UCONN Athletics facing another transition
UConn Athletics facing another transition
Brett Orzechowski, Register Staff
09/12/2007
STORRS — The introductory press conference ended and new University of Connecticut athletic director Jeff Hathaway walked into his office to call Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese. It was June, 2003, during the most volatile period in the conference’s history, and it began three time-consuming years in Storrs.
Most of the conference’s recent transformation has coincided with Hathaway’s tenure, and in the interim, every move the Big East has made — from television contracts to expansion — has affected UConn financially. There were daily conference calls, daily meetings and daily problems. Those three years were filled with legal issues, unprecedented growth, and questions of how the Big East would position itself on the national scene. For the most part, those three years helped re-establish the conference.
Now, after an additional year of relative calm, UConn’s Division of Athletics once again is in the midst of transition, but in a more immediate surrounding.
After overseeing the largest growth period in the school’s history, Dr. Philip E. Austin will step down as the university’s president Friday and be replaced by Dr. Michael J. Hogan from the University of Iowa. The change is more visible than other administrative moves. Two other individuals who contributed to the school’s athletic endeavors have either moved on or plan to in the near future.
Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, the school’s former vice president and chief operating officer, stepped down in the spring of 2006, and at the end of this year, Lorraine Aronson, vice president and chief financial officer, will leave. Her state connections contributed to Rentschler Field’s construction while overseeing part of UConn 2000. The Burton Family Football Complex and Shenkman Training Center are end products partially funded by the initiative.
The administration believed the division of athletics needed the facilities to remain competitive before the Huskies jumped into a BCS football conference. The university faces the same challenge again. The athletic department’s first priority is a practice facility for men’s and women’s basketball, two of the three revenue-generating sports. Then the baseball, softball and soccer venues will become the focus. By Big East standards, they are considered antiquated.
All this is planned before the school embarks on its next capital campaign.
"The biggest issue is money," said Austin, who will take a one-year sabbatical before returning to UConn to teach economics. "The Shenkman and Burton facilities are heavily subsidized by donations. People sometimes forget from an athletic standpoint that this is a state university. The bottom line, it’s a money issue more so than anything."
Small fund-raising steps have been taken, and Hathaway said an architectural firm will be hired within the next few weeks for the basketball facilities, which remain a logistics issue in terms of land. The facilities, like the Shenkman and Burton complexes, will be built on contributions.
As a state school, there are few alternatives even though for the fourth straight year UConn finished in the black, albeit by just $47,000. The department continues to receive considerable donations (an average of $15.5 million a year since Hathaway took over four years ago) while working with a budget that increases annually. UConn operated on a $52.7 million budget during the 2006-07 fiscal year.
This leads to another issue not just facing the division of athletics, but departments nationwide — rising operating costs, which jumped to $23.1 million for UConn.
Hathaway returned from an athletic directors’ conference this summer and learned that most ADs are finding difficulty in securing new revenue streams. He said on-demand video and streaming video and audio are small steps, but they will not offset costs like corporate sponsors and the restructuring of television contracts, revenue-generating staples in college athletics. He said more athletic directors talked about cash flow or surpluses, which act like rainy-day funds.
Hathaway realizes there are now just so many methods to streamline revenue.
Meanwhile, away from Storrs, he has gained positions over the last four years that benefit not only him, but UConn and the Big East. In each case, Hathaway will have some role in directing the financial future of a number of different athletic entities.
Hathaway is on the NCAA Championship Cabinet for the Big East and the postseason licensing committee along with the NCAA Basketball Committee. He is one of four individuals with Big East ties to hold a position on the committee, which takes care of seeding and placing of the field while administering the CBS television agreement. The deal, in turn, affects every athletic program on all levels and every student-athlete.
Also, Hathaway was part of the Big East committee which brokered a television agreement with ESPN for football and men’s and women’s basketball. The deal begins this season for basketball and runs through 2012-2013. Football starts next season and runs through 2013. The agreement will surpass UConn’s take from the Big East in 2006-07 — almost $1.6 million — and its football distribution of $2.3 million. The conference’s schools will see their distributions change during the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to UConn director of athletic communications Mike Enright.
Hathaway also had an immediate role in the shaping of the school’s administration. He was on the search committee that selected Hogan, UConn’s new president. Now the task is to build on what the previous administration established while combating costs.
It’s a challenge as daunting as raising enough money for the proposed facilities.
"We have a history of winning in more than just one sport, and not just men’s and women’s basketball.
We haven’t had success like we think we should in football, but we think that will come. It’s no secret that these sports financially help run a department, and it takes money to run one," Austin said. "It’s a national problem. Costs continue to go up. But where else can revenue come from now? We can’t continue raising ticket prices. We still want to remain true to college athletics for everything."
Last year’s budget showed both promising signs and concerns. For instance, with ticket sales, football surpassed 2005-06’s numbers by $340,000 to reach $4.6 million (but as of last week, they are behind this year in season ticket sales). Women’s basketball fell by $691,000 in 2006-07. It was the second consecutive season Geno Auriemma’s program incurred a substantial decline.
Scholarship money increased to $8.3 million, consistent with the school’s overall tuition hike. According to the division of athletics, approximately 92 percent ($7.75 million) of athletic scholarships were funded by the department, while 8 percent was from the university.
The overall budget number is what matters. When Hathaway arrived on campus as an associate athletic director with former athletic director Lew Perkins in 1990, 40 percent of the funds were self-generated. That number is now 81 percent, according the department.
Much like other departments in the Big East, the numbers are expected to rise. And like most of the conferences across the country, football remains the most prolific generator of revenue.
From top to bottom in the eight-team football conference, much is expected. Five programs earned bowl berths last season. One program playing in a bowl game helps not only in stature, but with overall finances.
The building of three facilities in Connecticut was a step in ensuring growth.
"When I came back (from Colorado State), I knew football was going to be a focus. It had to be. If the conference as a whole isn’t stable, then it’s going to affect all 24 sports here. Did any of us expect it was going to be a three-year process? I don’t think anyone expected that," Hathaway said. "But we’re here now, and I think we’re doing OK. I don’t like to say football was the priority. I like to say a priority because again we’re going to I-A football. We’re going to a BCS conference. We didn’t have the I-A tradition. We didn’t have an Outland winner. We didn’t have 100 years of playing football at the highest level. But all of our competitors in the Big East had some or all of these facets already in the program. To begin the facilities process in July ‘03 and to move in July ‘06, that was a significant step for our football program. Now’s another."
The Shenkman Center also caters to many of the school’s other 24 sports while for the first time since Randy Edsall took over as UConn football coach in 1999, he was able to secure the same practice facility 14 days in a row.
Hathaway also said when he returned to Storrs, he knew there was a need for a basketball practice facility. There were a few more loopholes for this project, including UConn’s board of trustees changing its policy that stated all the funds needed to be in place before any work starts.
For the last 18 months, Hathaway said he has had conversations with strength and conditioning coaches, the school’s master planner, athletic directors from other schools who have similar facilities and coaches, because after all, he said, they will be part of the school’s capital campaign when it begins.
Once everything is processed, an architect will be hired and a blueprint will follow.
"Give us a cost estimate, provide us with renderings, and then we’ll fund-raise. If you’re going to write a check, you want to see something, right?" Hathaway asked. "It’s not a short process. We have to do it as quick as we can, but we have to know that the building is going to be here the next 50 years."
Hathaway said he understands it’s a time of transition on campus.
He also said it will be an interesting time.
Brett Orzechowski may be reached at borzechowski@nhregister.com.
UCONN ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT NUMBERS THROUGH THE YEARS
Current UConn athletic director Jeff Hathaway took over the school’s division of athletics in June, 2003. Here’s a look at some of the department’s financial numbers during his tenure.
Overall budget
2004 – $45,000,000
2005 – $47,400,000
2006 – $50,200,000
2007 – $52,764,638
Corporate sponsorship/license/royalties
2004 – $7,381,013
2005 – $7,184,697
2006 –$7,230,753
2007 –$7,150,646
Ticket sales
OVERALL
2004 – $12,938,728
2005 – $15,181,912
2006 – $13,334,815
2007 – $13,315,360
FOOTBALL
2004 – $3,969,196
2005 – $5,034,764
2006 – $4,339,079
2007 – $4,679,827
MEN’S BASKETBALL
2004 – $5,155,668
2005 – $5,848,354
2006 – $5,382,909
2007 – $5,806,562
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
2004 – $3,728,208
2005 – $4,227,145
2006 – $3,446,333
2007 – $2,755,193
