Steve1981
Heisman
Posts: 5,431
Joined: Nov 2010
Reputation: 265
I Root For: UMass
Location: North Quabbin Region
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RE: UConn "On Verge of Joining BE"
(02-17-2020 11:39 AM)HerdZoned Wrote: Up to 24 to transfer from UConn
I knew this would get ugly but didn't know it would be this drastic, this fast. There are up to 24 (as of Jan 23) that have entered the transfer portal at UConn, this is Feb 17 who knows there could be more now. Think about it, if no one comes out and stays in the portal that is almost a whole class (25 max) that can't be made up.
If I was a betting man, my guess is that both UCONN and UMASS do one of 2 things by 2025. They either move back down to IAA or they drop football altogether. I could see UMASS going back to the CAA but truthfully I think UCONN would drop football first. Even at the IAA level you are going to spend 6-8 million on football. I think UCONN would see that as 3 years pay for the basketball HC or 5 years pay for all the asst basketball coaches. UConn does play 24 miles off campus, I think that would factor into the decision also.
Yes, UMass has been on a series of miss steps since Coach Don Brown left in 2006 and there are some doubts of Coach Walt Bell's ability on offense and the rest of the staff on defense, but we are losing less money now than as a FCS team with the big factor of buy game revenue, increased donations and media exposure.
We are staying FBS.
Our Football APR has been second hand reported to be at 892 at the end of 2018. When coach Bell was hired, his agenda was to do long term recruiting, raise the APR and make us bowl eligibility.
We have continued to invested in the stadium and will post some quotes from the AD.
Quote:Fiscal Responsibility
Since 2014, the football operating budget has grown by nearly 20%, from $7.46M to $8.8M (2019), with increased/additional investments in student scholarships, coach/staff salaries, recruiting, team travel and equipment. During that same period, the annual subsidy coming from university general operating funds (GOF) to support the football program has been reduced by $265,000 from $2.16M to $1.895M. In short, our football operating budget has grown but the university spend on football has gone down due to new or increased revenues from external areas (e.g. media rights, game guarantees, NCAA revenues, fundraising).
We recently studied the financial impact of our 2011 move from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the numbers are favorable. In FY 2012 (2011 season), $4.9M was spent on the football program from GOF and student fees combined. This was our last season as an FCS program. In FY 2019 (2018 season) $4.225M was spent on the football program from GOF and student fees combined. This was our seventh year as an FBS program.
One myth that has been cited by the public is the supposed negative financial impact football at UMass has on the taxpayers of the Commonwealth. The belief that football is a drain on state funds is wholly inaccurate. In short, the total University Fiscal Year 2019 Budget was approximately $1.3 Billion and roughly 22% of university revenue comes from the state (approximately $286M). In 2019-20, less than $2.0M of GOF from the $1.3B university budget will support football operating expenses.
Quote:Competitive Results
When Coach Bell arrived a year ago, we agreed to make adjustments that had the potential to limit our short-term gains but would set us up for success in the long-term. In short, we were not operating in a fashion that was going to allow for sustained success in all the important areas.
Accordingly, major areas of the program were overhauled before and upon Coach Bell’s arrival. Roster attrition has been part of this transformation. Of particular note, I made a tough decision at the end of the fall 2018 term to remove seven scholarship student-athletes from our program, including five who were projected starters in 2019. I made this decision to ensure that we would meet our goals for academic success and positive community impact. Undoubtedly, roster attrition impacted our ability to compete at a high level this season. Depth was an issue all year, which we fully expected. We played a number of younger players and a handful of walk-ons took significant snaps as well. Our last game of the season against BYU was played with 48 healthy and eligible scholarship players. As we continue to build our program under strict NCAA recruiting rules regarding initial counters, we plan to be near the maximum 85 scholarships in the next 2-3 years
Quote:Investments in Infrastructure
We have made a number of upgrades to our physical plant and human resources to support our growing FBS program. In the last five years, every space used by our football student-athletes, coaches and/or staff is brand new or recently renovated. In the last two years alone, we have completed the following projects:
- McGuirk Alumni Stadium Upgrades (new scoreboard, bathrooms, south endzone plaza, ADA upgrades)
- New Indoor Turf Practice Facility (used mid-October – mid-April)
- Renovated DiTommaso Weight Room (new equipment, turf, nutrition fueling station)
- New branding in Martin Jacobson Football Performance Center (highlighting program history in hospitality and team spaces)
- Renovated Foote Academic Success Center (new academic equipment, learning spaces, offices)
Quote:Television and Streaming Visibility
After becoming an Independent program in 2016, we have aggressively positioned ourselves regionally and nationally through multi-year television and streaming agreements. Our regional sports network package with NESN, and national streaming agreement with Flo Sports, provide great reach for our six home games each year. In addition, these deals allow us to drive new revenue to the football program through our media rights holder Learfield/IMG. Further, we have leveraged our football content to generate 20-25 men’s basketball, women’s basketball, ice hockey broadcasts on NESN, at no cost to UMass. Since 2016, the combined broadcast and streaming package for these four sports has generated more visibility for UMass Athletics than at any time in the history of the department.
IPF Completed
(This post was last modified: 02-20-2020 10:44 AM by Steve1981.)
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