________________
The Roundhouse