Welcome to The Holy Land of Hoops

Post #11

Endowments, Enrolments, Sports Revenue, and Sponsored Research & Development Revenue

Post #1: Endowments, Enrolments, Sports Revenue, and Sponsored Research & Development Revenue (with TABLES 1 to 15)
Post #2: More about Endowments, Enrolments, Sports Revenue, and Sponsored Research & Development Revenue
Post #3: NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance 2010-11 through 2020-21 – Listed by Season
Post #4: NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance 2010-11 through 2020-21 – Listed by School
Post #5: Variable Revenue Source for Basketball Programs: ‘Units’ Earned in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments
Post #6: Basketball Program Expenses for Selected Universities

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• HOME ATTENDANCE → → REVENUE → → EXPENSES → → PROFIT → → PROFIT MARGIN → → ROI → → VALUE OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM •
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• Post #7: Home Attendance for 2018-19 (with TABLE 16)
• Post #8: Revenue, Expenses, and Profit for 2018-19 (with TABLES 17 to 19)
• Post #9: Profit Margin, Return on Investment, and More Metrics for the 2018-19 Season (with TABLES 20 to 25)
• Post #10: Value of College Basketball Teams: The Wall Street Journal Rankings from 2015 through 2018

Post #11: Conference Revenue Summaries: TV Rights Payouts to Schools and Total Sports Payouts to Schools (with TABLES 26 to 34)
...... TABLE 26: Annual Payouts from Present TV Rights Contracts
...... TABLE 27: Total Annual Distributed Revenue for Each Conference
...... TABLE 28: Total Annual Media Rights Payout for Each Conference
...... TABLE 29: 'Other' Annual Distributed Revenue = Total Annual Distributed Revenue - Annual Media Rights Payments
...... TABLE 30: 'Other' Distributed Revenue as a Percentage of Total Annual Distributed Revenue
...... TABLE 31: Annual TV Rights Revenue as a Percentage of Total Annual Distributed Revenue
...... TABLE 32: Gross Annual TV Rights Payments per School
...... TABLE 33: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Football
...... TABLE 34: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Men's Basketball

Post #12: Taking a Closer Look at Gonzaga
Post #13: The Decline of College Basketball TV Ratings 2013 to 2021
Post #14: A Reality Check on the Next Big East TV Rights Contract in 2025
Post #15: INDEX of TABLES 1 to 34
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Conference Revenue Summaries: TV Rights Payouts to Schools and Total Sports Payouts to Schools

New Big East, Fox Sports Formally Ink 12-Year, $500M Deal – Sports Business Journal – March 21, 2013

The new Big East yesterday formally inked a 12-year, $500M contract with Fox Sports, a “sum that will rise" to $600M if, "as expected, the league expands to 12 members,” according to Richard Sandomir of the N.Y. TIMES.

($500,000,000)/(12 years) = $41,666,667 annual payout to the Big East for TV Rights Contract for the 10-school conference.

The addition of UConn to the Big East added: (11/10)*($41,666,667) per year = $45,833,333 Annual Payout from present TV Rights Contract for the 11-school conference.

The Big East Conference head office gets 10% off the top for salaries, expenses, etc.: (0.1)*($45,833,333) = $4,583,333 per year.

The 11 Big East schools share the other 90%: (0.9)*($45,833,333) = $41,250,000 per year total / (11 schools) = $3,750,000 per school per year.

Sports Media Rights: Current TV Deals and What’s on the Horizon - John Cassillo, TV Revolution.com - February 18, 2021


TABLE 26: ANNUAL PAYOUTS FROM PRESENT TV RIGHTS CONTRACTS

Fieldhouse Flyer copied the Payouts in the bar chart above into a MS Excel spreadsheet, divided them all by the Big East’s $46,000,000 and wrote:
Annual Payout • (Rank) • Recipient • Multiple of Big East’s Payout

$7,500,000,000 • (#1) • NFL • 163.0
$2,600,000,000 • (#2) • NBA • 56.5
$1,600,000,000 • (#3) • MLB • 34.8
$990,000,000 • (#4) • March Madness • 21.5
$600,000,000 • (#5) • Olympics • 13.0
$580,000,000 • (#6) • NASCAR • 12.6
$470,000,000 • (#7) • College Football Playoffs • 10.2
$440,000,000 • (#8) • Big Ten • 9.57
$300,000,000 • (#9) • SEC • 6.52
$277,000,000 • (#10) • Pac-12 • 6.02

($15,357,000,000 • subtotal: annual payout to 10 largest recipients)

[b] $240,000,000 • (#11) • ACC • 5.22
$200,000,000 • (#12) • NHL • 4.35
$200,000,000 • (#13) • Big 12 • 4.35
$90,000,000 • (#14) • Major League Soccer • 1.96
$87,500,000 • (#15) • World Cup Soccer • 1.90
$80,000,000 • (#16) • English Premier League (EPL) Soccer • 1.74
$75,600,000 • (#17) • PGA Golf • 1.64

($16,330,100,000 • subtotal: annual payout to 17 largest recipients)

$46,000,000 • (#18) • Big East • 1.00
$35,700,000 • (#19) • NCAA • 0.78
$25,000,000 • (#20) • WBNA • 0.54
$15,000,000 • (#21) • Notre Dame • 0.33

$16,451,800,000 • Total: Annual Payout to 21 Largest Recipients

(Big East’s annual payout / annual payout to 10 largest recipients)X(100%) = ($46,000,000 / $15,357,000,000)x100 = 0.30%
(Big East’s annual payout / annual payout to 17 largest recipients)X(100%) = ($46,000,000 / $16,330,100,000)x100 = 0.28%
(Big East’s annual payout / Annual Payout to 21 Largest Recipients)X(100%) = ($46,000,000 / $16,451,800,000)x100 = 0.28%

Southeastern Conference's revenue increased slightly to $729 million in 2020 fiscal year – Steve Berkowitz, USA Today – February 4, 2021

Despite the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected some revenue streams, the Southeastern Conference managed to fractionally increase its overall income and its per-school payouts during its 2019-20 fiscal year. The conference had $729 million in total revenue for a fiscal year ending August 31, 2020, according to a federal tax return that the conference provided Thursday in response to a request from USA TODAY Sports. As a result, the conference distributed roughly $45.5 million to each of its 14 member schools.

For its 2019 fiscal year, the SEC reported $720.6 million in total revenue and per-school distributions of nearly $45.3 million to the 13 schools that received full shares. Mississippi did not get a full share because its football team had been banned from postseason play. For now, the SEC continues to trail the Big Ten Conference in terms of revenue. For the 2019 fiscal year, the Big Ten reported nearly $782 million in total revenue, and the 12 of its 14 schools that got full shares received about $55.7 million. Based on schools’ recent financial disclosures, those shares will be in the same range for the 2020 fiscal year. The SEC’s revenue from the NCAA declined, as the association had to dramatically decrease payouts after canceling the Division I basketball tournaments due to the pandemic. But the SEC reported spending about $10 million less on postseason events. It also collected money from an event-cancelation insurance policy on last season's SEC men's basketball tournament.

Power Five conference revenues slowed by COVID-19 pandemic, tax records show – Steve Berkowitz, USA Today – May 20, 2021

After averaging collective annual increases of nearly $252 million over the previous six years, the conferences’ combined revenue rose by less than $11 million in fiscal 2020 and remained just over $2.9 billion. Two of the five saw income declines, and another operated at a modest loss even though its revenue increased.

The conferences other than the Southeastern provided their new returns this week in response to requests from USA TODAY Sports. The SEC made its return public in early February. The documents provided new information about commissioners’ pre-pandemic pay and their employment statuses. They also revealed fresh insight into the conferences’ total spending on lobbying related to legislation concerning athletes’ ability to make money from their name, image and likeness.

Southeastern Conference schools likely will have increased income from the conference in fiscal 2021, but that’s after the conference announced Wednesday it will give each school a $23 million, one-time supplemental payment being set against future media-rights revenue. In fiscal 2020, all of the conferences were impacted by the NCAA slashing distributions to schools following the pandemic-related cancellation of the Division I men's basketball tournament. Other details:

► The Big Ten: reported $768.9 million in revenue, down from 2019 but still about $40 million ahead of the SEC for the top figure. It lowered payouts to its 12 longest-standing members by about $1.3 million per school to $54.3 million per school.

► The SEC announced that the revenue distribution for 2019-20 fiscal year totaled $657.7 million. The average amount distributed to each of the 14 schools, excluding bowl game award money, was slightly over $45.5 million per school.

► The 10-team Big 12 reported $409 million, down by $30 million from 2019. Its payouts ranged from $37 million to $40.5 million, a decline of more than $1 million per school. The conference operated at a slight deficit for the year because of issues related to the pandemic, and it used some of its reserves to keep school payouts from being even lower, a spokesman said.

► The Pac-12 reported $533.8 million, a $3 million increase over a year earlier, and averaged payouts of about $33.6 million per school. The payouts were up by about $1.2 million per school, and the conference said about $5 million from its reserves were used to support the per-school increase so it could meet the amount that had been budgeted.

► The ACC, aided by new income from a conference TV network that launched in August 2019, increased revenue by just over $40 million to nearly $497 million. Its increased payouts ranged from $30.9 million to $37 million, plus $10.8 million to Notre Dame. Despite the revenue increase, the ACC reported a nearly $3 million annual operating deficit.

TABLE 27: Total Annual Distributed Revenue for Each Conference

$768,900,000 • Big Ten
$657,700,000 • SEC
$533,800,000 • Pac-12
$497,000,000 • ACC
$409,000,000 • Big 12
[Not published] • Big East

TABLE 28: Total Annual Media Rights Payout for Each Conference

$440,000,000 • Big Ten
$300,000,000 • SEC
$277,000,000 • Pac-12
$240,000,000 • ACC
$200,000,000 • Big 12
$45,833,333 • Big East

TABLE 29: 'Other' Annual Distributed Revenue = Total Annual Distributed Revenue - Annual Media Rights Payments

'Other' Revenue = Total Revenue - Media Rights Revenue • Conference

$357,700,000 = $657,700,000 - $300,000,000 • SEC
$328,900,000 = $768,900,000 - $440,000,000 • Big Ten
$257,000,000 = $497,000,000 - $240,000,000 • ACC
$256,800,000 = $533,800,000 - $277,000,000 • Pac-12
$209,000,000 = $409,000,000 - $200,000,000 • Big 12
------- ? ------- = [Not published] - $45,833,333 • Big East

TABLE 30: 'Other' Distributed Revenue as a Percentage of Total Annual Distributed Revenue

Percentage = 'Other' Revenue / Total Revenue • Conference

54.4% = $357,700,000 / $657,700,000 • SEC
51.7% = $257,000,000 / $497,000,000 • ACC
51.1% = $209,000,000 / $409,000,000 • Big 12
48.1% = $256,800,000 / $533,800,000 • Pac-12
42.8% = $328,900,000 / $768,900,000 • Big Ten

TABLE 31: Annual TV Rights Revenue as a Percentage of Total Annual Distributed Revenue

Percentage = TV Rights Revenue / Total Revenue • Conference

57.2% = $440,000,000 / $768,900,000 • Big Ten
51.9% = $277,000,000 / $533,800,000 • Pac-12
48.9% = $200,000,000 / $409,000,000 • Big 12
48.3% = $240,000,000 / $497,000,000 • ACC
45.6% = $300,000,000 / $657,700,000 • SEC

NCAA Has Confirmed Its Basketball Revenue Distribution Plan For 2021, But Impact Of 2020 Will Linger - Kristi Dosh, Forbes - February 28, 2021

The impact on athletic department finances

For institutions in the Power Five conferences, distributions from the NCAA account for a lower percentage of total revenue than in the mid-majors due to the television rights contracts those conferences each has with one or more major networks. Those television rights contracts are estimated to get approximately 80% of their value from football and 20% of their value from basketball.

Realignment Today: Reports indicate Big 12 zeroing in on making a serious push to expand with 4 schools - Matt Tait, KU Sports.com – Sept. 3, 2021

A source told McMurphy that the Big 12 decision makers viewed TV audience, football status and market size as the three most important factors in their discussions of which schools to add. But, McMurphy also reported that each school’s basketball brand carried significant weight, with the Big 12 putting 75% of its considerations toward football and the remaining 25% on basketball.

The information in the two preceeding articles is not contradictoty. The sports broadcasters (ESPN, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, etc.) place an 80%/20% split on the respective valus of the two sports, while the conferences and universities use a more generous [to basketball] 75%/25% split for the Fixed Distributed Payments, because the universities’ basketball programs have proportionally higher fixed costs relative to their football programs. In simpler terms, a 75%/25% split does not penalize the basketball programs because of their cost structure. Cracking on …

TABLE 32: Gross Annual TV Rights Payments per School

Annual TV Rights Payment* = TV Rights Payment to Conf. / No. of Schools • Conference • 75% Football + 25% Basketball = Total

$31,428,571 = $440,000,000 / 14 • Big Ten Conference • $23,571,429 + $7,857,143 = $31,428,571
$23,083,333 = $277,000,000 / 12 • Pac-12 Conference • $17,312,500 + $5,770,833 = $23,083,333
$21,428,571 = $300,000,000 / 14 • Southeastern Conference • $16,071,429 + $5,357,143 = $21,428,571
$20,000,000 = $200,000,000 / 10 • Big 12 Conference • $15,000,000 + $5,000,000 = $20,000,000
$16,000,000 = $240,000,000 / 15 • Atlantic Coast Conference • $12,000,000 + $4,000,000 = $16,000,000
$4,166,667 = $45,833,333 / 11 • Big East Conference • $0 + $4,166,667 = $4,166,667

* Including 10% which is paid to each conference's head office for salaries, expenses, pensions for conference employees, etc., etc.

Therefore, 10% of the Gross Annual TV Rights Payments per School goes to each conference’s head office, with the other 90% distributed to the confernce’s universities.

TABLE 33: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Football

Net Annual Media Rights Payments for Football per school = 90% of Gross Annual Media Rights Payments • Conference

$21,214,286 per school = 0.90 * $23,571,429 per school • Big Ten Conference
$15,581,250 per school = 0.90 * $17,312,500 per school • Pac-12 Conference
$14,464,286 per school = 0.90 * $16,071,429 per school • Southeastern Conference
$13,500,000 per school = 0.90 * $15,000,000 per school • Big 12 Conference
$10,800,000 per school = 0.90 * $12,000,000 per school • Atlantic Coast Conference
$0 per school = 0.90 * $0 per school • Big East Conference

TABLE 34: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Men's Basketball

Net Annual Media Rights Payments for Basketball per school = 90% of Gross Annual Media Rights Payments • Conference

$7,071,429 per school = 0.90 * $7,857,143 per school • Big Ten Conference
$5,193,750 per school = 0.90 * $5,770,833 per school • Pac-12 Conference
$4,821,429 per school = 0.90 * $5,357,143 per school • Southeastern Conference
$4,500,000 per school = 0.90 * $5,000,000 per school • Big 12 Conference
$3,750,000 per school = 0.90 * $4,166,667 per school • Big East Conference
$3,600,000 per school = 0.90 * $4,000,000 per school • Atlantic Coast Conference

Note that the TV Rights Contract for the Big East Conference pays more per school than the TV Rights Contract for the ACC..

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Post #12

Taking a Closer Look at Gonzaga

Founded • University Website • Wikipedia Link • Type • Motto

1887 • Gonzaga University • Gonzaga University • Jesuit • "Ad majorem Dei gloriam" • (For the Greater Glory of God)

…… Location: Spokane, Washington
…… Undergraduates: 5,210 (Fall 2017)
…… Postgraduates: 2,291 (Fall 2017)
…… Total Students: 7,501 (Fall 2017)
…… Endowment: $308.2 million (2020)

PROLOGUE: A resource-based analysis of the Gonzaga University men’s basketball program (17-page .pdf academic research paper) - Kenneth S. Anderson and G. Eddy Birrer, Journal of Applied Sport Management - September, 2011

ABSTRACT: This paper builds on previous research by using the Resource-Based View (RBV) to show how the effective management of a strategic resource has led to a sustained competitive advantage for the Gonzaga University men’s basketball program. The key resource of the Gonzaga program is identified and evaluated in the context of the RBV, and the strategic decisions made to manage that resource and ultimately create a sustainable competitive advantage are discussed.

As illustrated in Table 1, few mid-major basketball programs in recent years have come close to matching Gonzaga’s sustained level of success, with the possible exceptions of Butler University and Xavier University. For the last decade, media analysts and coaches alike publicly question the secrets behind Gonzaga’s sustained success. Mark Few, Gonzaga’s head men’s basketball coach, said he was asked at one tournament “for the umpteenth time… by a local writer from an opposing school how Gonzaga has sustained success since bursting on the scene in 1999”.

Table 1: Season Records & NCAA Division 1 Tournament Successes 1998-2010

Season • Gonzaga University • Butler University • Xavier University

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In Post #9, Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:
TABLE 23: $ Revenue per Home Game Attendee during the 2018-19 Basketball Season

$ Revenue / Attendee = Variable Revenue / Total Attendance • School

$139.22 = $14,200,000 / 102,000 • Gonzaga
$78.64 = $10,678,932 / 135,794 • Villanova
$71.69 = $9,823,946 / 137,036 • Georgetown
$61.43 = $13,531,364 / 220,277 • Dayton
$61.05 = $18,106,683 / 296,611 • Marquette
$56.29 = $10,166,975 / 180,611 • Xavier

$42.89 = $7,367,186 / 171,761 • Providence
$35.80 = $5,575,922 / 155,734 • UConn
$34.77 = $3,043,520 / 87,544 • DePaul
$33.73 = $6,278,677 / 186,169 • St. John's
$33.25 = $4,478,482 / 134,702 • Butler
$29.44 = $3,756,127 / 127,603 • Seton Hall
$15.94 = $4,840,055 / 303,629 • Creighton

There are clearly two anomalies in TABLE 23: Gonzaga (with an average revenue of $139.22 for each fan who attended a Gonzaga home game) and Creighton (with an average revenue of $15.94 for each fan who attended a Creighton home game). Concerning Gonzaga, it is known that the Zags have earned many NCAA Tournament ‘Units’, which are a component of Variable Revenue. I’ll explore the Gonzaga anomaly in detail in Post #12: Taking a Closer Look at Gonzaga.

We’ll start with a look at Gonzaga’s 2015-16 season.

Gonzaga's surprising profit - Chris Isidore, CNN - April 3, 2017

Gonzaga reported $12 million in revenue for its men's basketball program in 2016, and turned a $4.8 million profit, according to figures from the Department of Education. That's more than the combined profit from the men's basketball programs at University of Oregon and South Carolina, and those two Final Four teams play in major conferences -- the Pac-12 and SEC.

The 347 Division I schools had combined revenue of $1.6 billion from men's basketball last year. But just over half of that money is concentrated among the 66 schools that play in the five big money conferences. Virtually all those major conference teams reported a profit during the 2015-16 school year. But only one school in five at in the smaller conferences reported a profit.

A big part of the reason for this: The money generated by the NCAA tournament is distributed to the conferences, not directly to the schools. The split is based on how many games are played in the tournament over a five year period by members of that conference. So the five major conferences that send multiple teams every year all are guaranteed to get a fairly big slice of the pie.

The conferences spit the money relatively equally between their member schools, not just the schools that are playing in the tournament. So a school like the Big Ten's Northwestern, which never made it to the tournament before this year, can collect a fair amount of money just by staying home. Meanwhile, schools from the small conferences that might only send one or two schools to the tournament are never going to see that kind of NCAA payout, no matter how well they do in the tournament themselves.

Gonzaga Athletic Annual Report 2017-18 (Glossy 60-Page .pdf Report) - Gonzaga University - July 5, 2018

On Page 42, Gonzaga University wrote:
FINANCIAL BREAKDOWN

ATHLETICS REVENUE

$8,883,983 … Direct Institutional Support (i.e. student fees)
$5,237,380 … Athletic Giving
$4,935,890 … Institutional Scholarship Support (the cost of athletic scholarships is borne by Gonzaga Uniiversity)
$2,628,591 … NCAA Tournament and WCC Distributions
$2,554,436 … Sponsorship and TV Rights Payments
$2,019,692 … Ticket Sales
$194,088 … Merchandise Sales, Concessions, and Catering
$669,826 … Other
$27,123,886 … TOTAL REVENUE FROM ATHLETICS

NON-SCHOLARSHIP EXPENDITURES

$8,883,983 … Funded by Direct Institutional Support
$13,011,060 … Funded by Athletic Revenues
$21,895,043 … TOTAL EXPENDITURES EXCLUDING SCOLARSHIPS

$5,228,843 … Profit from 2017-18 season = TOTAL REVENUE FROM ATHLETICS - TOTAL EXPENDITURES EXCLUDING SCOLARSHIPS

In Post #8, Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:
TABLE 19: Profits from 2018-19 Basketball Season

Profit = Revenue – Expenses • School

$8,846,539 = $16,281,364 - $7,434,825 • Dayton
$6,877,534 = $21,856,683 - $14,979,149 • Marquette
$6,510,601 = $13,916,975 - $7,406,374 • Xavier
$5,703,749 = $16,200,000 - $10,496,251 • Gonzaga
$2,467,667 = $8,228,482 - $5,760,815 • Butler

$0 = $14,428,932 - $14,428,932 • Villanova
$0 = $13,573,946 - $13,573,946 • Georgetown
$0 = $11,117,186 - $11,117,186 • Providence College
$0 = $10,028,677 - $10,028,677 • St. John's
$0 = $9,325,922 - $9,325,922 • UConn
$0 = $8,590,055 - $8,590,055 • Creighton
$0 = $7,506,127 - $7,506,127 • Seton Hall University
$0 = $6,793,520 - $6,793,520 • DePaul University

In Post #8, Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:
TABLE 17: Athletic Deperment Revenues 2018-19

Survey Year • Institution Name • Total Revenue from Men's Basketball

2018-19 • Marquette University• $21,856,683
2018-19 • University of Dayton • $16,281,364
2018-19 • Gonzaga University • $16,200,000
2018-19 • Villanova University • $14,428,932
2018-19 • Xavier University • $13,916,975
2018-19 • Georgetown University • $13,573,946
2018-19 • Providence College • $11,117,186
2018-19 • St. John's University • $10,028,677

2018-19 • UConn • $9,325,922
2018-19 • Creighton University • $8,590,055
2018-19 • Butler University • $8,228,482
2018-19 • Seton Hall University • $7,506,127
2018-19 • DePaul University • $6,793,520

Gonzaga strikes a deal to get more out of tournament success - Associated Press / USA Today – March 26, 2019

When leaders at Gonzaga were looking to sweeten the pot for their basketball team in exchange for staying in the West Coast Conference, they knew exactly where the money might come from. NCAA Tournament payouts.

With the perennially contending Zags being courted by the Mountain West, athletic director Mike Roth sought a way for WCC teams — namely, his team — to get paid for winning in the tournament, and to move away from the even split of tournament revenue that most conferences prefer, regardless of who wins. The Power Five leagues and many of the mid-majors divide money evenly, regardless of how their teams perform. It means that one team's run in March Madness is good for everyone in the conference, but it can also lead to some crazy discrepancies.

In the West Coast Conference, and a lot of other mid-majors that don't have big football television contracts, that NCAA basketball money is a much bigger piece of the pie. The thought of teams in the lower half of the conference making money based on the success of winners doesn't go down as smoothly. Gonzaga had been in that position for a long time.

According to statistics compiled by the Associated Press, the Zags brought in more than $51 million to the WCC since 1999 based on their success — 21 straight NCAA appearances, one Final Four and, most recently, five straight trips to the Sweet 16.

The NCAA suggests that conferences split the money evenly among all members, which would pay Gonzaga $9.1 million, but the Zags negotiated a new deal to reap an even bigger share starting with money earned from this year's [2019] NCAA Tournament.

Under terms of the compromise, the conference will now divide the first unit of tournament revenue evenly among the 10 teams, but give the teams a larger slice of any additional units they generate by winning games. This year, an NCAA unit is worth at least $1.68 million — an amount likely to grow over six years of payments. Every conference with an automatic bid gets one unit to disperse as it sees fit. Gonzaga has produced a total of 50 units in the 1997-2018 period studied by The AP. The other nine teams from the WCC have combined for 40.

Over the past several years, Gonzaga has continually looked for ways to improve its situation, and many of those searches have led to flirtations with other conferences. The West Coast Conference, however, was reluctant to lose its headliner. And so, they made a deal. "We just felt that the more you advance, the bigger the amount should become," Roth said, "because at that point, it's not about the conference, it's the school that's earning it."

Related: Conference Realignment: What Next? – Page 44

On September 12, 2021, adoraz wrote:
It's not just about being able to compete for national championships. It's more that Gonzaga is being severely underpaid.

adoraz - thank you for yet another example of a ridiculously uninformed post .

Take a close look at TABLE 19 above, which shows that only three Big East teams – Marquette, Xavier, and Butler - posted a profit for the 2018-19 season.

Villanova, Georgetown, Providence College, St. John's, UConn, Creighton, and Seton Hall all failed to post a profit for the 2018-19 season.

In 2018-19, Gonzaga produced more revenue that 10 of the 11 Big East teams, and made a $5.7M profit on men’s basketball. After fighting for many years to keep a lion’s share of their NCAA Tournament ‘Units’ (and finally succeeding in March 2019), why on earth would Gonzaga give up such a huge advantage to go back to sharing their NCAA Tournament prize money equally with 11 other schools on the other side of the country? There is absolutely no incentive for Gonzaga to leave the WCC nor for the Zags to join the Big East – as has been pointed out to you on numerous occasions.

Without NCAA tournament payout, Gonzaga’s athletic department budget will ‘take a hit’ - Jim Meehan, The Seattle Times - March 27, 2020

Gonzaga earned 19 units from 2015 through 2019, five in the run to the 2017 national-championship game. Based on an estimated $280,000 per unit, that equals nearly $32 million over a six-year window, a considerable piece of Gonzaga’s and every WCC program’s budgets.

The Zags are pocketing a larger share of the tournament revenue they’ve generated under an arrangement reached with the WCC when Gonzaga was considering joining the Mountain West a few years ago. The WCC also agreed to scheduling changes and tweaked the WCC tournament format, factors in the conference’s upswing.

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EPILOGUE: Related Posts

Related: Conference Realignment: What Next? – Page 25

On July 30, 2021, Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:

..... Mark Few - Wikipedia

Related: Conference Realignment: What Next? – Page 29

On August 11, 2021, Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:

In February 2016, Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman wrote:
The Big East was currently "not in the market for more programs," and that if it was, geography would play a decisive role in determining any addition of members.

Related: Conference Realignment: What Next? – Page 29

On August 12, 2021, Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:

kayako wrote:
This was said back in 2017. Gonzaga has since been able to reduce their conference games to 16, fix the wcc tournament format that favors the #1 seed, negotiated bigger share of its tournament credits earned, and started landing 5 star recruits left and right... I think they're happy with their 30+ win seasons and a mortal lock on the West Region #1 seed.

All true - and verifiably so.

Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball - Wikipedia

2016–17 • Mark Few • 37–2 • 17–1 • 1st • NCAA Division I Runner-up
2017–18 • Mark Few • 32–5 • 17–1 • 1st • NCAA Division I Sweet Sixteen
2018–19 • Mark Few • 33–4 • 16–0 • 1st • NCAA Division I Elite Eight
2019–20 • Mark Few • 31–2 • 15–1 • 1st • No postseason held
2020–21 • Mark Few • 31–1 • 15–0 • 1st • NCAA Division I Runner-up

Related: Conference Realignment: What Next? – Page 44

On September 12, 2021, GoldenWarrior11 wrote:

adoraz wrote:

GoldenWarrior11 wrote:
Gonzaga does not need the Big East. They can compete for national championships in the WCC. I just see no realistic scenario where any AD or President believes by sending its Pacific Northwest athletic department’s Olympic sports to the East Coast is viewed as a good idea. And before it gets recommended, you cannot join a conference for basketball only. Could a scheduling alliance be arranged? Absolutely. But that’s about as far as a Big East/Gonzaga marriage could go.

It's not just about being able to compete for national championships (which could be less likely now with BYU leaving), it's more that they're being severely underpaid. I get that travelling for all sports will increase their expenses, but I think it'd be more than offset by the increase in TV revenue, Tournament credits, ticket sales, etc. Plus, by joining a major league they'd improve their longevity after Few leaves.

I'm pretty sure the only reason they aren't in is because the Big East presidents haven't invited them yet. That could change with the TV negotiations. We're now at a disadvantage by having the fewest teams of any Power conference, and Gonzaga joining would put any questions about the strength of our league to bed.

Let's say if Fox offers an additional $12 million per year for Gonzaga ($1 million per school) on top of what they would pay a St. Louis or VCU. No idea if the actual number would be higher or lower. Then assume Gonzaga brings in more Tournament credits for each member. Would the Big East schools really be paying > $1 million+ per year for ~10 trips to Washington? And don't most teams travel far for some OOC games? Just replace a far OOC game with Gonzaga. If Creighton, a team that hadn't even made it to the S16 wasn't a problem, I don't get how Gonzaga is. Gonzaga is a stronger brand now than they were during realignment.

Gonzaga has a sweetheart deal with the WCC. They pushed for a 16-game conference schedule; they got it. If they wanted, they could get a sweetheart deal with the MWC. BYU does not affect Gonzaga competing for national championships. Regarding travel, respectfully, you’re thinking like a fan, not as an administrator or president. All non-men’s basketball sports for Gonzaga would be severely and negatively impacted. It is an eight-hour flight one way. Realistically, how could Gonzaga justify sending its volleyball, soccer, baseball, golf, cross country and track teams to the East Coast with such frequency? They can’t (and won’t). No university president will sign off on that. Sorry.

Regarding a scheduling alliance - the WCC just lost BYU. Gonzaga just lost two key conference games. To counter the reality that a Seattle or Cal Baptist is likely to join the WCC, Gonzaga needs to beef up its non-con to maintain its resume. They control that. What is much easier, and much more realistic, is an alliance with the Big East by scheduling a home and an away annually with two BE members. This obviously helps Gonzaga replace BYU’s strength on the schedule. For the Big East, it is another huge power scheduling alliance (B1G, Big 12), that continues to enforce we remain a power conference. More importantly, and to the powers at Fox, they don’t need to pay more for adding a 12th member, which I’m sure the BE presidents are likely against (especifically if none add value like UConn did).

I cannot stress enough - Gonzaga will never be a member in the Big East, unless there’s a western pod to balance it out.

Related: Conference Realignment: What Next? – Page 46

On September 13, 2021, GoldenWarrior11 wrote:
Too many are thinking like fans here, and aren’t thinking like university presidents or athletic directors.

If there was any way Gonzaga could be in the Big East, it would have happened already.

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Post #13

The Decline of College Basketball TV Ratings 2013 to 2021

Fewer Viewers for Selection Show, Conference Title Games – SportsMediaWatch - March, 2021

College basketball’s conference championship weekend returned to fewer viewers.

As for the conference tournaments, the Big Ten fared better than the rest — both in raw numbers and compared to 2019. Sunday’s Illinois-Ohio State Big Ten Tournament final finished as the top game of the college basketball season with a 2.2 rating and 3.68 million viewers on CBS, down just 8% and 7% respectively from 2019 (Michigan-Michigan State: 2.4, 3.94M).

Steep declines and multi-year lows marked the rest of the weekend slate. Saturday’s Georgia Tech-Florida State ACC Tournament final drew a 1.0 rating and 1.80 million viewers on ESPN, the lowest for the game since 2010 (0.9, 1.30 million).

Saturday’s Texas-Oklahoma State Big 12 Tournament final drew a 0.9 rating and 1.65 million viewers on ESPN, the lowest for that game in at least 14 years and down 41% and 34% respectively from 2019 (Iowa State-Kansas: 1.6, 2.52M).

Sunday’s Alabama-LSU SEC Tournament final had a 1.0 rating and 1.60 million viewers on ESPN, the lowest for that game in at least 12 years and down 33% and 28% respectively from 2019 (Auburn-Tennessee: 1.45, 2.24M).

The Oregon State-Colorado Pac-12 Tournament final avoided a multi-season low, but its 0.6 rating and 1.16 million viewers on ESPN sank 52% and 42% respectively from 2019 (Oregon-Washington: 1.2, 1.99M).

The St. Bonaventure-VCU Atlantic-10 Tournament final had a 0.7 rating (-23%) and 1.06 million viewers (-17%) on CBS.

Georgetown’s upset run could not save the Big East Tournament final, as the Hoyas’ rout of Creighton (0.54 rating and 903,000 viewers) was the lowest rated and least-watched edition of the game since 2015 on FS1 (0.2, 414K) and declined (-23% and -20% respectively) from 2019.

The Houston-Cincinnati American Athletic Conference Tournament final had a 0.51 rating (-32%) and 893,000 viewers (-25%) on ESPN.

NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship game viewers from 2013 to 2021 - Statista.com - April, 2021

List of NCAA Men's Basketball Champions - Wikipedia

NCAA Tournament Championship Game Viewers – Sorted by Year

NCAA Tournament Year • Championship Game Viewers • Championship Game Score

2013 • 23,400,000 • Louisville 82, Michigan 76
2014 • 21,200,000 • Connecticut 60, Kentucky 54
2015 • 28,300,000 • Duke 68, Wisconsin 63
2016 • 17,800,000 • Villanova 77, North Carolina 74
2017 • 23,000,000 • North Carolina 71, Gonzaga 65
2018 • 16,500,000 • Villanova 79, Michigan 62
2019 • 19,600,000 • Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77
2020 • Not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 • 16,900,000 • Baylor 86. Gonzaga 70

NCAA Tournament Championship Game Viewers – Sorted by Number of Viewers

NCAA Tournament Year • Championship Game Viewers • Championship Game Score

2015 • 28,300,000 • Duke 68, Wisconsin 63
2013 • 23,400,000 • Louisville 82, Michigan 76
2017 • 23,000,000 • North Carolina 71, Gonzaga 65
2014 • 21,200,000 • Connecticut 60, Kentucky 54
……… • 20,837,500 • Average No. of Viewers for last 8 NCAA Tournament Championship Games
2019 • 19,600,000 • Virginia 85, Texas Tech 77
2016 • 17,800,000 • Villanova 77, North Carolina 74
2021 • 16,900,000 • Baylor 86. Gonzaga 70
2018 • 16,500,000 • Villanova 79, Michigan 62

March Madness men’s final draws 16.9m viewers - Tom Bassam, SportsProMedia.com – April 7, 2021

CBS ratings beat 2018 but marks second lowest all-time figure for NCAA title game.

The Baylor Bears’ routine win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball title game avoided record low domestic TV ratings, bringing in an average of 16.9 million viewers for CBS. That average viewership figure marked a 14 per cent decline from the 19 million viewers who tuned in for the most recent March Madness finale in 2019, with last year’s showpiece cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

With Gonzaga looking to complete a perfect undefeated season, the 2021 national championship game managed to draw more viewers than the 2018 edition when WarnerMedia’s Turner Sports aired Villanova’s 79-62 victory over the University of Michigan to 16.5 million viewers.

CBS’ average for the Final Four double-header was 11.81 million viewers, the second-lowest for the men’s final four on record after the 2016 edition. The 2021 games were down 18 per cent from 2019 and down ten per cent from 2018.

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Post #14

A Reality Check on the Next Big East TV Rights Contract in 2025

Page 27 of the Conference Realignment: What Next? thread:

On August 6, 2021, gtmoBlue wrote:
We are currently due for financial growth to the $9M/yr per school range, with no further changes to the BE.

With growth to 14 or 16 teams prior to 2025, with great hoops additions, we should expect to see new TV revenues in the $11-15M/yr per school range.

A potential $11-15M/yr per school Big East payday will be their best option in the new world order. The smartest amongst them will jump at the opportunity to salvage some pride, some respect, and some dinars - in the Big East.

gtmoblue – I don’t know where you got your numbers from, but they are wildly optimistic. Please read on …

College conference realignment: The TV money game in 2013 and beyond - Samuel Chi, SB Nation College Football - December 26, 2012

The Big East was essentially done in by its own greed. In April 2011, the much-maligned former commissioner John Marinatto had a nine-year, $1.17 billion deal with ESPN on the table, which would've paid its full members about $13.8 million per season and the basketball-only schools $2.5 million per season. While it wasn't Big Ten money, it was more than commensurate with what the Big East was worth.

But the Big East presidents, including the ones in the "Catholic 7," rejected the deal, thinking they would be able to squeeze more out of it. Turns out, it was a gargantuan miscalculation that left the Big East in today's mess. The Big East's current TV deal expires after this basketball season and the next football season. With the mass defections this past month, the value of that next contract is dwindling, and no network is all that eager to jump in to make a deal when more schools might abandon ship before long. The latest estimate has the conference getting about $40-$50 million per year - and that's assuming everybody stays put. An optimistic model of $50 million yields a payout of about $4.17 million per year for the nine full football-playing members.

In the winter of 2020-11, ESPN would have carried out extensive market research and conducted Monte Carlos simulations quite similar to the process described in my Friday, June 22, 2012 entry on the History of the Big East Conference and TV Rights Contracts thread. The fact that ESPN did not go back to the Big East with a higher offer for the TV Rights Contract means that $2.5 million per school per year for the basketball-only schools was ESPN’s ceiling offer in April, 2011. The Big East had no leverage to force a higher offerfrom ESPN, and ESPN wouldn’t budge, which set the stage for the split.

Fox approached C7 while still in Big East. They have a greater need, so will pay more. League’s only worth what someone will pay. - Brett McMurphy, ESPN - February 10, 2013

“A conference is only worth what someone will pay for it.” – an eminently sensible quote.

Did FOX Sports create the Catholic-7 split? – Brian Ewart, SB Nation/Villanova Basketball - February 10, 2013

Since they seemingly initiated the split, FOX is willing to pay up for the rights to broadcast the Catholic 7 (plus between three and five additional schools). The most recent ESPN report puts the FOX offer at between $3.00 million and $3.33 million per school per year — a significant raise over the $1.5 million [per school per year] or so that each school makes from the current Big East deal.

It is now known that this February 2013 story was fabricated and leaked by ESPN. ESPN implied that the negotiations for contract Price were still in progress, when it was obvious that the contract price of $3.75 million per school per year had been agreed – but not publicly disclosed - by December 8, 2012. Therefore, if ESPN is falsely purporting that the negotiations are ongoing, then ESPN is not getting accurate ‘intelligence’ from Fox Sports nor from the Big East side. ESPN is just making stuff up (for whatever reason), and the quoted figures “between $3.00 million and $3.33 million per school per year” are also fabricated by ESPN, and are likely ESPN’s own estimate of Fox Sports’ ceiling offer to the Big East, based on ESPN’s Monte Carlo simulations run in the winter of 2010-11. Next up:

TABLE 34: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Men's Basketball

Net Annual Media Rights Payments for Basketball per school = 90% of Gross Annual Media Rights Payments • Conference

$7,071,429 per school = 0.90 * $7,857,143 per school • Big Ten Conference
$5,193,750 per school = 0.90 * $5,770,833 per school • Pac-12 Conference
$4,821,429 per school = 0.90 * $5,357,143 per school • Southeastern Conference
$4,500,000 per school = 0.90 * $5,000,000 per school • Big 12 Conference
$3,750,000 per school = 0.90 * $4,166,667 per school • Big East Conference
$3,600,000 per school = 0.90 * $4,000,000 per school • Atlantic Coast Conference

Note that the Big East basketball is getting paid more than the ACC under their present TV Rights contracts – another indication that Fox Sports overpaid for the Big East Contract in 2013.

Fewer viewers for Selection Show, conference title games – SportsMediaWatch - March, 2021

Saturday’s Georgia Tech-Florida State ACC Tournament final drew a 1.0 rating and 1.80 million viewers on ESPN, the lowest for the game since 2010 (0.9, 1.30 million).

Georgetown’s upset run could not save the Big East Tournament final, as the Hoyas’ rout of Creighton (0.54 rating and 903,000 viewers) was the lowest rated and least-watched edition of the game since 2015 on FS1 (0.2, 414K) and declined (-23% and -20% respectively) from 2019.

Fox Sports, ESPN, CBS, and all of the other college basketball broadcasters are quite aware that the ACC draws far more viewers than the Big East, despite being paid less per school than the Big East. This in itself will cause a ‘market correction’ in the Big East’s next round of TV Rights Contract negotiations in late 2024.

History of the Big East Conference and its TV Rights Contracts – Post #3 – HLOH Off Topic board

On September 4, 2021 Fieldhouse Flyer wrote:
History of Men's College Basketball on Television – Wikipedia

List of ESPN Sports Properties – Wikipedia

List of Fox Sports Properties – Wikipedia

Ever since 2010 – or perhaps even earlier – Fox Sports has made a deliberate and visible effort to diversify their Sports Properties portfolio. This includes, among other things, investing their money in minority holdings of Sports Properties of Fox Sports’ primary competitors (ESPN, ABC, CBS, NBC, etc.), and have been doing so at an increasing rate in recent years. With the August 24, 2021 announcement that the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12 intend to form a scheduling alliance to counter the expanding SEC, investing in the Power 4 conference TV Rights instantly became less risky, while investing in the Big 12 and Big East instantly became more risky. This was a deliberate and foreseeable strategic consequence of the announcement by the Big Ten, ACC, and Pac-12.

It is against this backdrop of declining interest in college basketball, declining interest in Big East basketball, and greater risk for investing in the Big East TV Rights Contract that the presidents of the Big East schools will be negotiating the next Big East TV Rights Contract before the present contract expires on June 30, 2025.

In December 2012, the Big East presidents held all of the cards, and used them to secure a 12-year contract worth $3,750,000 per school per year – substantially more than what was believed to be possible at the time, but Fox Sports decided that the gamble was worth the risk. Only Fox Soorts know if the gamble is paying off, and they won’t be telling anyone.

In December 2024, Fox Sports will hold all of the cards in the Big East TV Rights Contract negotiations, and will act accordingly.

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Post #15

Endowments, Enrolments, Sports Revenue, and Sponsored Research & Development Revenue

Post #1: Endowments, Enrolments, Sports Revenue, and Sponsored Research & Development Revenue (with TABLES 1 to 15)
Post #2: More about Endowments, Enrolments, Sports Revenue, and Sponsored Research & Development Revenue
Post #3: NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance 2010-11 through 2020-21 – Listed by Season
Post #4: NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance 2010-11 through 2020-21 – Listed by School
Post #5: Variable Revenue Source for Basketball Programs: ‘Units’ Earned in NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournaments
Post #6: Basketball Program Expenses for Selected Universities

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• HOME ATTENDANCE → → REVENUE → → EXPENSES → → PROFIT → → PROFIT MARGIN → → ROI → → VALUE OF COLLEGE BASKETBALL TEAM •
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• Post #7: Home Attendance for 2018-19 (with TABLE 16)
• Post #8: Revenue, Expenses, and Profit for 2018-19 (with TABLES 17 to 19)
• Post #9: Profit Margin, Return on Investment, and More Metrics for the 2018-19 Season (with TABLES 20 to 25)
• Post #10: Value of College Basketball Teams: The Wall Street Journal Rankings from 2015 through 2018

Post #11: Conference Revenue Summaries: TV Rights Payouts to Schools and Total Sports Payouts to Schools (with TABLES 26 to 34)
Post #12: Taking a Closer Look at Gonzaga
Post #13: The Decline of College Basketball TV Ratings 2013 to 2021
Post #14: A Reality Check on the Next Big East TV Rights Contract in 2025
Post #15: INDEX of TABLES 1 to 34
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INDEX of TABLES 1 to 34

Post #1: TABLE 1: Endowments and Enrolments in 2018 - Big East Schools
Post #1: TABLE 2: Endowments and Enrolments in 2020 - Big East Schools
Post #1: TABLE 3: Endowments and Enrolments in 2018 - Selected Atlantic 10 Schools
Post #1: TABLE 4: Endowments and Enrolments in 2020 - Selected Atlantic 10 Schools
Post #1: TABLE 5: Percentage Change in Endowments from 2018 to 2020 - Big East Schools
Post #1: TABLE 6: Percentage Change in Endowments from 2018 to 2020 - Selected Atlantic 10 Schools
Post #1: TABLE 7: Composite Listing - 2020 Endowments
Post #1: TABLE 8: Composite Listing - Percentage Change in Endowments from 2018 to 2020
Post #1: TABLE 9: Composite Listing - Niche's Net Price for 2020-21 Academic Year
Post #1: TABLE 10: Composite Listing - Niche's 2021 Best Colleges in America School Rankings
Post #1: TABLE 11: Enrolments in 2018
Post #1: TABLE 12: Enrolments in 2020
Post #1: TABLE 13: Percentage Change in Enrolments from 2018 to 2020
Post #1: TABLE 14: Undergraduate Enrolments in 2020
Post #1: TABLE 15: Undergraduate Enrolment as a Percentage of Total Enrolment

Post #7: TABLE 16: 2018-19 NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance

Post #8: TABLE 17: Athletic Deperment Revenues 2018-19
Post #8: TABLE 18: College Basketball Expenses 2018-19 from 'Fun with Finances: Basketball Budgets'
Post #8: TABLE 19: Profits from 2018-19 Basketball Season

Post #9: TABLE 20: Profit Margin from 2018-19 Basketball Season
Post #9: TABLE 21: Return on Investment (ROI) from 2018-19 Basketball Season
Post #9: TABLE 22: Variable Revenue from 2018-19 Basketball Season
Post #9: TABLE 23: $ Revenue per Home Game Attendee during the 2018-19 Basketball Season
Post #9: TABLE 24: 2018-19 NCAA Men’s Basketball Attendance
Post #9: TABLE 25: Ratio: Average Home Game Attendance / Total School Enrolment During the 2018-19 Basketball Season

Post #11: TABLE 26: Annual Payouts from Present TV Rights Contracts
Post #11: TABLE 27: Total Annual Distributed Revenue for Each Conference
Post #11: TABLE 28: Total Annual Media Rights Payout for Each Conference
Post #11: TABLE 29: 'Other' Annual Distributed Revenue = Total Annual Distributed Revenue - Annual Media Rights Payments
Post #11: TABLE 30: 'Other' Distributed Revenue as a Percentage of Total Annual Distributed Revenue
Post #11: TABLE 31: Annual TV Rights Revenue as a Percentage of Total Annual Distributed Revenue
Post #11: TABLE 32: Gross Annual TV Rights Payments per School
Post #11: TABLE 33: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Football
Post #11: TABLE 34: Net Annual Media Rights Payments per School for Men's Basketball
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Related: NCAA Tournament – Quantitative Reference Thread – HLOH thread (36 posts dated December 27, 2019 to April 7, 2021)

Related: The College Rankings and Methodology Thread – HLOH thread (23 posts dated March 24, 2020 to August 15, 2021)

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