The Ohio State University Athletic Department is Losing Money

[Dirty]

OSU athletic director says sports dept. in red

By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The scarlet and gray will soon be in the red.
Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith confirmed Sunday the Buckeyes' athletic department will lose money during the fiscal year ending June 30.
Smith says revenues are down between $300,000 and $500,000 this year for the winning men's basketball team. He did not know how much the department is expected to lose in total.
Smith says it's only the second time to his knowledge that the department will lose money.
To offset the loss, Smith told The Associated Press that ticket prices for football and men's basketball would be raised by $1, except for students' tickets. The university's board of trustees is expected to approve the increases later this week.
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February 1, 2009 - 7:59 p.m. Copyright 2009, The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP Online news report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.


OSU athletic director says sports dept. in red | ajc.com

[Cooper]

Going to see a lot of stuff like this all around imo, before things get better.

[Dirty]

I don't see how a Athletic Department can lose money in a Major Conference like the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big East, Pac 10, Big 12 ... Most have full Houses in Hoops and Foots... Bowl Money is astronomical, TV Money in Hoops and Foots is crazy just for the National Packages these conferences have and not counting the Local Broadcasts they have in their Markets by Jefferson-Pilot, etc....

If UGA, UF, Alabama, USC, etc can Make between $30 million and $50 Million a year depending on Splits of Bowl Monies, NCAA Tourney Money, et al... their is no reason that Ohio State Can't make Money (or any other School in a BCS conference).... The only way a school could lose money IMO is if they have to buy out a ton of coaches Money like Ga Tech had to with Chan Gailey and Clemson is with Tommy Bowden... and GT still made money after the Buyout....

[Cooper]

because they have an ass load of non revenue sports for one (see Title IV).

And when you set a budget to include X amount of dollars for marketing, etc. and revenue takes a sudden drop you couldn't account for, you are going to lose money.

[Dirty]

because they have an ass load of non revenue sports for one (see Title IV).

And when you set a budget to include X amount of dollars for marketing, etc. and revenue takes a sudden drop you couldn't account for, you are going to lose money.

I understand about the Non Revenue Sports (and their are just as many Male as Female Non Revenue sports in the NCAA). That is Budgeted in what they know they will take in. There should not be a drop in Revenues with the TV money, Bowl Money, etc... Sure the Bowl Money will Change from year to year... but you should get a good educated guess on what your conference Produces every year and Budget on the Lower numbers and anything else is Gravy... TV revenue does not Change except once every 5-10 years depending on the length of the TV contract... They also have sponsorship agreements for all Uniforms, Shoes, etc... that does not cost the School a dime as Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Under Armour, etc pay for that for almost every sport at a school.... Ticket sales should not change at all for Football and Basketball and every Major Program in the Country Sells Sky Boxes now that Generates Millions of dollars each year... If your Athletic department loses Money (unless there are extreme circumstances) then the AD needs fired because he is Incompetent.

[Cooper]

I wasn't saying there aren't just as many men's sports as women's that lose money. I mentioned Title 9 because of the addition of womens sports for the sake of addition. Those sports are always going to be money suckers.

Season ticket sales have gone down as has attendance at many universities. People don't want to drive the distances they are used to driving to every home basketball game for instance.

They won't be the only school losing money that wasn't before. Just watch...