More budget woes - Can UNI remain D-I?

[tornado]

That's the title of the article:
"Can UNI afford to be a Division I school for athletics?"

http://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/education/college/2015/07/17/uni-iowa-isu-regents-funding-subsidies/30301673/

they've already dropped some sports recently and are under pressure from different sources that want to cut state funding..

".. UNI has provided its athletics program more than $56 million in taxpayer or
student subsidies over the past dozen years to cover what couldn't be raised
through ticket sales, conference contracts, alumni donations, student fees and
other sources."

So why should UNI be allowed to use those public-dollar sources for athletics
when UI and ISU have managed to wean themselves from it?

But critics say tax money and tuition should go to fund academics, not sports.

The issue came to a head in 2012, when UNI cut nearly one-fifth of its
academic programs.."

[valleyclimber]

We've heard about UNI being cash strapped for years now, could the issues finally be catching up with the Panthers program. Didn't realize UNI is down 10 percent enrollment. That's a pretty significant drop.

Despite all the financial woes, UNI hoops is still solid while football has dropped a bit. Not saying it will happen, but if the Panthers do drop down to D2, who will the MVC seriously look at for membership. With UNI being a football school, would the MVFC schools want to look at another football playing school or would that even figure into the thought process?

Interesting to think about, but I don't see UNI as being in dire straights yet, but with the changing face of college athletics who knows what will happen. It's hard to get a handle on just what is going to take place.

[tornado]

hard to lure kids to Frostbite Falls

[bradleyfan124]

Question is: Will the so called "BCS" schools run into the same thing now that they want to pay their athletes? Most are State schools. Will they run into budget scrutiny? Have they shot themselves in the foot? I hope so.

[AZ BU Fan]

Don't Mess With The Squirrel

hard to lure kids to Frostbite Falls

Enough of the Frostbite Falls slams!

Moose and squirrel upset!





Besides, Whatsamatta U in Frostbite Falls could hold their own vs any MVC MBB Team!

http://zombiesites.com/timewarpmemor...ite_falls.html

[tornado]

a couple dozen of the biggest football schools will always make enough $$ that they can pay players and still rake it in...

then another 50-60 big football schools will have to be careful - they sure wouldn't be able to pay $20,000 each to lure players like Texas is talking...

then there's another 50-100 schools that are doing OK because of good support and decent attendance but they won't be able to pay players much at all...
Bradley is in this group and used to be at the TOP of this group - with Top 40-50 attendance and awesome donor support - but over just the past 5 years
we've droped incredibly - "unsustainable" was the very word the Board chose - attendance has plummeted and donor support is down over 50% thanks to you-know-who.

then the rest of DI who will either struggle financially, & struggle to even stay in DI or won't be able to land good players and will be the perennial bottom dwellers like Savannah State & IUPUI..

[tornado]

another article on budget woes in Athletics at a midmajor...

Ohio University - who beat us out for Gavin Block...Kent State, Cleveland State & other midmajors...

all get $10 to 20 MILLION in state funds, University funds, and student support... to run their athletics...
That's almost 70% of their ENTIRE Athletic Dept. budget covered & subsidized by the generous folks in Ohio!
And many of the MAC schools & midmajors in Ohio are even worse - here's the articles...

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2015/07/ohio_universitys_athletic_prog.html

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2015/07/kent_state_sports_rank_low_in.html

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2015/07/cleveland_state_student_fees_c_1.html

http://www.cleveland.com/datacentral/index.ssf/2015/07/uncovering_the_cost_of_college.html

[Vent]

a couple dozen of the biggest football schools will always make enough $$ that they can pay players and still rake it in...

then another 50-60 big football schools will have to be careful - they sure wouldn't be able to pay $20,000 each to lure players like Texas is talking...

then there's another 50-100 schools that are doing OK because of good support and decent attendance but they won't be able to pay players much at all...
Bradley is in this group and used to be at the TOP of this group - with Top 40-50 attendance and awesome donor support - but over just the past 5 years
we've droped incredibly - "unsustainable" was the very word the Board chose - attendance has plummeted and donor support is down over 50% thanks to you-know-who.

then the rest of DI who will either struggle financially, & struggle to even stay in DI or won't be able to land good players and will be the perennial bottom dwellers like Savannah State & IUPUI..

You are absolutely right! In a way this is a mirror of society.

[tornado]

wow - in the midst of this discussion on whether Northern Iowa can remain viable in DI-
now they announce they will begin paying their scholarship athletes..

"The Panthers will provide cost of attendance benefits...
that means roughly $2,200 added to each in-state scholarship...
"For us, we pay about $800,000 a year in that differential. It's a huge expense item for us."

...trying to do competitively on a national level, we really didn't have a choice."

http://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/uni-takes-cost-of-attendance-plunge/article_19503151-9cd9-50cb-8c08-7b3a9f836293.html

BTW - they also say this..
"We generated more in our multi-media rights than we ever have and more than almost anybody in the country at this level."

you're kidding - out in the sticks in Iowa they are able to generate a big PROFIT on their media marketing?
How is it that this is so "unprofitable" here in on of the biggest MVC markets compared to Cedar Falls which is way less than half our media market size.

[Old Coach]

wow - in the midst of this discussion on whether Northern Iowa can remain viable in DI-
now they announce they will begin playing their scholarship athletes..

"The Panthers will provide cost of attendance benefits...
that means roughly $2,200 added to each in-state scholarship...
"For us, we pay about $800,000 a year in that differential. It's a huge expense item for us."

...trying to do competitively on a national level, we really didn't have a choice."

http://wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/uni-takes-cost-of-attendance-plunge/article_19503151-9cd9-50cb-8c08-7b3a9f836293.html

BTW - they also say this..
"We generated more in our multi-media rights than we ever have and more than almost anybody in the country at this level."

you're kidding - out in the sticks in Iowa they are able to generate a big PROFIT on their media marketing?
How is it that this is so "unprofitable" here in on of the biggest MVC markets?

Having a top 10 national FCS football program is a big helper.

Learfield Sports struck a deal with WHO in Des Moines to broadcast 4 football games in the state's capital and largest DMA. In addition to the 4 football games, 6 "other" events (wrestling, volleyball, and men's and women's basketball) will be broadcast throughout the year.

[Old Coach]

you're kidding - out in the sticks in Iowa they are able to generate a big PROFIT on their media marketing?
How is it that this is so "unprofitable" here in on of the biggest MVC markets compared to Cedar Falls which is way less than half our media market size.

By the way, the Peoria-Bloomington DMA is the 2nd smallest in the MVC, only to Terre Haute. It's also the only DMA that contains 2 schools which shrinks the audience even more.

Peoria is DMA #116
Cedar Fall is DMA #90

You're not just talking about Peoria vs Cedar Falls. You have to consider a DMA in it's entirety, and Peoria is smaller than all but 1.

[lefty]

By the way, the Peoria-Bloomington DMA is the 2nd smallest in the MVC, only to Terre Haute. It's also the only DMA that contains 2 schools which shrinks the audience even more.

Peoria is DMA #116
Cedar Fall is DMA #90

You're not just talking about Peoria vs Cedar Falls. You have to consider a DMA in it's entirety, and Peoria is smaller than all but 1.

How many DMA's in Iowa compared to Illinois and how is the size determined?

[tornado]

I'd love to know that as well - as here are the Metropolitan area populations for each MVC team - there's simply no believable way you can put Carbondale, Cedar Falls, etc. ahead of Peoria in any measure of size or market

Bradley 380K - but this only counts the close neighboring counties - LINK
Drake (Des Moines) 580K
Evansville 358K
Illinois State - Bloomington-Normal 160K
Indiana State 150K
Loyola - Chicago 9 million, but it hasn't worked to Loyola's benefit yet - they kinda get lost in such a big area and don't even have a home TV or radio station
Missouri State - 437K
Northern Iowa - 168K
SIU - Carbondale - 120K (this counts a huge radius in So. IL)
Wichita State - 640K

but here's what puzzles me - if Cedar Rapids is allowed to count Waterloo which is 50 miles away then why not count Galesburg or Bloomington as part of Peoria? This whole idea that other cities can count population or "market" that's more than an hour's drive but that rule does not apply here is phony.
Seems to me we can get pretty darned arbitrary here.
Likewise, Springfield, MO is casually allowed to count the growing area around Branson, Kirbyville - some 50 miles & over an hour's drive by interstate away!! Then to be fair & equal, whoever does this tabulating, then Peoria ought to include Bloomington, Springfield, Macomb, Canton, and Springfield!!!!
If we did it that way then the Peoria metro area would zoom to well over 1.5 million

We need to compare apples & apples not apples & oranges or kumquats

[Old Coach]

I'd love to know that as well - as here are the Metropolitan area populations for each MVC team - there's simply no believable way you can put Carbondale, Cedar Falls, etc. ahead of Peoria in any measure of size or market

Bradley 380K - but this only counts the close neighboring counties - LINK
Drake (Des Moines) 580K
Evansville 358K
Illinois State - Bloomington-Normal 160K
Indiana State 150K
Loyola - Chicago 9 million, but it hasn't worked to Loyola's benefit yet - they kinda get lost in such a big area and don't even have a home TV or radio station
Missouri State - 437K
Northern Iowa - 168K
SIU - Carbondale - 120K (this counts a huge radius in So. IL)
Wichita State - 640K

but here's what puzzles me - if Cedar Rapids is allowed to count Waterloo which is 50 miles away then why not count Galesburg or Bloomington as part of Peoria? This whole idea that other cities can count population or "market" that's more than an hour's drive but that rule does not apply here is phony.
Seems to me we can get pretty darned arbitrary here.
Likewise, Springfield, MO is casually allowed to count the growing area around Branson, Kirbyville - some 50 miles & over an hour's drive by interstate away!! Then to be fair & equal, whoever does this tabulating, then Peoria ought to include Bloomington, Springfield, Macomb, Canton, and Springfield!!!!
If we did it that way then the Peoria metro area would zoom to well over 1.5 million

We need to compare apples & apples not apples & oranges or kumquats

See above. B-N is part of the Peoria DMA. Metro areas are not the same as TV DMAs. Peoria's DMA is the 2nd smallest in the Valley. There is no other way around it.

You'll have to take your DMA issues up with the folks at Nielsen, but these DMA markets are well established, and media rankings and program ratings have been established by them for a long, long time.

[Old Coach]

How many DMA's in Iowa compared to Illinois and how is the size determined?

http://dishuser.org/TVMarkets/Maps/iowa.gif