DeLoss Dodds: The Warren Buffett of Collegiate Athletics

“athletic programs have seen their endowment portfolios drop faster and deeper than …

 a Cole Green curveball"

You took the high road there. Good for you sir.

12th most profitable basketball program and a half full arena every game. Ticket prices are astronomical in Stillwater.

Texas only made $11 million in ‘08 from the NCAA and the Big 12? That doesn’t sound right. I thought the Big 12 football TV package alone netted Texas over $15 million per year. With all the talk of conference TV deals swirling around, maybe I have my numbers mixed up, but this sounds low.

That photo of burnt orange Texas gear shouldn’t be taken for granted. When I was a freshman (’96), I went down to the Co-op to get an orange shirt. There were two (2!) in the whole store, and one was a replica football jersey. Everything was white, grey, and dark blue. (Go back and watch your old tape of the ’96 Notre Dame game, and see how much orange is in the stands; almost none outside the band.) While Vince and crew sure did their part, I have to credit Mack Brown. Since the day he arrived in ’08, he got the fans to start supporting the team more like a Big 8/ SEC fanbase.

Oops! Obviously, Mack arrived in ’98, not ’08!

I thought the Big 12 football TV package alone netted Texas over $15 million per year.

Not even close — each school gets about $7 million from the current TV contract — Texas gets a little bit more because of the weighted distribution (the more times you are on TV the more you get) but it isn’t that much more.

To compare this, SRR, what does Mississippi State make on their TV deal? Northwestern?

Oh, and great stuff as usual.

Thanks Sailor

Vanderbilt gets around $18 million a year from the SEC TV contract, and Northwestern pulls in about the same amount from the Big 10.

Uh-huh.

http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/tag/superconference/

Was pleased to see A&M moving up, as we should be. Bill Byrne – as much as I detest him – has done an admirable job of growing the business and increasing revenue.

Both programs need to control their cost sides a little better – A&M obvioulsy moreso that y’all. Both programs ran at a pretty slim surplus last year.

“Money from the NCAA and conferences: $11,346,333
There is still a great deal of resentment among other Big 12 members for Texas blocking any kind plan that is an NFL-style revenue sharing plan. When the Big 12 implodes, this will be used by some of the programs left behind as a reason to bitch.”

The difference in revenue between what UT gets and what Baylor gets is just a few million- not enough to seriously hurt Texas if it was shared, nor enough to make Baylor athletics self-sufficient if it were shared. This should not be a source of envy and resentment. It should be an incentive for other programs to market smarter. It’s like the bitter employee who refuses to work late on the new product launch because he resents the new guy making 5% more than him.

A&M had a larger percentage increase than Texas—that’s the bigger story if true given all their issues. Texas success is the product of an overdue expansion compared to securities investment made while the market plummeted. The schools that invested wisely are doing much better this year.

Yeah. Srr provides better info on this topic and the impending realignment of BCS conferences than anyone.

Doesn’t he get all or most of his info from his Bill Little?

“Go back and watch your old tape of the ‘96 Notre Dame game, and see how much orange is in the stands”

I would, but right now I’m busy with the 1997 UCLA game, and home movies of my grandfather’s chemo and funeral.

The Anti Dodds Award: Directors Cup

srr50 -
 
Fantastic stuff. I think I knew some of these pieces individually, but never saw them weaved together in one place. This is a good future bookmark and reference for me.
 
DeLoss has had his ups and downs, and the last 10+ years have been ups, but aside from his fluency on the business end, he has always done a good job of sublimating his ego. Not an easy thing to do in that position. He makes it about the kids and the coaches and seems a tad apologetic when the spotlight is on him. Contrast and compare with Bill Byrne. You don’t have to read many of his Weekly Wednesdays to get a sense that it’s about him.
 
There’s no question that making Texas athletically successful and economically viable isn’t too tough a task, but I do question whether just any athletic director could maximize as well as Dodds has.
 
Re: Northwestern – I believe their payout was 22 million, same as the other Big 10 schools. But what’s 4 million dollars to men such as us? HA HA HA HA.

Don’t forget that trick he does where he whistles(rrrrrwwww) when he talks(rrrrrwww). Love that one.

Bill Byrne covers his loins in bat guano before he goes to bed. True story.

23rd is unacceptable.

The Suns inspired the Ags to wear special uniforms tonight. “Texas A&M” will be replaced with “Los Ers.”

Dodds earns the Buffett comparison only when he gets seen at the Beijing Macdonald’s in the company of Bill Gates.

Using coupons.

True story.

Well written piece. But I have to say, as I’ve watched all these reports with interest, there is one key piece of data that tends to escape mention:

Austin is the largest city in the country that has no tier-one (read: MLB, NBA, NFL, or NHL) professional sports team.

As well as our on-the-field performance has gone, as well as the program profile development has gone, as well as the fundraising, stadium-building, and empire-building has gone, you can’t tell me tht fact doesn’t play some role. As UT has built itself, so have the NBA, the NFL, and to some degree MLB (no comment on hockey). As people everywhere have flocked to more sporting events, become more willing to shell out more to be involved, and as Austin has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of people and affluence, what degree of this success has come from Austin’s very unique situation as a college town with no pro sports?

I’ll hang up and listen.

Austin is the largest city in the country that has no tier-one (read: MLB, NBA, NFL, or NHL) professional sports team.

Of course it is an advantage, as it is for Ohio State (like you I discount the NHL), USC (no NFL franchise) and other teams in smaller markets like Alabama, Florida, Penn State and Wisconsin.

The Austinmetro area has only recently reached a population base that might support a tier one pro team — thanks to explosive growth over the past decade. As it is, Austin is the perfect size to support elite level minor league franchises while keeping UT as the center of the sports universe.

Those minor league franchises (Round Rock Express, Texas Stars) correctly assumed that building state-of-the-art facilities would best succeed outside Austin, where they could get the suburbs to help financially while also still being a viable leisure time choice for those within the Austin city limits.

Scip: Thanks. I have a couple of friends who graduated from UT then went to Northwestern for graduate school, and they found the discrepency among TV dollars between the Big 12 and the Big 10 very amusing.

BTW, the Big 10 network is now available in Austin for $6.99 a month on TWC.

srr, we get the Big 10 net here in Austin on Uverse, not sure about satellite.

Aggie – Why would there be any need in college athletics to run a surplus? Break even or just above is optimum for maximum performance on the field and best experience for athletes and students and fans who enjoy the sports. Universities are not corporations.

For facilities upgrades, now that the universities are forcing schools to pay for it themselves.

“tim said:
May 5th, 2010 at 7:16 pm

srr, we get the Big 10 net here in Austin on Uverse, not sure about satellite."

might want to change your account name. unless you are the Tim

WLHorn

I thought Las Vegas was the biggest city without a tier one team…

Vegas far surpasses Austin in douchebags with Ed Hardy shirts, jorts and straightbilled caps, but that’s about it. Austin population is 700k+ to Vegas’ 500k. Throw in the homeless and Austin is creeping up on a million.