They Are Getting Way Too Close For Comfort

Since way before the current Pandemic, I have been lamenting the loss of Track and field Programs across the country.  West Virginia, Millersville, Bowling Green and Maryland (reversed for Outdoor) only started the trend.  Recent additions of William and Mary and Akron added a second layer.  Now, the Pandemic has given administrators another reason to eliminate more Programs.

 

Bob Hamer sums up the situation with superb insight:

There is so much to cover in all of this and where it has gone wrong but it begins and ends with football. 

ADs and universities realized years ago that the big time money was in football. Yes the NCAA BB tourney makes a billion dollars but you share that with every DI school. Football is not controlled by the NCAA. Conferences control their media rights and make a ton of money off of these rights. There was a scramble to chase these big payouts which led to conference realignment years ago.  The BIG media rights payout was supposed to be $52 million in 2021. Not certain how that will play out this year due to COVID but rational thinking would lead to believe it would be less. This is why other conferences are playing football right now. Money. Rutgers faces a ton of criticism in NJ for being in the BIG and spending the money they spend. Who is laughing now when they get $52 million from the BIG. They won the lottery due to their cable TV footprint and eyeballs. UConn sold their soul for football and they were left at the altar by the ACC and now they are left with a football team with no conference and they had to grovel to rejoin the Big East. They also cut sports this summer as a result. 

Here are the projections for future years for the media rights payouts for the BIG

2024  almost $70 million

2029  $89 million

Let's apply this to Minnesota. In 3 years they are expected to get $18 million more per year in media rights and then $38 million more per year in 8 years. They cut 4 sports to save $2.7 million per year. And to continue to invest heavily in football because they are experiencing a huge resurgence under Coach Fleck. 

College athletics has changed drastically in the last 10-15 years. As schools are investing in football, they are also investing heavily in other non revenue sports. Eventually the model of supporting 25-30 sports at this level is non sustainable. They have palatial locker rooms, incredible facilities, flying all over the country for competition, snack stations, stipends, etc. All of this is great for the non revenue sports except that they do not generate the money to sustain it. If you do it for football, you need to provide for others as well. At some point something has to give. The pandemic has accelerated that. If ADs wanted, they could try to figure it out. Yes , they are faced with really tough decisions during these challenging times. In my opinion, the pandemic has given them the cover to eliminate sports which will make it easier down the road to provide for the other sports to compete at their desired level. 

I was angered in the early 1990s when men's XC/TF teams were being cut for Title IX reasons and I am still angry today by these cuts whether it is Title IX or budgetary. The opportunity to compete at the college level was an invaluable experience for all of us. It has connected us for a lifetime. It established long term friendships and incredible memories. It was the moments that we spent together on some crazy long run up the mountains, driving in the van with Coach, hanging in the dining hall unpacking the crazy workout we just completed, celebrating the highs and helping each other through the difficult lows, and just hanging out and experiencing college life. This is what made it special. My heart breaks for the athletes that have had this taken away or for the many others who will never get that experience because the opportunity will not exist anymore. 

If it can happen at William & Mary and Minnesota, it can happen anywhere. 

Support your program. Rally around it all the time. It gave you so much. Make sure that you give it something back. 

We Are!

HAMMER

As always, there is blowback coming, and you can help add to the noise!

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