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3/4/04-
Preferred Seating Plan- Part 2
Over the last 10
years costs pertaining to running the athletic department have
risen. A number of factors have culminated in creating a
serious budgetary crisis.
It's important to understand how the
budget situation has deteriorated to its current state.
Where have costs come from?
One of the largest expenses that the athletic department has is the 'cost' of the scholarships
provided to student athletes.
The athletic department gets no discount on tuition from the
University, and many athletes are charged out-of-state tuition. The
number of athletes have increased as varsity sports have been added.
During the same time the State of Michigan has begun cutting back on
revenue diverted to all state universities which has a forced a
further increase in the cost of tuition for all students. In
short, over 20% of the most expensive cost borne by the athletic department
has become even more expensive due to factors completely out of
their control. Michigan has 26 varsity teams, only 3 break even or
make a profit. Football garners
the lion's share of revenue, basketball runs a small profit, and
hockey breaks even. Everything else runs a deficit.
How did things get so bad?
The roots of the current crisis can be traced to the success of the
athletic department which began during the the 1970's. This was golden era of Michigan athletics
administration. Athletic Director (AD) Don Canham had the
golden touch, hiring coaches that had success on the field and
overseeing a department that seemed to print money.
The
printing press? Michigan football.
Sellouts became the
norm. Michigan Stadium's 100,000+ seating capacity and
licensing deals created a steady stream of revenue which buoyed the
athletic budget. The on field success of the football team
created a large demand for tickets. The waiting list for
season tickets grew...
Resting on its Laurels
The success of the athletic department created an attitude that
eventually lead to problems. Canham's brilliant marketing gave his successors a false sense of
security. They began to coast, becoming satisfied with just
maintaining what had worked for so long rather than looking for
innovations. Instability at the AD position was also a problem. Between 1921 and 1988, Michigan had 3 AD's.
Between 1998 and 2000, Michigan has had 4. No one who took the job
had the longevity or the skills to grapple with looming budgetary
problems. While AD's with limited vision, skills, and
aspirations paraded through the athletic department other schools
began to find new ways to generate revenue. Michigan stood still.
Why Don't Michigan Fans Give Money?
Other schools rely and indeed require fans to donate money to the
athletic department. Why has it taken so long for Michigan to
do the same thing? I think there's a number of reasons.
As the success of the athletic department
became widespread, season ticket holders were reluctant to donate
extra money. People in the athletic
department never had been able to 'sell' the idea of annual
donations. At the time it didn't seem to be a large problem.
Football season ticket sales and licensing continued to fill in the
budgetary gaps. Money came in, money went out. And then
things began to go wrong.
Expenses began to rise, non revenue
sports were added, and donations which were always low began to
decline. Michigan athletics began to hit a few
rough spots. Iconic Football Coach Bo Schembechler retired,
and a few years later his hand picked successor resigned in disgrace. The Fab Five Era dawned, angering a number of alumni who were
unhappy with the irreverent image of the young players. Their
unhappiness was exacerbated as revelations of NCAA violations came
to light. The Ed Martin affair implicated Michigan in one of
the worst scandals in NCAA history. Tom Goss came in as
athletic director and continued to alienate many alumni with empty
promises, cronyism, and fiscal irresponsibility. Upgrades to
Yost Ice Arena, intended to create revenue generating premium
seating areas, were inexplicably botched creating a number of obstructed view
seats. Fans became unhappy with the poor service
and the general arrogance of the athletic department.
While the athletic department began to alienate some fans,
competition for the sports entertainment dollar in the
Detroit-Metro area began to heat up. Michigan vies with 4
professional sports franchises for the disposable income of
potential fans. While the Wolverines play in Michigan Stadium, a
facility that is, pardon the expression, absolutely spartan in terms
of amenities, 3 out the 4 professional franchises in the area have built
brand new state-of-the art facilities.
The athletic department likes to point to Ohio State, Penn State,
and Nebraska as examples of rivals who have tied to donations to
football season tickets purchases. But I ask you this
question. If you live in Columbus, State College, or Omaha,
what other options do you have for spending your sports dollars?
Don't Blame the Season Ticket holders...
I think that many
Michigan fans purposely decided to not
donate to the athletic department during this time. While they
wanted to support Michigan student athletes many believed that the
athletic department management had deteriorated steadily since the
departure of Canham and were to reluctant to donate money to an
organization that they perceived as being poorly run. I think
that this is a key point ignored by many athletic department
personnel. They're quick to embrace the tradition and
on-the-field successes while ignoring the fact that last 10 years
has been the most turbulent period in the history of Michigan
athletics.
It's understandable that supporters would be
reluctant to donate money.
Who to Blame?
Some people say
that no one is to blame, that the athletic department was simply
overwhelmed by the changing fiscal landscape of collegiate sports.
I'll be generous and acknowledge that this may be partially true.
But it's certainly not the fault
of the season ticket holders who are now being asked (extorted?) to
bail out the athletic department budget. If season ticket
holders are guilty of anything, it's not paying close enough
attention to the decisions of the athletic department over the last
10 years.
As I wrote in 2000, "...In a radio interview a few
weeks ago interim Athletic Director Bill Martin made comments to the
effect that he couldn't believe how much attention every Athletic
Department decision received.
Well, Bill considering how much the
Athletic Department has continued to reach into my pocket over the
last couple of years you (and your successor) had better get used to
it. We trusted the athletic department in the past and it seems like
nobody was minding store so excuse me if I watch a little closer
now..."
Now that the athletic department has imposed this program a lot more
people will be watching how the athletic department spends this new
revenue.
Are the Mistakes of the Past Relevant Today?
Yes, if mistakes
were made then they need to be acknowledged and lessons taken from
previous mistakes.
Have things
changed at the athletic department?
Can Michigan fans
have confidence that their donations are being properly managed?
The next several
years will answer these questions...
Go Blue!
Phil
Callihan
UMGoBlue.COM, Editor-in-Chief
phil@umgoblue.com
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Phil Callihan is the Editor-in- Chief of
UMGoBlue.COM. Phil graduated from the University of Michigan
in 1993 and has been a football season ticket holder since 1994.
Full Bio
Read More of Phil's Columns
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