OSU Athletic Department losing money?

[amazinblue]

For all you Buckeyes out there who believe your university can do no wrong - and those "fantastic, best in the world facilities" you've built - well, perhaps your people can learn to manage a budget...

Nut and Don - please explain how the "best run Athletic Department in the country" is losing money.


(AP) - The scarlet and gray will soon be in the red.

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith confirmed Sunday that for the first time in his four-year tenure, the Buckeyes' athletic department is expected to lose money during the fiscal year ending June 30.

Smith said he didn't know how much the department would fall short of projections, but revenues are down between $300,000 and $500,000 this year for the winning men's basketball team.

"Maybe a couple hundred thousand," he said of the possible total losses. "But it's hard to tell."

To make up the difference, the athletic department will raise ticket prices $1 per game in football and men's basketball across the board, except for students, Smith said. He said the school had already planned to raise ticket prices, but the economic downturn made it even more important to do so.

The university's board of trustees is expected to approve the increases when it meets later this week.

The school is also paring down costs by allowing only essential personnel to travel to road games and cutting other personal expenses for employees, he said.

Ohio State, which has an annual athletic budget of more than $110 million, typically banks the excess earned from ticket sales, concessions, radio and TV contracts and other revenue sources in its athletic reserve fund.

"We're behind a little bit on revenue in basketball - single-game tickets, concessions, revenue," Smith said. "Once the economy started to shift, somewhere in October, we started to say, 'Hey, this is going to hit us, and it's hit us in this sport in particular.' So we're not hitting the single-game goals that we hoped to achieve."

Smith, who took over as athletic director in 2005, said Ohio State would not cut any of its 36 sports, which is the highest number of teams at any school in the nation.

After the $1 increase, a football ticket would cost $63 next fall. Men's basketball tickets will go up to $27 per game for the 2009-10 season. Tickets will go up another dollar starting in the fall of 2010, Smith said.

The vast majority of Ohio State's athletic revenue comes from football. Smith said the Buckeyes must play a minimum of seven home games to support all of the school's sports teams.

In 2010 and 2012, the Buckeyes will play eight home games each season.

The athletic depaartment will also ask the trustees to approve an increase in golf membership dues at the university's Scarlet and Gray Courses.

As for cutting sports teams, "we're not even thinking about that," Smith said. "I don't anticipate that during my tenure. There's so many other things that we would cut before we'd get to cutting sports."

[Silver Bullet]

I know, how OSU didn't see this recession and financial meltdown coming is beyond me. You've got to spend money to make money and it leaves you vulnerable in these situations. Don't get too excited......
"For the last three years we have had a surplus," Smith said. "I really couldn't say at this point (what the shortfall will be), but it's nothing we couldn't handle out of our reserves."
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/sports/stories/2009/02/02/osu-short.html?sid=101

Don't worry, OSU will be around for the forseeable future to dominate the Wolverienes.

[bigboyBlue]

OSU also runs a ton more varisty sports than UM does.

[1OSUNUT]

Look at the economy. That is why they lost money this year. With the exception of football and basketball - attendence is down. That equals less money. They raised the ticket prices $1 to overcome their short comings - thats all. The situation at Ohio State is nowhere near dire. They (along with Texas) run the largest athletic department in the country. They did cut any programs or cut back anywhere - we are fine.

[blueisbetterthanred]

8 home games in 2010 and 2012? EIGHT?

And they say they don't play little debbie schedules...

[rickyleach]

tell your genius gene smith to quit paying money to his players and that athletic department will have some cash...

[The Michigan Man]

I wonder if Hawk, Clarett, Holmes, Ginn, Smith, etc., would be willing to return some of the money JT paid them from the tUOS coffers? (Clarett probably already spent all of his on cigarettes and lube).

[Silver Bullet]

I wonder if Hawk, Clarett, Holmes, Ginn, Smith, etc., would be willing to return some of the money JT paid them from the tUOS coffers? (Clarett probably already spent all of his on cigarettes and lube).

It's okay MM. One day Um will beat OSU again and you'll have something new/creative to criticize OSU for. Ohh the Athletic Dept. is over budget!

[The Michigan Man]

It's okay MM. One day Um will beat OSU again and you'll have something new/creative to criticize OSU for. Ohh the Athletic Dept. is over budget!

Perhaps you should get your finances in order before bragging about athletic accomplishments. If you can't turn a profit now, when the program has peaked, what are you going to do when Michigan starts beating you regularly again?

[1OSUNUT]

Actually alot of the money the dept is spending is on the 24KT gold pants the football team gets for beating Michigan and the Big Ten championship rings that they seem to have to buy every year.:)

[Silver Bullet]

Perhaps you should get your finances in order before bragging about athletic accomplishments. If you can't turn a profit now, when the program has peaked, what are you going to do when Michigan starts beating you regularly again?

Perhaps you should pull your head out of the sand and look around you. People are losing their jobs at record levels while billion-dollar companies are closing their doors. You think that may have an impact on whether or not people go to a basketball game or buy a $5 hot dog? OSU has operated in the black every year and there is no reason to panic or even worry. I do think it's adorable that you're making such a big deal out of this though...ohhh look at little brother criticizing OSU's finances! One day when his program is all grown up, MM's team might have adult problems too! Of course, that would mean Um would have to invest money in that depressing dungeon that they currently play in.

[Mike Furley]

at the risk of taking a bat to the knees and groin by 1osunut, silver bullet, et al, i have always wondered how OSU has been able to give out those gold charms for beating Michigan and it not being some kind of NCAA violation. Don't get me wrong, I like the tradition, but how is it not considered compensation or payment for amatuer athletic achievment? I don't think the bowl game freebies are right too, but at least that's a gift from the bowl for participation. anyone know?

[Silver Bullet]

at the risk of taking a bat to the knees and groin by 1osunut, silver bullet, et al, i have always wondered how OSU has been able to give out those gold charms for beating Michigan and it not being some kind of NCAA violation. Don't get me wrong, I like the tradition, but how is it not considered compensation or payment for amatuer athletic achievment? I don't think the bowl game freebies are right too, but at least that's a gift from the bowl for participation. anyone know?

I don't know, I guess maybe since it's a tradition? I think they cost something like $25 so it's not like they're giving them a Rolex or anything. The only violation could come about if somebody tried to sell them for more than they are worth. I've seen them on ebay for like $750. It's hard to nail down who puts them on there because even people that work in the video department get a pair when OSU wins.

[Buckeye Sweetie]

Amazin, I'm kind of disappointed in this thread. Of all people on here, you're knocking on OSU vs. the economy? I'm thinking porn sites & strip clubs are the only thing that haven't been effected by the economy.........well.......that & Bank CEO's.........anyone have a jet I can borrow?

[RichRodriguez]

Amazin, I'm kind of disappointed in this thread. Of all people on here, you're knocking on OSU vs. the economy? I'm thinking porn sites & strip clubs are the only thing that haven't been effected by the economy.........well.......that & Bank CEO's.........anyone have a jet I can borrow?

Michigan had a 6 million dollar surplus last year. this is called being financially responsible.

[Silver Bullet]

Michigan had a 6 million dollar surplus last year. this is called being financially responsible.

This is great! Did you get dressed up in your best Um gear and head down to campus and do a little tailgating while you waited for Um to publish their financials? What OSU and other top programs realize that is that you have to invest and spend money to be a top-tier program. The financial downturn hit at a bad time for them, but look at OSU's athletic department including their record number of varsity sports and their top-notch facilities and compare that to Um. If you guys want to claim this as a victory though, by all means do so. You need something to be happy about.

[blueisbetterthanred]

This is great! Did you get dressed up in your best Um gear and head down to campus and do a little tailgating while you waited for Um to publish their financials? What OSU and other top programs realize that is that you have to invest and spend money to be a top-tier program. The financial downturn hit at a bad time for them, but look at OSU's athletic department including their record number of varsity sports and their top-notch facilities and compare that to Um. If you guys want to claim this as a victory though, by all means do so. You need something to be happy about.

uos and OTHER top tier programs? If your looking at schools and their prestige, National College Rankings (http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search) has UM at spot 26 and uos at... *scanning*.. *still scanning*... oh here it is, 56 nationally. Wait, 30 spots worse? Colleges better, nationally, than uos. Tufts U, Brandeis U, Lehigh U, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Case Western Reserve U (in cleveland), Rensselaer Polytechnic U, Yeshiva U, as well as numerous others sitting between UM and uos. Your little school ties with Pepperdine U for national importance and groundbreaking research.

To quote the criteria for the ranking:
"Schools in the National Universities category, such as Yale and UCLA, offer a full range of undergraduate majors, master's, and doctoral degrees. These colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research. "

There is also a link on that page showing how they rate the schools.

So how are you putting your school in the same sentence as top tier schools academically, financially or nationally?

[amazinblue]

Amazin, I'm kind of disappointed in this thread. Of all people on here, you're knocking on OSU vs. the economy? I'm thinking porn sites & strip clubs are the only thing that haven't been effected by the economy.........well.......that & Bank CEO's.........anyone have a jet I can borrow?

Sweetie,

I probably started this one since Don and Nut have been spewing for a while and frankly, I was fed up with their posts for a while. As you know, I enjoy a good, intelligent argument and respect a variety of views as long as someone uses some logic or rationale to support their view and they don't just put on "rose colored glasses" and say "my team's great and yours sucks - and, yours will always suck." So, for those who think OSU can do no wrong, and Michigan sucks all the time - I guess this post was for them...

Trust me - I'm not knocking the economy - it's a very tough time out there, and it's going to be tough for a while.

[Silver Bullet]

uos and OTHER top tier programs? If your looking at schools and their prestige, National College Rankings (http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/college/national-search) has UM at spot 26 and uos at... *scanning*.. *still scanning*... oh here it is, 56 nationally. Wait, 30 spots worse? Colleges better, nationally, than uos. Tufts U, Brandeis U, Lehigh U, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Case Western Reserve U (in cleveland), Rensselaer Polytechnic U, Yeshiva U, as well as numerous others sitting between UM and uos. Your little school ties with Pepperdine U for national importance and groundbreaking research.

To quote the criteria for the ranking:
"Schools in the National Universities category, such as Yale and UCLA, offer a full range of undergraduate majors, master's, and doctoral degrees. These colleges also are committed to producing groundbreaking research. "

There is also a link on that page showing how they rate the schools.

So how are you putting your school in the same sentence as top tier schools academically, financially or nationally?

Well....I was pretty sure we are talking about ATHLETIC DEPARTMENTS so I was thinking athletically. But thanks, I am now aware that Yale is a more prestigious, academic school than OSU.

[osusteve]

It was wise of the Ohio State athletic department to invest in the improvement in facilities (like the Horseshoe) when they did.
Large construction jobs today are being halted today due to the inability to obtain financing, enormous material cost increases, etc. Example: the massive CityCenter project in Las Vegas was originally slated to be about $6 billion and the cost has ballooned to $9 billion +. The developer, Kirk Kerkorian's company, had to go the United Arab Emerites to get their country to become an equity partner in the project to keep it affloat.

[rickyleach]

gee 1osunut ,your athletic department doesnt have much money if you say alot of it is being spent on gold pants , , what about the gold jockstrap around your chin, or maybe the gold dilllldoh you and don use.. your school runs their athletic department like william clay ford runs his company and the detroit lions.. you will probably need a michigan grad to figure out your problems, cause most of the osu grads are working nite shift at wallmart or tim hortons..

[RADRACING]

Who isn't having money problems these days?

[Wolvrin704]

Who isn't having money problems these days?

Apparently the NFL, NBA and MLB. Salaries are still going up dramatically.

[RADRACING]

I thought they said today a lot of NBA teams were dumping players because of economic hard times.

[Wolvrin704]

I thought they said today a lot of NBA teams were dumping players because of economic hard times.

Salary cap is the reason why they dump players.

[rickyleach]

maybe if they got rid of that 58 year old pussy jim tressel they wouldnt be loozin their assss ..

[Silver Bullet]

Salary cap is the reason why they dump players.

The Luxury Tax is what kills teams. They don't have a salary cap. Teams have to match dollar-for-dollar any amount they go over the limit.

[1OSUNUT]

maybe if they got rid of that 58 year old pussy jim tressel they wouldnt be loozin their assss ..

You can care less if Ohio State is losing a bit of money. You just want Tressel gone because you know Michigan cannot beat him - with or without RR.

[BBA1994]

You can care less if Ohio State is losing a bit of money. You just want Tressel gone because you know Michigan cannot beat him - with or without RR.

Not true nut. We want YOU gone because we're sick of trying to decipher your garbled nonsense resulting from your constant need to have tressy's pickle in your mouth.

[blueisbetterthanred]

You can care less if Ohio State is losing a bit of money. You just want Tressel gone because you know Michigan cannot beat him - with or without RR.

Hahahaha now that's funny... Carr pretty much performed like JT, except for beating uos, and we ran him out of town. RR is putting in a system that scares you guys, you can talk all the shit you want, but you know what is going on at UM. I honestly HOPE JT stays at uos a looonngg time because he has shown he takes skilled players and makes them underperform, just like Carr did. RR does the opposite, taking players and having them play above their overall talent level, which he proved at WVU. You honestly think he isn't going to murder opponents once he has a couple top 10 recruiting classes, executing the system he wants???!!

You keep them high expectations for jimmy while he keeps choking in all his important games. Say all you want, you know it's true. The last meaningful win JT had when when we were #1/#2, and that was on the road with Carr. I look forward to many years with JT leading the uos into mediocrity. He has shown he CAN'T CUT IT IN THE BIG GAMES, REPEATEDLY. You really think any solid UM fan wants him to leave with that kind of record??

[1OSUNUT]

That is where you are so wrong - nobody is scared. RR used to surprise people with the system that he ran. This just in, the spread is no longer a surprise. In fact some form of it is almost the norm. Look at the SEC for example. The reason why LSU, Florida and Georgia lose confernce games and are involved in so many close games is because teams know each other so well. Tressel will make sure he knows Michigan inside and out. There will be tons of film on the Wolverines so it really is no big deal. It will come down to talent and the Buckeyes still have you beat there - even with your so called great classes.

The bigger question is how is Michigan going to stop TP in the next three years as he continues to get better. He is going to be a major Troy Smith like pain in the ass the next three years.All the piece are in place to continue the dominance the Ohio State has had in the Big Ten. You guys are just having a hard time realizing that your no longer that special or very good. Michigan is the Nebraska of the East.

[chriswebber]

See old RRod is one step of Tressel and his farm show. Rrod swaps out major players in his O each year.

[Wolvrin704]

The Luxury Tax is what kills teams. They don't have a salary cap. Teams have to match dollar-for-dollar any amount they go over the limit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NBA_Salary_Cap

http://members.cox.net/lmcoon/salarycap.htm#Q1


http://www.nba.com/news/salarycapset_080709.html

http://www.insidehoops.com/nba-salary-cap.shtml

http://www.ehow.com/how_2095944_know-nba-salary-cap-rules.html?ref=fuel&utm_source=yahoo&utm_medium=ssp&utm_campaign=yssp_art

Shall I go on? There is indeed a salary cap. It may be a soft cap but there is one. What you are thinking of is MLB, they have a luxury tax.

[michAGAIN]

That is where you are so wrong - nobody is scared. RR used to surprise people with the system that he ran. This just in, the spread is no longer a surprise. In fact some form of it is almost the norm. Look at the SEC for example. The reason why LSU, Florida and Georgia lose confernce games and are involved in so many close games is because teams know each other so well. Tressel will make sure he knows Michigan inside and out. There will be tons of film on the Wolverines so it really is no big deal. It will come down to talent and the Buckeyes still have you beat there - even with your so called great classes.

The bigger question is how is Michigan going to stop TP in the next three years as he continues to get better. He is going to be a major Troy Smith like pain in the ass the next three years.All the piece are in place to continue the dominance the Ohio State has had in the Big Ten. You guys are just having a hard time realizing that your no longer that special or very good. Michigan is the Nebraska of the East.


If I had a chimpanzee named Travis, you'd be the first person I'd invite over to my house.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/local_news/connecticut/090217_Chimp_Owner_Talks_to_Fox_5_News

[BBA1994]

If I had a chimpanzee named Travis, you'd be the first person I'd invite over to my house.

Then travis and nut could fight over tressy's banana.

[bigboyBlue]

If I had a chimpanzee named Travis, you'd be the first person I'd invite over to my house.

And then you could shoot it dead....but then who would write the stimulus??

[bluefan]

[QUOTE=michAGAIN;7553]If I had a chimpanzee named Travis, you'd be the first person I'd invite over to my house.



Awesome. Simply awesome.

[rickyleach]

michAGAIN, that is a classic.

[Don Unverferth]

You keep them high expectations for jimmy while he keeps choking in all his important games. Say all you want, you know it's true. The last meaningful win JT had when when we were #1/#2, and that was on the road with Carr. I look forward to many years with JT leading the uos into mediocrity. He has shown he CAN'T CUT IT IN THE BIG GAMES, REPEATEDLY. You really think any solid UM fan wants him to leave with that kind of record??



Almost every elite coach averages around 2 losses per year. Tress 2.3, Meyer averages 2.25, Carroll 1.8, Stoops 2.4.

When you face a 'near equal opponent', it means you're only going to win about 50% of those games and possibly less depending on the way the ball bounces.

Carroll has proven over and over, even with more talent than any other coach he is good for at least one choke a year. Meyer just had a 9-4 year, and Stoops has had some just okay years.

Look no further than Ann Arbor for mediocrity. We're doing just fine in Columbus.