New Fundraising Campaign Launched - Champion CUSE

[phil77]

That's the logical approach.

The whole issue is that two college sports programs subsidize TONS of other sports programs so the comparison to professional sports doesn't work. If basketball was just producing revenue and covering expenses for its own team, we'd be the LA Dodgers or NY Yankees based on historic revenue. Unfortunately, all that money has gone to covering losses in other sports.

The issue is the money doesn't go to pay the players per say, it goes to cover all the other losses. That's where the model no longer makes sense.

It is almost like the two major sports need to break off and be on their own and function by themselves and then the rest of the schools/AD need to figure out how to make the rest of the sports function together. In the new era of sports that might be the only way the model will work going forward trying to be competitive playing players and paying high salaries for top-of-the-line coaches and facilities and massive coaching staffs just to keep up, it will be hard to justify using money made by the major two sport to subsidize other sports if it comes at the expense of the quality of the two major sports.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Dabbled in college athletics out of college and still have friends in the industry... Got out for the opposite reason. A lot of people are working 70 hour weeks (regular office job Monday-Friday), plus games/events (which are on nights and weekends) from July through the end of May.

Went through a stretch where I worked 7 days a week (including Thanksgiving and Christmas) without a day off in almost six months and had to get out.

There’s plenty who do GREAT work. Facilities and events are not easy and it’s a lot of long hours

I was once at the dome from Tuesday before a basketball game to Friday afternoon before monster jam lol it’s not for the weak

 

[richmondcuse03]

It is almost like the two major sports need to break off and be on their own and function by themselves and then the rest of the schools/AD need to figure out how to make the rest of the sports function together. In the new era of sports that might be the only way the model will work going forward trying to be competitive playing players and paying high salaries for top-of-the-line coaches and facilities and massive coaching staffs just to keep up, it will be hard to justify using money made by the major two sport to subsidize other sports if it comes at the expense of the quality of the two major sports.

Completely agree. It's the only logical solution. You can't keep asking donors to subsidize the rest. I love seeing our women's lax team do well but I'm also not going to donate as much to it. That's just the way it works.

 

[Jake]

Jake has turned into Sally Struthers.

This is another Caine/Hackman A Bridge Too Far moment for the board.

If you get that reference, I like you. If you don't, I don't. Sorry.

If the campaign doesn’t include the sad eyes of a Syracuse basketball fan, then we’ve failed!

 

[Scooch]

That's the logical approach.

The whole issue is that two college sports programs subsidize TONS of other sports programs so the comparison to professional sports doesn't work. If basketball was just producing revenue and covering expenses for its own team, we'd be the LA Dodgers or NY Yankees based on historic revenue. Unfortunately, all that money has gone to covering losses in other sports.

The issue is the money doesn't go to pay the players per say, it goes to cover all the other losses. That's where the model no longer makes sense.

I get it, and that's a very fair point.

Of course then we should probably ask why football is paying for track & field to begin with?

I really wish football would just break away into its own thing. 30 team, 80 teams, I really don't care. Just go do football somewhere else and let everything else exist in athletics departments, in geographically logical conferences, with separately negotiated media deals, and all that.

 

[OttoMets]

I don't get how you can say you don't understand. The money is going to help us compete in athletics. ...

Maybe.

That's the rub, right?

This is possibly a necessary step to compete, but it's not a sufficient step absent a lot of other things aligning. Which is why it seems facially ridiculous to all but the most invested fans.

 

[BonaCuse]

I spent multiple years in the AD. A decade ago ADs were doing everything possible to break even/show a loss so they could cry poor and didn’t have the money to pay the athletes

It’s a GREAT gig if you can get it but the business of college athletic departments is gross lol

Thanks for the insight. I want to preface this by saying that I know no one currently working in the SU AD office, but I currently work with many people who have worked in ADs throughout the country, and they couldn't wait to get out. A lot of people think working in college athletics is cool, until you do it for a few years. I am not sure if you could pay me enough to work in college athletics.

 

[UnknownOrange]

Thanks for the insight. I want to preface this by saying that I know no one currently working in the SU AD office, but I currently work with many people who have worked in ADs throughout the country, and they couldn't wait to get out. A lot of people think working in college athletics is cool, until you do it for a few years. I am not sure if you could pay me enough to work in college athletics.

Oh of course. There’s two sides to the coin for sure. I knew a guy who was in charge of scheduling but all the assistant coaches told him who and when lol so he was on the golf course plenty

 

[Scooch]

Maybe.

That's the rub, right?

This is possibly a necessary step to compete, but it's not a sufficient step absent a lot of other things aligning. Which is why it seems facially ridiculous to all but the most invested fans.

What are the lots of other things aligning?

For all I've written here today, I certainly understand that we have zero hope of competing without lots of money. It doesn't guarantee that we'll be flush with championships. But not having it does guarantee that we'll never compete.

 

[Dinkyspond]

This is where Practical Scooch and Ideological Scooch come into conflict.

Practical Scooch knows that this is vital for SU to have any chance of competing at a championship level in any sport, and certainly for football and men's basketball.

Ideological Scooch thinks it's ridiculous, and perhaps obscene, that an entity that is, for all intents and purposes, running a professional sports franchise to ask its fans to pay expenses on their behalf. Can you imagine getting an email from the Knicks or Red Sox asking for donations to pay their players?!

I do hope those who parrot the "pay or shut up" line at least acknowledge how profoundly f__%^ed up this model is.

But, practically speaking, if we want SU to swim in these waters athletically, there seems to be no other choice.

Blah.

Seriously, if that model continues, asking fans to donate to pay players, then I'm out following big-time college sports. College athletes getting advertising contracts, i.e. Nye Automotive, that arcade in Destiny, etc. I'm fine with that but not donating to pay players. I have ties to a low major in the Patriot League and I have not been solicited by them to give 1 cent to NIL. I'll follow them and donate to their athletic department for facilities upgrades.

 

[orangecuse]

Putting aside my naysayer hat for a moment...seriously - the solution to what?

A couple years into the cash spin-cycle that college athletics stumbled into, I'm not sure what fan problem is solved by opening up the spigot more.

Reminds me a bit of this:

Indeed! It's truly unreal how so many can be herded just like sheep...as the notion suggests.

Imagine being a multi, multi million dollar business, corporation, LLC, etc., where of course you (the customer/consumer) exchange monies for their product(s), service(s), etc., essentially being a crucial part of their revenue stream. Additionally, besides that, you are, let's just say 'asked,' to contribute additional monies so it can assist this entity in paying its employees their market salaries, merit raises, promotions, etc. And, to boot, not receiving any financial benefits, dividends, etc., while they, its employees, etc. reap all of the financial rewards.

Moreover, you are required (ok, asked) to repeatedly contribute to this process due to its service(s)/product(s) (along with its employees) having such a short shelf life, so there isn't any true end game in the matter. Unless, of course, you choose to take your business elsewhere.

I had been an annual contributor to the university (sports related infrastructure, etc.) for years, however, I won't ever be a part of this nonsense. I choose to be the solution, not an enabler of such a debacle model/system that is simply non-sustainable.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Jake has turned into Sally Struthers.

This is another Caine/Hackman A Bridge Too Far moment for the board.

If you get that reference, I like you. If you don't, I don't. Sorry.

Add some Sarah McLachlan music in the background, and show a vignette of athletes driving around in 1986 Yugos, wearing logo-less clothes and canvas sneakers… there‘s your commercial.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Seriously, if that model continues, asking fans to donate to pay players, then I'm out in following big-time college sports. College athletes getting advertising contracts, i.e. Nye Automotive, that are arcade in Destiny, etc. I'm fine with that but not donating to pay players. I have ties to a low major in the Patriot League and I have not been solicited by them to give 1 cent to NIL. I'll follow them and donate to their athletic department for facilities upgrades.

My position, as well. I’ll reiterate my disgust for the current system and state of affairs. Kudos to the Uni for an effort to compete in the new landscape, but even that is ugly. Good lord. I thought we had top-notch communications and design programs. ChampionCUSE sounds like a lazy forum profile name. And we continue with the townie aesthetic.… Sorry, as an art director/designer, I get cheesed off pretty easily.

Back to the crux—this is all, as noted upstream, “obscene.” Keep engineering new platforms to coax money out of the public, and keep ramping up the player payment numbers… all for what? To further greater division between athletes and the students they represent? To close the gap between NCAA and NBA, but without the quality of play or relationships to the players? One year mercenaries. The game is getting worse, the sentiment toward the players is crumbling, and instead of fundraising for academic or infrastructure improvements to the school, we’re supposed to pay to upgrade to the Deluxe Options packages on the blacked-out luxury SUV.

As you said, I’m going to just ‘be out’ on college sports. After 40 years of being addicted and obsessed with this basketball team, I can already feel a sea change and a reluctant/conscious determination that it’s no longer for me, even if we do manage to pay up for some talent and improve our status for a while. I don’t see it as being sustainable for anyone or any program.

 

[AcAndAc]

It is almost like the two major sports need to break off and be on their own and function by themselves and then the rest of the schools/AD need to figure out how to make the rest of the sports function together. In the new era of sports that might be the only way the model will work going forward trying to be competitive playing players and paying high salaries for top-of-the-line coaches and facilities and massive coaching staffs just to keep up, it will be hard to justify using money made by the major two sport to subsidize other sports if it comes at the expense of the quality of the two major sports.

The whole conference thing needs to be revisited. Because of football, Washington-Rutgers and Miami-Stanford flights now happen in non-revenue sports.

 

[phil77]

The whole conference thing needs to be revisited. Because of football, Washington-Rutgers and Miami-Stanford flights now happen in non-revenue sports.

Correct I think that would be solved with football and Mens basketball just splitting from all other sports. Then all other sports can reshuffle the deck and make the best fiscal decisions for them build their own local conferences that make more sense from a financial stand point etc.

 

[sufan59]

Correct I think that would be solved with football and Mens basketball just splitting from all other sports. Then all other sports can reshuffle the deck and make the best fiscal decisions for them build their own local conferences that make more sense from a financial stand point etc.

Would football and men’s basketball also be separate as far as conferences go?

 

[phil77]

Would football and men’s basketball also be separate as far as conferences go?

That would be the only real model that makes sense. They just need to break off on their own really that is where this is all headed right now. They can have their own set of rules and stuff just be separate from everything else.

 

[richmondcuse03]

I get it, and that's a very fair point.

Of course then we should probably ask why football is paying for track & field to begin with?

I really wish football would just break away into its own thing. 30 team, 80 teams, I really don't care. Just go do football somewhere else and let everything else exist in athletics departments, in geographically logical conferences, with separately negotiated media deals, and all that.

I think it's logical to everyone but a few folks in the SEC and Big 10. They could grow the whole thing in a consistent way, with maximum leverage for negotiating media deals, too. Right now, they're fighting against each other. They need to team up and have leverage against the corporations.

 

[OCESIP]

My position, as well. I’ll reiterate my disgust for the current system and state of affairs. Kudos to the Uni for an effort to compete in the new landscape, but even that is ugly. Good lord. I thought we had top-notch communications and design programs. ChampionCUSE sounds like a lazy forum profile name. And we continue with the townie aesthetic.… Sorry, as an art director/designer, I get cheesed off pretty easily.

Back to the crux—this is all, as noted upstream, “obscene.” Keep engineering new platforms to coax money out of the public, and keep ramping up the player payment numbers… all for what? To further greater division between athletes and the students they represent? To close the gap between NCAA and NBA, but without the quality of play or relationships to the players? One year mercenaries. The game is getting worse, the sentiment toward the players is crumbling, and instead of fundraising for academic or infrastructure improvements to the school, we’re supposed to pay to upgrade to the Deluxe Options packages on the blacked-out luxury SUV.

As you said, I’m going to just ‘be out’ on college sports. After 40 years of being addicted and obsessed with this basketball team, I can already feel a sea change and a reluctant/conscious determination that it’s no longer for me, even if we do manage to pay up for some talent and improve our status for a while. I don’t see it as being sustainable for anyone or any program.

Excellent summary from those that don't see any long term sustainability for the current system. I have many friends who suck it up and continue to march to the current drumbeat, although it's a reluctant support in many cases. Only time will tell, but 5-10 years from now we'll know how it plays out.

 

[Scooch]

I think it's logical to everyone but a few folks in the SEC and Big 10. They could grow the whole thing in a consistent way, with maximum leverage for negotiating media deals, too. Right now, they're fighting against each other. They need to team up and have leverage against the corporations.

Yup. I've said forever that college sports rights are undervalued because the dopes running the conferences would rather own a nickel than share a quarter.