Chicago Alumni Event Recap and News from Brandon's Blog

I don't agree with everything Dave Brandon has ever done, but I hope that people remember when they talk about him as if he's trying to steal from Michigan fans that every dollar he makes/saves as the AD goes to the things listed in the above post. 

beat him at State.

apparently it's time to start a curtain company

Seems excessive. They should wait for a sale at Macy's. I bet they can get curtains for the whole campus for $500,000.

I talked with Red afterwards and he told me what we already knew about next years goalie situation. It's Jared's job to lose right now, but the goalie who gives us the best chance to win will play.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOLCX0_T3to&feature=youtu.be

No one asked him if MSC has read Three And Out? The wackadoo wing of MGoBlog is going to be MGoPissed!

I'd be very curious to see what the UM Athletic Department's Master Plan contains and what projects are specifically going to be funded with the additional $250M.

The article mentions expansion of the academic center, swimming and a new lacrosse stadium and facilitiy.  Yost Ice Arena is due for a $16M renovation project that may be part of that $250M he discussed, and of course, there's the $500K for the new curtain in the Crisler Center.

http://www.annarbor.com/news/renovations-to-yost-ice-arena-costlier-than-anticipated/

Are there any other projects out there on the near horizon that are going to be funded out of that $250M?   Schembechler Hall is due to get a $9M for its most recent renovation.

http://www.mgoblue.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/011912aab.html

When I look at the projects mentioned above, I don't see $250M in spending there.  The Phase II renovation of Crisler Center was approved a year ago for $52M.  Is that included as part of the $250M?

http://www.annarbor.com/news/u-m-board-of-regents-approves-schematic-designs-for-52-million-second-phase-of-crisler-arena-renovat/

Is this the first evidence outside of incoming recruits comments that there are plans to expand the south side of Michigan Stadium by adding additional seating?  It'd be nice to see someone follow up with the UM Athletic Department to see how they're planning on spending that additional $250M and what that master plan really does entail.

That whole story about skyboxes being an absolute necessity to fund stadium renovations looks like bunk if the athletic department can afford an additional $250M already.

Hoke was asked if he has had an opportunity to reach out to Urban and congratulate him/say hello, he responded "Yes" - and that was the extent of it. This got a good cheer from the crowd and a laugh.

Per the Athletic Budget, Dave Brandon shed important info. He stated current Debt at somewhere around $250 Million for all of the major upgrades to the three major campus facilities. 

I found this interesting because everyone is crying about the band not going to Dallas, but he really made it known that this is real debt and coupled with their 250Million in future plans, they have to consider all budget items carefully.

He noted in particular that it appears they are really looking to get a new swimming facility. He made several points about how Olympic athletes are sharing lockers and the facilities are in need of improvements.

He also mentioned more academic support and a a larger budget for tutors in response to major efforts to increase academic success amongst athletes.

The first question was more of a comment, it was a Thank You for sending the band to Dallas (kind of a jab as well), he smiled and commented that he wanted them there just like everyone else. For all we know, he knew that they could entice private support from the beginning.

Re: Big Ten Hockey, lot of questions. They anticipate another 1-2 schools joining in the next few years. Noting that Big Ten network will be providing a lot of exposure that schools without programs will be missing out on. But also noted that anyone starting a program will likely need a major donor like PSU received.

Both Red and DaveB mentioned Chicago as a future site for the big ten hockey tournament and mentioned that commitments to other sites are short term.

CoachB and Hoke thanked the Chicago fans for their efforts in making games at Northwestern feel like Home.

Re: Big Ten Championship at Soldier Field, DaveB said he thinks it works up in Lambeau and noted that he is not opposed to an outdoor venue. But mentioned that it was more of a minority position amongst his peers.

I got to say hi to Hoke, second year in a row, thought the event was nice but the crowd was smaller than last year.

The Michigan Athletic Department had a projection in the FY 2012 budget of an outstanding debt balance of nearly $210M projected for June 2012.  See http://www.regents.umich.edu/meetings/06-11/2011-06-X-13.pdf

When you look at the document, it's pretty easy to see that the luxury boxes and premium seating are providing revenues in excess of the annual debt servicing for the entire stadium renovation project.  The total gift income from football is around $21M and the gross revenue for Michigan premium seating is slightly over $15M.  The total annual debt servicing for the Michigan Stadium renovatioin is $9.4M with the entire debt service load for all the projects being financed is $13.2M in FY 2012.  

Michigan does have some leeway to finance additional projects based on those numbers and we've seen the Schembechler Hall renovation plus the newest Yost Ice Arena project recently be approved for around $25M.  Since 2003, Michigan has set aside around $4.5M per year in a deferred maintenance fund that grew to over $35M at one time.  I don't know if that fund has been tapped into yet, but it has or could be a potential resource to pay for some of these items.

The biggest revenue grower for Michigan has been television.  The Big Ten Network is providing almost half the television revenue now with ABC/ESPN and CBS making up the rest.  The ABC/ESPN contract is due for renewal in a few years with expectations that it will be extremely lucrative.  Add in the additonal money from the Big Ten Conference Championship Game (perhaps $1.5M per year) and the $30M to $50M additional the B10 will get from the four-team playoff and you can add perhaps another $2M to $4M to the annual revenue stream.  The total conference distribution to Michigan in FY 2012 was projected to be $23.75M.  In four years' time, UM could easily be looking at $30M to $35M from the conference on an annual basis.

The next budget will be released in a month's time, so we should have a better idea on where all the revenues and costs are trending.  That said, it will be intersting to see how the Michigan Athletic Department sees its future budgets and how it will match revenues to expenditures.  I suspect a big chunk of that $250M Brandon is talking about will be used to expand Michigan Stadium's south endzone.  There's been some discussion about adding another 8-10,000 seats to bracket the scoreboard.  Beyond that, I assume some structure would be put in place to not only enclose the stadium, but to connect the concourses (at least on the south side).  That will be a fairly expensive project that won't have the immediate payoff that the luxury boxes and premium seating was able to provide.

All in all, MIchigan's been in good shape financially since Bill Martin took over and thru Brandon's time as AD.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the athletic department's finances in five to ten years once these major projects are all completed and the debt is paid down.  While I expect expenses to increase, it'll be interesting to see if the UM athletic department sends more money back to the university itself or is able to freeze ticket prices for awhile or has some other priority in mind.

I won the jersey signed by Red

That's me and Red after