The Economy and Our Rams

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enonram

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I heard on the radio this morning that the State is putting together its budget plan and asking departments to prepare budgets with 2%, 4%, and 6% cuts. Being a state school, how does this impact our athletic department?

This economy is starting to impact sports everywhere. The NFL was encouraging the teams to call timeout on MNF in a blowout game so that ESPN could run more commercials. The NFL owners want to expand the season by two games by converting two preseason games to regular season games. That is all about trying to generate more revenue. In racing, earlier this week, Richard Petty Motorsports is rumored to be closing its doors after this weekend. Robert Yates racing, a powerhouse organization shut its doors years ago. Roush Racing merged with the Red Sox. Sponsorship dollars are drying up. VCU MBB relies on corporate sponsorship as well.

More and more individuals are living paycheck to paycheck. I would think that individual giving has got to be trending downward. The other side of that is to increase tuition, but who can afford that? VCU relies on individual giving and I’m sure gets a portion of tuition costs.

Other colleges/universities are cutting programs – Hofstra/Northeastern dropped football. New Orleans is no longer Div I in MBB.

I sure hope someone is aggressively and strategically planning for the future of VCU sports and in particular MBB.
 
It's amazing how much winning bring money to the program. Have a very successful season, get to the NCAA's and win.

Besides, the economy has been in the poopter for 3 years...I don't think that sports are now starting to feel the impact...I think they've felt it since day 1 and have already developed ways to overcome it. At least I hope they have.
 
In Chesterfield County, high-school transportation budgets for athletics have been sliced in half, from $20,000 to $10,000; also most schools have reduced all schedules by two games (exception being varsity football - a money maker).

How does this apply to VCU? You schedule schools closer to home. The home-and-away with Tulane, for example, serves little purpose for either school and figures to be a bottom-line financial loser.

Also, it might be wise for the CAA to suggest to Northeastern and Georgia State - the far extremes geographically - that they seek new conference affiliation. They represent the most time-consuming trips, heaviest travel costs and, at least in men's basketball, the worst (by far) attendance.

Basically, they're costly excess baggage in a "carry-on" economic cycle.
 
In a nutshell, more bus trips, less plane trips.

I would personally love it if our OOC made us look like an A10 team, home and homes with GW, Charlotte, Temple, St Joes, or LaSalle, and of course the ticks.

Add in CUSA's Marshall and maybe even ECU.
 
Pavarotti said:
In a nutshell, more bus trips, less plane trips.

I would personally love it if our OOC made us look like an A10 team, home and homes with GW, Charlotte, Temple, St Joes, or LaSalle, and of course the ticks.

Add in CUSA's Marshall and maybe even ECU.
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After going 5-0 on the A-10 last season, they might give us the VT/UVA treatment going forward.
 
bighorn said:
Also, it might be wise for the CAA to suggest to Northeastern and Georgia State - the far extremes geographically - that they seek new conference affiliation. They represent the most time-consuming trips, heaviest travel costs and, at least in men's basketball, the worst (by far) attendance.

Basically, they're costly excess baggage in a "carry-on" economic cycle.
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Speaking for NU only -- that statement is factually false. There are only two years since NU joined the CAA which they significantly struggled in terms of fan attendance(IE finished in the bottom 2). Per the CAA here are those numbers Below.. Granted it's not like we're going to be able to get 5,000 a game because matthews I believe can only sellout at about 3500... I'd also note that NU moved to matthews b/c of CAA mandate(Cabot only seats like 1200 at most, it's similar to trask but much smaller...). I'd note as I have in the past that basketball wise unlike GSU it's not like NU hasn't competed. We're one of 4 schools(Mason VCU ODU) to be.500 or better every year since we've been in the conference.

2069-09/10
2041 08/09
1445- 07/08
1274-06/07
2009-05/06
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redsoxn...not to bust on NU or anything but those are paltry numbers in light of the run you guys have had with Janning & Co. What's going to happen if/when the "W"'s go away? Regardless you average about 2/3 of your capacity. Hard to defend that especially with a 3500 seat arena.
I disagree with bighorn on the cost thing. Flights to and from Boston & Atlanta are pretty cheap
 
well I would say the work of the N-Zone(NU's Student section) has been a huge difference maker from years past. Trust me the campaign has been pretty big already. Darren Costa and company have done a fantastic job organizing events and making everyone a part of the community. The doghouse(NU's hockey fan club) always does well for hockey and I think a lot of that is translating well over to hoops. BTW the most helpful change I've seen is the ability of students to be on top of the court. It's made a HUGE DIFFERENCE in terms of interaction with the players and rowdiness of the fans. Plus it's created new traditions such as the line of high fives at halfcourt after games.. Another major change most CAA fans aren't aware of is that hockey finally "let" hoops get a friday night game. Expect close to a sellout on Nov. 12th against BU(if not an actual one).

This is a convo I've had on RN before. BTW Ramnation forgive me if this sounds repetitive but it is true: Wins and losses absolutely play a factor.. however what I would say is College hoops doesn't sell like it does in Richmond or Norfolk. Totally different city dynamics and opportunities. I've mentioned this before but look at it this way VCU outsold BC's attendance recently(I believe it was using the attendance #'s from two years ago). If you can't sell out games in the ACC and a mid-major is outselling you what does that say about college basketball in the northeast? particularly in major urban areas? I would argue it's comparing apple's to oranges in terms of fan bases opportunity.
 
redsoxn2004 said:
I've mentioned this before but look at it this way VCU outsold BC's attendance recently(I believe it was using the attendance #'s from two years ago). If you can't sell out games in the ACC and a mid-major is outselling you what does that say about college basketball in the northeast? particularly in major urban areas? I would argue it's comparing apple's to oranges in terms of fan bases opportunity.
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Then why do schools like UConn, Pitt, and Syracuse sell out every game. I get what you're saying and tend to agree that in cities like Boston, and Buffalo hockey is king, but saying it's apple's to oranges is ridiculous. Every school has to start somewhere and I'd agree that NU is on the right track. I've seen the Huskies support at the CAA tourney jump a bit in the past few years. Keep it up.
 
College basketball is huge in the Northeast. Boston specifically has a vacuum of attendees because Northeastern hoops must compete with Boston University, Boston College, and Harvard. Not to mention very successful pro teams in the Celtics and the Bruins.

Back when BC hoops was on par with the rest of the ACC (granted, it's been a few years), they still had trouble getting attendance to capacity for that very reason.

The Northeast is littered with small schools from Maryland to Maine, and aside from Villanova, UConn, Syracuse and arguably BC, there isn't one "top dog". Compare that to here in Virginia - specifically the Richmond greater metropolitan area. There's VCU, UVA, Tech, Radford, W&M, JMU represented in this area (Mason is more within the DC metro area, ODU is in the Tidewater area). We don't have any pro teams that play concurrent with VCU Basketball (and it's not like the Squirrels are a huge draw to begin with compared to the pro teams in Boston).

Success helps, yes, but also it's location.
 
bighorn said:
How does this apply to VCU? You schedule schools closer to home. The home-and-away with Tulane, for example, serves little purpose for either school and figures to be a bottom-line financial loser.

Depends a lot on how we draw for the game.

Also, it might be wise for the CAA to suggest to Northeastern and Georgia State - the far extremes geographically - that they seek new conference affiliation. They represent the most time-consuming trips, heaviest travel costs and, at least in men's basketball, the worst (by far) attendance.

Basically, they're costly excess baggage in a "carry-on" economic cycle.
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Seems awfully short-sighted to start dumping teams from the league every time there's a recession.
 
Either way VCU basketball operates primarily off of state funds. The money they bring in through ticket sales, and sponsorships is their money and is unaffected by state budget cuts.
 
[/quote] Seems awfully short-sighted to start dumping teams from the league every time there's a recession.[/quote]

Feast or famine, makes little difference. Northeastern and Georgia State are the CAA's ugly duckings. They're like bad investments you made in a weak moment, off a bum tip, and now must live with as the red ink flows.

Northeastern, now minus football, would be far better suited (in terms of athletics and finances) for the Northeast Conference, aligning with schools a reasonable bus trip away.

At the same time, GSU could apply to the Big South (with 7 football schools and obvious vacancy) to slice expenses and increase hopes of success.

Then, if the CAA has notions of replacing GSU with another football school, with cost efficiency a concern, I'd recommend VMI or Liberty, or even Hampton or Norfolk State - who might have a mind to withdraw from the MEAC and say hello to an unsegregated world.

I realize this may be a shocking statement to many, but remember: there's a bit more to college athletics than men's basketball.
 
There's literally zero chance Northeastern would consider dropping down to the NEC. Having worked in that league, you'd be astonished by the dropoff.

Other than travel, I don't see how the CAA is better with Hampton, Liberty, VMI or Norfolk State. Out of those four, Liberty is the only one that's even slightly interesting. Just because they're in-state schools doesn't mean they're a good fit for the CAA.

Does it cost more to travel to Boston and Atlanta? Yes. How many times do we go to Boston and Atlanta a year? A maximum of once for each sport, sometimes less. Is the amount of money spent on travel to those cites significant? Sure. Will it make or break the department? Certainly not.
 
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