CR Gazette: ISU AD facing potential $147M deficit by 2031 with direct to player payments

Antihawk240

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May 17, 2012
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This is kind of ridiculous. Is this not the point of a savings account? It does not matter if youre a big university athletic department, a large corporation, a mom & pop shop, a retired couple, middle aged family, or a kid starting out right out after graduation. You set aside money to use in the event life changes and you need it. Life for Iowa State Athletics changed, they need it. Let's be thankful they have it and it buys them time to figure it out. It's unfortunate they had to burn it, but hopefully the savings account serves it's ultimate purpose.
 
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StPaulCyclone

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Duh!
The bridge allowed them to develop the land east of the stadium, allowing them to create an RV park for the big donors. The checks began rolling in immediately.
I wonder if the insurance was reduced with a reduced pedestrian crossing risk, as well.
 

Trice

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Apr 1, 2010
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The bridge allowed them to develop the land east of the stadium, allowing them to create an RV park for the big donors. The checks began rolling in immediately.

People tailgated there for years (decades?) before, and probably at a higher density. RV tailgating was also a thing though obviously not with the amenities they enjoy now. No argument that the RV park has unlocked some additional revenue via higher donation requirements, but none of those changes/improvements required a bridge to be built. They could have crossed University Blvd just as us regular schmucks did for years.
 

NWICY

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Sep 2, 2012
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Not sure if this would even reduce cost. Anyone paid in the higher tier to play could be deemed a university employee, not a student. They don't go to classes. Might as well call a spade a spade. I think there is only one pay tier now. Most recruits want a degree, but some are in it only for the money.

Otherwise, separate profit generators vs losers for all the sports. Cut scholarships or programs accordingly. Football might not even be in the profit category any more after payroll expenses.

Another idea would be a pod system for scheduling to reduce travel costs. For lesser programs, reduce conference games and replace with local matchups. Maybe that is already being done for tennis, golf, volleyball etc.

Time to dance with devil. Allow alcohol at games. Put corporate logos on uniforms. Pole dancing cheerleaders. Replace the marching band with a DJ. Rename JTS (hate this one). All disgusting options . Would need to get rid of the "Honor before Victory" plaque at the stadium and replace it with "Show me the money" .
Your last paragraph makes me sad.

I'd be ok with booze at games and corporate logos on uniforms. We've been giving Nike or whoever free advertising for the cost of forms for years.
 

NWICY

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Sep 2, 2012
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I agree but they aren't mutually exclusive. The #1 threat to the university is the athletic situation right now. The AD is the driver of marketing, brand, etc. of the university.
I agree with your statement but personally I'd roll into the greater Unversity. Stanfotd,Cornell etc... aren't popular because of Athletics ( well Stanford is some)
 

Pope

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People tailgated there for years (decades?) before, and probably at a higher density. RV tailgating was also a thing though obviously not with the amenities they enjoy now. No argument that the RV park has unlocked some additional revenue via higher donation requirements, but none of those changes/improvements required a bridge to be built. They could have crossed University Blvd just as us regular schmucks did for years.

Jamie is trying to make game experience as pleasant as possible for fans in general, and especially those who are inclined to donate. Requiring fans to sprint across University Blvd and dodge cars going 40+ mph is not wise from a marketing or legal liability perspective.
 

HouClone

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“The most significant savings have resulted from reducing travel costs for Olympic sports,” athletics officials reported. Thinking about other schools, if Cal and Stanford didn't have a hefty endowment to fall back on, they would be in big trouble: tons of Olympic sports, travel from one coast to another, limited media revenue for another 6 years, and paying players.
 

clonedude

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People tailgated there for years (decades?) before, and probably at a higher density. RV tailgating was also a thing though obviously not with the amenities they enjoy now. No argument that the RV park has unlocked some additional revenue via higher donation requirements, but none of those changes/improvements required a bridge to be built. They could have crossed University Blvd just as us regular schmucks did for years.
JP likely told the RVers he was going to have to move them to make room for CyTown, and some donor/s said fine…. but build me a bridge then and I’ll pay for it.

JP would have been an idiot to turn that down. The bridge has NOTHING to do with our financial situation!
 

jsb

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My Iowa fan coworker expressed “concern” over this today. I was asked if Cytown was not going to happen.

I pointed out that Iowa has actual athletic debt which Iowa State does not. And the Hilton renovations have been off the table since 2020.
 
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Cyched

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People tailgated there for years (decades?) before, and probably at a higher density. RV tailgating was also a thing though obviously not with the amenities they enjoy now. No argument that the RV park has unlocked some additional revenue via higher donation requirements, but none of those changes/improvements required a bridge to be built. They could have crossed University Blvd just as us regular schmucks did for years.

Which wasn't exactly safe. Between the amount of traffic, people, and alcohol I'm honestly surprised there weren't more incidents.

A privately funded ped bridge that's a hell of a lot safer isn't really anything to get worked up about.
 

Xerxes_

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Sep 10, 2023
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The savings buys us a 2-year runway to come up with a plan to account for a 20% line item.

It’s not a “last-ditch effort”, it’s a short-term solution. It’s a lot easier to find 20% in revenue/budget cuts over 2 years versus 6 months.

There will be hard decisions to make though, certainly.

And it will be happening across the nation. Some athletic departments will have less difficult decisions because of financial resources but there are going to be a lot of sports going away. Especially on the men's side.