MLive: Brandon projects smallest budget surplus in 12 years
http://www.mlive.com/business/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/06/university_of…
The article is short, give it a read. I'll post some quotes from it, though, and save my personal comments for a post below.
Brandon said that the department expects to incur about $145.9 million in expenses, giving it a surplus of about $5.2 million.
"Our projected surplus will be a little below previous years, but we'll be ample and our operating surpluses will be reinvested in the facility plans we have (over the next four years)." [Brandon]
Salaries, wages and benefits of department employees account for the largest year-over-year increase. The department budgeted an increase of $3.6 million in salaries for department personnel, making it the largest expanse at $53.2 million.
Team and game expenses are expected to increase to $23.9, up $1.4 million from the previous year, and "other operating and administrative expenses" are projected to increase by $1.1 million.
Nearly $20.4 million is budgeted for financial aid scholarships for student-athletes.
Emphasis mine in the last block quote.
Your making a false analogy. College Athletes and their relationship with University Athletic Departments (aside from one NLRB ruling currently under appeal) are not akin to the private sector employee/employer model.
If you want to give football/basketball players more money the best avenue is to advocate for the increase in housing stipends. This will be applied to all College Athletes equally. If you want to give more money to football/basketball players simply because they are football/basketball players then you will have a whole host of Title IX issues.
Personally I'm a fan of allowing all college athletes to own and sell their likeness as they please but put the profits into a trust fund that can't be accessed until they either graduate or are professionally contracted in their sport.
...when it comes to saying that the analogy doesn't work. The National Labor Relations Board believes NCAA athletes are employees.
I hear you on the Title IX issue, but that's different than the principle of whether or not revenue sport players hould be paid. The NCAA - and I realize you are not the NCAA - argues that they shouldn't be paid on principle.
I'm well aware of the NLRB ruling and addressed it in my previous post. Did you know it only applies to Private Schools not Public Schools? Also did you know it is being appealed?
This is a discussion about how to increase compensation. I've laid out one method to do so that is practical and can't be opposed by people standing on the "principle" that NCAA athletes shouldn't be paid. Slap another $415 bucks into each scholarship athletes housing check each month and voila you have successfully increased their compensation by 5K without upsetting the purists.
First of all, we are running a surplus, period. For a college AD, that is already good. Factor in how terrible our main revenue sport has been the last 6-7 years, and it's good (though perhaps not for the fans, which is a separate argument).
But this goes back to my belief that Michigan has one systematic advantage over most schools, and that is its pocketbook. Our legacy/tradition may not win us games, but being able to back up a truck of money to coaches and on facilities is a real advantage. I hope that we continue to spend the money to do that, and hopefully if done right, it will pay dividends in the short and medium-term as the different athletic programs perform better and drive additional revenue for the AD.
GOOD. This should be a signal to the AD
Auburnt:
http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/03/auburn_athletics_department_…
Scaryland:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/maryland-athletics-contin…
Warshington Stert:
http://washingtonstate.scout.com/2/1364420.html
Penn State:
http://www.pennlive.com/pennstatefootball/index.ssf/2014/05/penn_state_…
FAMU:
http://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/famu-news/2014/05/05/famu-a…
Tennessee: (WTF?)
http://www.utsports.com/genrel/082712aab.html
WE CAN'T PAY PEOPLE THAT SUCKS!!!
What a bunch of typical republican shit.
Just curious - if public universities are non-profit, where does the surplus go?
I don't want to see LaVall Jordan or any of Beilein's assistants leaving soon. If you have to pay them to stick around, it's probably worth it. Same goes for coaches (head or assistant) in any other sport.
Not to worry, my friend. He does realize that we are going to win every football game we play in this year correct? Our 2014-15 (15-0) National Championship shirts at $25 a pop will liven up the budget surplus.
I get a chuckle out of all the DB bashing on here. Honestly, it doesn't matter who the AD at UM is...they will get torched by "fans" daily. I give DB 2-3 more years at the most and he will retire or move on. It seems he wants his legacy rooted in facility upgrades, and Mr. Ross and others are helping make this possible. Besides, the new UM President may have a completely different take on university athletics than DB's, potentially hastening his departure.
There's not really a ton of DB bashing in this thread. Maybe one or two posts.
I get a chuckle about the people who whine about DB complaining.
Though in complete fairness, much of the facilities upgrades we are seeing now began under Bill Martin's watch.
This will be short lived with our schedule getting better after this year. It isn't that big a deal to me who we play and I'll go regardless because it's Michigan football but I would love home games against LSU, but for many casual fans this seems to be the make or break reason for going to a game.
I don't know about that. I'm sure DB's budget assumes all tickets will be sold. Maybe we lose some PSD money b/c season tickets that weren't bought will be sold as smaller packages or individual tickets.
But I'd bet a dollar that the budget accounts for a full stadium for each game.
Student loans is the next bubble. People have to go to school for the most part so there is no way for the market to regulate it and the prices will just keep going up until we have another recession.
The Big 6 schools are printing money now like they would have never dreamed of doing just 10-20 years ago. I don't know where it's all going, but how does a school like Tennessee make over 100 million dollars and lose money on playing sports?
I get that there's travel costs but give me a break. Spending and facilities arms races are out of control in college athletics but god forbid athletes get a chunk of it