I haven't gone through the numbers thoughrly, but I can outline the basics of how things are turning up quickly for Maryland.
Now one of the things I always complained about is how Debby Yow spent money at a enormous rate when we were a top 10 team in football and basketball expecting those revenues to stay that way. She added competitive cheer and water polo and divirted much needed cash to those programs and non-revenue programs instead of reinvesting the majority of it in football and basketball. Then when both our programs couldn't keep pace with 2002-2003 revenues she tapped the reserve fund, didn't cut the non-revenue boosts, she couldn't cut the competitive cheer or water polo after just adding them, our luxury suites and mezzanine seats were not selling due to the recession and poor football performance, and refused to give needed pay raises to our assistant football and basketball coaches then tried to blame Ralph and Gary and run them out of town.
Debby also in addition to using our reserve funds, which I have to credit her she built up from the last time we were in debt, blew almost ALL of our naming rights for comcast and Byrd stadium. Which don't end until 2026 and 2032. The money stops coming in I believe in 2015 for both and that's why our defecit was going to explode. So what does she do? She skips town and leaves Loh and Anderson to clean up that mess in addition to the Franklin coach in waiting crap.
So we jumped to the Big Ten and were looking to get out of debt. The numbers KA and Loh looked at were based on current expense and current revenues. The plan was to get us back in the black by 2020.
So next few years we are looking at a explosion in revenue for basketball because of the #1 or #2 ranking we are seeing and a ranked team it looks like for at least a few years. Then when you think about the possibility of football with Haskins on board, and that's where the real money is, we are really set up well. Football makes most of its money in TV revenue, but everyone in B1G gets same. Th football season tickets holders and sell outs is what makes a huge difference for OSU/Michigan/PSU. Yea I know we only got 50k, but going from 14k to 35k season tickets is not unthinkable if this team starts winning, and at the very least we all will have high expectations for a Haskins led team.
When you look at what merchandising makes for top teams its nuts. Maryland is already a top merchandising school and i think we could be a top 5. We have been around top 10-15 for several years, but a lot of that is our stuff is expensive and popular, fielding winning football and basketball teams could blow that up. Winning big can mean 1 million more a year easily for us.
Then alcohol sales are going to be in stadiums and that's going to boost us another million a year.
So why post this what does this all mean for facilities?
Well I am sure you all have seen the Athletic Department reinvest in revenue sports. Kevin Anderson at least gets it unlike Yow. You need to feed your money makers. However, large capital improvements and the nice stuff which is done after you meet all your regular bills is very hard to pull off while paying off debt. Maryland seemed to make careful wise improvments to football and basketball that made huge immediate returns. We haven't got to some of the fun things people really want, but take longer to reap benefits.
These things that could and should happen faster:
Finish New Colefield house
Upgrade bathrooms, concession stands, and scoreboards at Byrd.
Increase UMD marketing budget
Increase UMD fan outreach of building of Terrapin Club (way to many donors not contacted
Increase recruiting football budget
Build basketball practice facility connected to Xfinity Center (Yes that is in UMD's master plan)
Comple 10k seat soccer complex (mostly paid for)
Moving Track and field complex outside Xfinity Center
Extending baseball walls and upgrading Shipley Field
Building Tennis courts outside Xfinity center
Complete Athletic village behind Byrd where old practice fields were
Look to add sports that add value to the Maryland brand. This does not mean we have to add sports we lost, but ones that boost our profile or help recruit in other revenue sports such as indoor track.
Two major issues seemed to be following Maryland for my lifetime, recruiting and cash flow. Recruiting seems to really be hitting on all cylinders in both major sports. It appears over the next decade we could see a huge change from a school always in financial trouble to one that has the cash to do great things.
So for you wanting to jump on Maryland's bandwagon now because of our optimistic future, it is really meaningful. Buying more tickets, merchandise and upping our Terrapin Club contributions which many of us are likely to do with top ranked basketball team and a football team that is bringing in a QB that has everyone excited are going to help get all the above things done a lot faster. Remember those getting in the black projections were based around a team that wasn't making bowls or the NCAA tournament.
Now one of the things I always complained about is how Debby Yow spent money at a enormous rate when we were a top 10 team in football and basketball expecting those revenues to stay that way. She added competitive cheer and water polo and divirted much needed cash to those programs and non-revenue programs instead of reinvesting the majority of it in football and basketball. Then when both our programs couldn't keep pace with 2002-2003 revenues she tapped the reserve fund, didn't cut the non-revenue boosts, she couldn't cut the competitive cheer or water polo after just adding them, our luxury suites and mezzanine seats were not selling due to the recession and poor football performance, and refused to give needed pay raises to our assistant football and basketball coaches then tried to blame Ralph and Gary and run them out of town.
Debby also in addition to using our reserve funds, which I have to credit her she built up from the last time we were in debt, blew almost ALL of our naming rights for comcast and Byrd stadium. Which don't end until 2026 and 2032. The money stops coming in I believe in 2015 for both and that's why our defecit was going to explode. So what does she do? She skips town and leaves Loh and Anderson to clean up that mess in addition to the Franklin coach in waiting crap.
So we jumped to the Big Ten and were looking to get out of debt. The numbers KA and Loh looked at were based on current expense and current revenues. The plan was to get us back in the black by 2020.
So next few years we are looking at a explosion in revenue for basketball because of the #1 or #2 ranking we are seeing and a ranked team it looks like for at least a few years. Then when you think about the possibility of football with Haskins on board, and that's where the real money is, we are really set up well. Football makes most of its money in TV revenue, but everyone in B1G gets same. Th football season tickets holders and sell outs is what makes a huge difference for OSU/Michigan/PSU. Yea I know we only got 50k, but going from 14k to 35k season tickets is not unthinkable if this team starts winning, and at the very least we all will have high expectations for a Haskins led team.
When you look at what merchandising makes for top teams its nuts. Maryland is already a top merchandising school and i think we could be a top 5. We have been around top 10-15 for several years, but a lot of that is our stuff is expensive and popular, fielding winning football and basketball teams could blow that up. Winning big can mean 1 million more a year easily for us.
Then alcohol sales are going to be in stadiums and that's going to boost us another million a year.
So why post this what does this all mean for facilities?
Well I am sure you all have seen the Athletic Department reinvest in revenue sports. Kevin Anderson at least gets it unlike Yow. You need to feed your money makers. However, large capital improvements and the nice stuff which is done after you meet all your regular bills is very hard to pull off while paying off debt. Maryland seemed to make careful wise improvments to football and basketball that made huge immediate returns. We haven't got to some of the fun things people really want, but take longer to reap benefits.
These things that could and should happen faster:
Finish New Colefield house
Upgrade bathrooms, concession stands, and scoreboards at Byrd.
Increase UMD marketing budget
Increase UMD fan outreach of building of Terrapin Club (way to many donors not contacted
Increase recruiting football budget
Build basketball practice facility connected to Xfinity Center (Yes that is in UMD's master plan)
Comple 10k seat soccer complex (mostly paid for)
Moving Track and field complex outside Xfinity Center
Extending baseball walls and upgrading Shipley Field
Building Tennis courts outside Xfinity center
Complete Athletic village behind Byrd where old practice fields were
Look to add sports that add value to the Maryland brand. This does not mean we have to add sports we lost, but ones that boost our profile or help recruit in other revenue sports such as indoor track.
Two major issues seemed to be following Maryland for my lifetime, recruiting and cash flow. Recruiting seems to really be hitting on all cylinders in both major sports. It appears over the next decade we could see a huge change from a school always in financial trouble to one that has the cash to do great things.
So for you wanting to jump on Maryland's bandwagon now because of our optimistic future, it is really meaningful. Buying more tickets, merchandise and upping our Terrapin Club contributions which many of us are likely to do with top ranked basketball team and a football team that is bringing in a QB that has everyone excited are going to help get all the above things done a lot faster. Remember those getting in the black projections were based around a team that wasn't making bowls or the NCAA tournament.
