Damon Evans has $20 million to spend, but the neighborhood is expensive
"...And I want to say this to all of our fans out there. We take a hard look at what's going on around the country when it comes to revenue share and how we stack up. This is what I want our fans to know. We will compete at the highest level from that standpoint..."
Maryland athletic director Damon Evans made his long-awaited debut on Wednesday, touching on everything Terps and college athletics.
Fans are familiar with the basic responsibilities of an athletic director, but what do they do on a day-to-day basis?
"Well first and foremost, I'm fortunate to be the athletic director here at the University of Maryland," Evans said. "I think it's a great institution with a great fan base and unbelievable education, and then our sports programs are really moving in the right direction. But being an athletic director is one, you've mentioned it. Yeah, there's a lot to do with hiring coaches and so forth and supporting them and our student-athletes to make sure that they have all the necessary resources that they need to compete at the highest level. But also, at the same time to make sure that our donor base, our fans, our supporters understand what we're trying to accomplish as a whole, what our vision is, the goals and objectives that we have. Fundraising is significant when you're an athletic director, because driving dollars to the bottom line is important if you want to compete at a high level. And then in this new, ever-evolving landscape, we're focusing a lot of our attention on trying to establish new parameters, new governance structure, how we conduct our business, how we handle NIL, new rules regarding eligibility. So, there are a lot of things that we, as athletic directors, my colleagues, are doing around the country to try to shape how we move forward as an enterprise, how we move forward as an NCAA. And I think that's at top of mind right now."
Name, image and likeness rules and the transfer portal have taken over the college sports landscape, and things will only get more complicated when the House vs. NCAA settlement finalizes in the coming months. Student-athletes will be able to get paid directly as schools will be allowed to share revenue with them.
In part of an entertaining 48-minute spot with the IMS Radio crew, Evans spoke about how Maryland will "compete at the highest level" financially, a clearinghouse for future regulations, his expectations for Maryland football and much more.
ON THE FUTURE OF THE TERRAPIN CLUB
"Good question. Joining the Big Ten was a really good move by the powers that be at the time. I was not here when that decision was made, but that decision was made, as you guys well know, one and primarily from a financial perspective. Moving into the Big Ten has really increased the revenues that we see coming in from our television contracts, the media partners and so forth. So that's been a good move for us, not only from a financial perspective, but when you take a look at what's happening with conference realignment and you look at the Power Four now, no longer a Power Five, and being in one of the two most stable conferences – one being the Big Ten and the SEC. So, Maryland is on solid footing right now with regard to that. But as it relates to fundraising and the Terrapin Club, we have got to continue to drive donor dollars to our bottom line. We just can't rely on the dollars that are coming in from the Big Ten. A lot of people talk about the Terrapin Club. One, the Terrapin club is not just our annual giving arm, it's the total umbrella for giving to Maryland athletics. We've got to continue to grow our base. Growing your base means that if we can grow the numbers in our base, we're going to have an opportunity to drive more revenue, and we have more fans involved."I'm excited about what I've seen as of late. We've got a lot of improvement to do. I've taken a look at it. Over the past three years, we've actually grown our number of donors. Over the past three years, going back to fiscal year '23, we raised a total of $12 million. In fiscal year '24, we raised about $23 million. And in this fiscal year, we're looking to double that number. We got gifts. You've heard the gift that we got in for $18 million. We got another anonymous gift for $10 million. And just the other day, we received another gift for about $1.6 million. So things are going well on the fundraising front, but we've got to drive more people to the Terrapin club. We've got to get more people involved, because the more fans help out, the more resources that we can provide, and that's what we intend to do."
ON WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO CONVERT CURRENT STUDENTS AND RECENT GRADS INTO TERRAPIN CLUB DONORS
"You know, it's interesting. We have got to start with our students. So, we've started a student Terrapin Club to get students involved early, to make them understand what it means to give back to this university as a whole, but how they can be involved in Maryland athletics as they matriculate through this institution, and then after. So the student Terrapin Club is significant, and then young alumni programming, to make sure that we're reaching out to young alumni, creating experiences for them that they appreciate and that kind of relate to what they like to do, whether it's doing things like beer gardens and so forth that we've done both at XFINITY and at SECU Stadium, but continue to drive programming for them as we move forward. But more importantly, surveying them and listening to them to see what their likes and their dislikes are. Because as we continue to build our base, the base is going to come from within. It's going to come from the individuals that went to this institution, and we've got to focus a lot more energy and effort from that standpoint."ON WHERE MARYLAND STANDS FINANCIALLY AS IT RELATES TO ITS MOVE TO THE BIG TEN
"Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. It's interesting, when we as an institution decided to join the Big Ten, we did a 12-year integration plan as it relates to our finances. So yes, we borrowed money off the back six years to bring forward to meet some of the expenses that we've had. Then, therefore we had to pay that money back on the back six years. So we really don't become a full-fledged member, from a financial perspective, until fiscal year '27. So that time is almost here, and you might imagine, I'm excited, you guys, to receive the full share, which will make a big difference for us. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel with regard to that. But make no mistake about it, the Big Ten, the revenues that come in from this conference are significant. I always want to say to people, I use this term, when we joined the Big Ten, we got a lot more revenue, but we moved into a much more expensive neighborhood in the Big Ten. But I'm glad to be a part of that neighborhood."ON HOW ODD IT FEELS NOW TO BE SITTING IN ON MEETINGS TALKING ABOUT ATHLETE PAYMENTS
"It's crazy how things have changed over time so fast. You look at the past four or five years, where we were and where we've come to know. I'm OK with change. Is it challenging at times? Yeah, some may say challenging. I look at it as an opportunity. I'm taking this as an opportunity for the University of Maryland. Is it very difficult or different to sit in a room with a student who you go through a whole spiel about education, opportunity, experience, and then the first question is, 'How much are you going to pay me?' But I get it. I understand it, and I've kind of been embracing this saying, you guys, 'The key to change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.' And that's what we're doing here at the University of Maryland. We're trying to build the new. I think it's OK to share revenue with student-athletes, and rightfully so. They put in a lot of time, energy and effort here."So, we're going to share the maximum amount of revenue that we can at $20.5 million here at the University of Maryland. That's primarily going to be done between the sports of football and men's and women's basketball that drive the revenue. We do have some for all of our other sports. And I want to say this to all of our fans out there. We take a hard look at what's going on around the country when it comes to revenue share and how we stack up. This is what I want our fans to know. We will compete at the highest level from that standpoint. We are above the national averages in football and men's and women's basketball, and we'll continue to make sure that we position those programs to have success and be able to go out and get the student-athletes that we need to compete here."
