Monday, April 02, 2007

The Gathering Gator Storm

Largely on the strength of his six-volume account of World War II, Winston Churchill won the 1953 Nobel Prize for Literature. The first volume of his account, The Gathering Storm, is a day-to-day account of Hitler's unfolding menace and the failures of appeasement attempts by European leaders. In no way do I liken the University of Florida or athletic teams to the Nazis (but to the Taliban? Sure, why not.). Nevertheless, as a fan of a rival program, I am alarmed at the Gators' sudden dominance of the major revenue and non-revenue varsity sports and I consider their sweep of the SEC landscape analogous to Germany's steamrolling of Europe in the 1930s.

Some will argue that Florida's emergence will benefit the entire SEC, as the national exposure and television and bowl riches will trickle down to the rest of us. It's true that, over the past two decades of Gator dominance, the SEC has run circles around the rest of the country in the race for bowl and television revenue. Roughly half of the conference finished in the AP final top 25 football rankings. Competition breeds competition and the Gators' rising tide has lifted the rest of the SEC's boats. But, rest assured, that wealth will hardly be spread evenly.

I contend that the SEC is in danger of becoming the Pac-10, with Florida playing the role of USC as the conference's undisputed alpha. If you're an SEC fan (or, heaven forbid, an SEC athletics administrator) untroubled by Florida's rise, you're not paying attention. More troubling to me is that Georgia, which is well-equipped to turn back this tide, has instead allowed it to gather volume. For evidence, look no further than this season, when the Gators completed a sweep of Georgia in football, men's basketball, baseball and freaking gymnastics, which, during my time as a student during the Ray Goff era, was the only source of consolation for Bulldogs sports fans.

Today, the Florida men's basketball team stands on the cusp of repeating as NCAA champs. If they do so, they will become the first team to do so since Duke did it in 1991 and 1992. This marks a major change in the landscape. If we were talking about UCLA, Kentucky, Indiana, UNC or any other traditional basketball heavyweight, we could remain content that the status quo remains unchecked. But this Florida. Prior to losing in the second round of the 1987 NCAAs, Florida had never been to the Big Dance. Of Florida's 10 NCAA tournament appearances and two final four appearances, half occurred under current coach Bill Donovan, who is in his 10th season in Gainesville. Florida's emergence as a basketball power is as sudden and out-of-nowhere as was Miami's arrival as a football power in 1983.

While we're on the subject of football, consider that prior to Steve Spurrier's arrival in 1990, Florida went some six decades without a football title of any kind – conference or national. Since then, they've amassed seven SEC titles and two national championships.

As Pat Forde notes, we have entered the mega-program era, in which the demarcation between "football school" and "basketball school" is being replaced by the simple distinction of "haves" and "have-nots." Per the Indianapolis Star's NCAA Financial Reports Database, the University of Florida's athletic department operates on a $77.7M budget and spends all but $3.8M of that. Ohio State's AD budget is $89.7M (Forde says it's $102M, but he doesn't cite a source), with but $120,674 unallocated. Georgia's AD budget is comparable, sporting $68.8M in revenues and, much to my consternation, leading the country with nearly $24 million in unallocated funds. So while Georgia's budget is comparable to Florida's, our spending is not.

"Advertising and sponsorships," which includes merchandise royalties, brings in $6.7M to UF's AD, which is a little over 60% of what a season's worth of ticket sales at 88,548-seat Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Given the glut of Gator gear that presumably would fly off the racks with another Gator championship, we can safely assume that Florida, which leads the SEC in royalties, will extend its lead significantly.

As Forde notes, "Six members of this year's Sweet 16 traditionally have been football-first schools: Florida, Ohio State, USC, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Oregon. Thirteen schools that advanced to the round of 32 in this tournament have played in at least one BCS bowl game this century."

Florida and Ohio State, as you will recall, just finished competing for a BCS championship in football. The cash flow that leads to this kind of preeminence is not hard to diagram. Football produced over $26M in profits for Ohio State and $27.1M for Florida. Men's basketball delivered $7.4M for Ohio State and nearly $1.9M for Florida. If football profits are driving the bus – and it appears abundantly clear that they do – then this is clearly a game Georgia can play. Football profits at Georgia totaled $38.4M, nearly $10M more than the SEC's second-most profitable team, Alabama.

Most Profitable Football Programs - SEC


Most Profitable Football Programs - National

1. University of Georgia

$38,363,343


1. University of Texas

$39,294,908

2. University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa

$28,803,845


2. University of Georgia

$38,363,343

3. Louisiana State University

$27,932,154


3. University of Michigan

$35,705,233

4. University of Florida

$27,172,983


4. University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa

$28,803,845

5. Auburn University

$24,184,850


5. Louisiana State University

$27,932,154

6. University of Arkansas

$16,088,700


6. University of Florida

$27,172,983

7. University of Tennessee

$15,739,864


7. Ohio State University

$26,099,129

8. University of Kentucky

$12,161,465


8. Texas A&M University

$24,975,623

9. University of Mississippi

$8,693,607


9. Auburn University

$24,184,850

10. University of South Carolina

$7,120,545


10. University of Arkansas

$16,088,700

11. Mississippi State University

$2,694,966


11. University of Tennessee

$15,739,864


As I have said before it is time for Georgia's athletic director Damon Evans to spend. Spend wisely, but spend. When it comes to total facilities and maintenance spending, Georgia ranks 48th nationally and last in the SEC. Aside from the nation's loveliest football setting, an excellent baseball park and a new basketball practice facility, Georgia has very little to show in facilities spending. Nowhere is this negligence more glaring than at Georgia's basketball facility, Stegeman Coliseum, dubbed "the Stegasaurus," for its Jurassic-era design. (EDIT: Per Paul Westerdawg's comments below, the Georgia AD carries roughly $100M in debt related to facilities upgrades. It's an accounting issue, but apparently, the Indy Star's database doesn't count debt service towards facilities and maintenance spending.)

We've held our own in salaries, ranking 13th nationally and 4th in the SEC. And I'm on board with the recent decision to extend men's basketball coach Dennis Felton's contract. As Paul Westerdawg notes, there's been noticeable progress from the crater in which the Harricks left Georgia men's hoops and we need stability in the program for recruiting reasons and for a host of other reasons as well. The loss of Tubby Smith to Kentucky, coupled with the subsequent Harrick era, set Georgia men's hoops back well over a decade. A decade ago, Georgia men were in the Sweet 16. This year, we were routed in the second round of the NIT. I strongly encourage Evans to not allow the new practice facility to be the end of Georgia's hoops commitment.

If there's a positive in all of this, it's that Florida has proven conclusively that, with the right funding and management, a Johnny-come-lately can come in and dominate any sport in this new era of mega-programs. But soon, as the rich continue to get richer, that won't always be the case. Right now, Florida may resemble USC. Left unchecked for another couple of years, they'll resemble a better-managed version of the New York Yankees. Regardless of whether Florida wins or loses tonight – but particularly if they win – I hope someone in the Butts-Mehre building responds with a Churchillian sense of urgency.

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6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think you're a little early on the USC prediction. Florida has fewer SEC football titles in the past 5 years than either LSU or Georgia. They've had a very nice 2 year run, but they still only have 1 National Title in basketball. Oh, and Georgia has won more golf, tennis, equestrian and gymnastics titles over the past 5 years. Cut down on the caffeine my friend, you're a little jittery.

12:21 PM  
Blogger Tommy said...

Dawg#47. I think you're confusing prestige with finances. All the equestrian titles in the world aren't going to bring us the exposure, royalties and bowl revenue that one football championship brings Florida. Look at how they're investing in the future.

12:26 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

UGA has $100 million in bond debt. We had very little debt until about 6 years ago. So we're spending the cash on something.

Recent mega projects for football and hoops since '90:

$33 mil - Sanford's Third Deck and Sky boxes (2003-2004)

$30 mil - Hoops Practice Facility (2006-2007)

$12 mil - Sanford Sky Box Expansion (2000)

$6 mil - Sky Boxes Version 1 (1994)

$3 mil - Stegeman Reseating/Stage Removal/Air Conditioning (1996)

That doesn't include the tens of millions we've spent on Title IX compliance for women's facilities including new equestrian, soccer and softball facilities and infrastructure.

Nor does the above list include several million in locker room and weight room facilities for hoops and football.

We're spending money. We're just paying down some debt right now.

I listened to Damon on the radio on Friday. It was the first time that I felt confident that our AD had a real vision for where our hoops program needs to go...and can go.

He didn't talk about UK and catching them. He talked about where UF was 15 years ago, and what they did to turn their program around. 15 years ago they had LESS tradition than even us.

The $30 million practice facility will be elite in the SEC. UK just opened a similar facility. Otherwise, it's way ahead in scope vs. what UF or anyone else in the league has.

Spending money isn't our issue. I think you'll see us take a year or 2 to pay down some debt and then invest more in Stegeman renovations.

PWD

12:58 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

more on hoops investments (i wrote this months ago)

http://georgiasports.blogspot.com/2006/02/groundbreaking-for-stegeman-coliseum.html

12:59 PM  
Blogger Tommy said...

Paul,
First, thanks for the return visit. Always informative and a pleasure to get your take.
As an out-of-stater, I'm particularly glad to hear your report of Evans' comments on the radio. Florida is not Godzilla; we are certainly capable of going toe-to-toe with them. I do think that it will get harder before it gets easier though, given how success breeds more of the same. From the source I cited, it's not clear where debt service factors in (I can't remember from college accounting whether debt service qualifies as an operating expense), so you raise a fair point there. Still, the bastards are outspending us at a 2:1 clip. I singled out facilities because, as you and I agree, we aren't due a coaching overhaul and our recruiting spending is roughly equal to theirs.
It's an annual refrain, but we have got to win in Jacksonville this year.

2:42 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Donovan is a dramatically better recruiter and game day coach than Felton.

That's the issue. Not the arena. Especially not with the new practice facility coming.

Fix that embalance, and we're going to fix the hoops problem.

SC has a brand new arena. They've gotten worse sense it opened. Because Odom isn't as good as Fogler. Gotta have the coach.

Football is just about us not being a headcase when we hit the FLA state line. We have nicer facilities than UF in football.

PWD

8:31 PM  

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