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

Skyh13

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Mar 17, 2006
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I think the question is just whether there is a better way to use that money.

Also (and I’m cc’ing @ZJohnson in case I misunderstood their point), I think people aren’t fans of “I’m against x, but there should be an exception in this case because it’s something I want.”

The whole “I’m against handouts except for things I care about” is a real classic of the genre.
 

isucy86

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Apr 13, 2006
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Dubuque
Probably not. The point is this is about more than funding a pro stadium or paying players. There is a broader economic threat to the university, Ames, greater DSM area and even the state. I not saying I like it, but there is a bigger issue here than paying players. If ISU’s AD falls into irrelevance there will be a significant impact to all of these parties. This $#!+ isn’t mutually exclusive. If interested parties can’t get behind paying players, hopefully they can get behind protecting ISU and the local economy.
ISU as an academic institution or athletic department would not fall into irrelevance if ISU wasn't part of some Super League. Or if it decided to compete at a level less than let's say the Big10 or SEC.

Sure a certain % of alumni would be less financially involved with Iowa State or visit campus less often. Would it be 60%, 70% or 80% of today?

Also the economic impact is very real for Ames. And maybe Iowa State Foundation might see a decline in Alumni donation. But maybe not if Iowa State's athletic budget to compete at this lesser tier was $75M annually instead of $140M annually. That would reallocate those millions spent on tickets, concessions, facility funding, etc. back to Cyclone fans pocketbooks to spend on vacations, eating out or donating to a local charity.
 

cyspy

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Jul 24, 2011
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Maybe more schools will wind up dropping men’s sports and those athletes will then play organized club sports like the baseball team does.

This. Don't let say a sport like wrestling become men's gymnastics where there are only 15 schools that compete in the NCAA championships and one of those is Simpson out of Indianola. They are one of three non division one schools that compete with the "big schools" that offer the sport. Not that this would happen to wrestling or any other sport for that matter,but I would have some concern about the future of some Olympic sports.
 

swiacy

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Apr 9, 2009
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They’ll find a way. The SEC/B10/Media conglomerate understand that they will need other viable opponents so they can all reach 9+ glossy records. In the case of football as million dollar annual salaries in the NFL have now become common at the “amateur” college level, I wonder how soon this will filter down to the High School level. 5 Star players are identifiable by age 16 and I could see an Alabama or a Dowling throwing money their way.
 

IcSyU

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Nov 27, 2007
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ISU as an academic institution or athletic department would not fall into irrelevance if ISU wasn't part of some Super League. Or if it decided to compete at a level less than let's say the Big10 or SEC.

Sure a certain % of alumni would be less financially involved with Iowa State or visit campus less often. Would it be 60%, 70% or 80% of today?

Also the economic impact is very real for Ames. And maybe Iowa State Foundation might see a decline in Alumni donation. But maybe not if Iowa State's athletic budget to compete at this lesser tier was $75M annually instead of $140M annually. That would reallocate those millions spent on tickets, concessions, facility funding, etc. back to Cyclone fans pocketbooks to spend on vacations, eating out or donating to a local charity.
I couldn't disagree more. Iowa State falling to a lesser league more than it already has would be absolutely devastating. The prestige of the University would take a HUGE nosedive as research dollars dried up.
 

Frak

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Apr 27, 2009
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AlaCyclone

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I couldn't disagree more. Iowa State falling to a lesser league more than it already has would be absolutely devastating. The prestige of the University would take a HUGE nosedive as research dollars dried up.
Hmmm. I am in the Yes and No Camp.

Yes = I would not have attended Iowa State if they did not have a 1-A Football Program (during the Big 8 Era). Sadly, it was one of my requirements when I chose where to go to college. Worked out well though!

No = As much as I love the Iowa State University of Science and Technology, I don't think it has much prestige nationally with average joes. It's just another midwestern state university that's not in the B1G.
 
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BCClone

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Not exactly sure.
Hmmm. I am in the Yes and No Camp.

Yes = I would not have attended Iowa State if they were not a 1-A Football Program. Sadly, it was one of my requirements when I chose where to go to college. Worked out well though!

No = As much as I love the Iowa State University of Science and Technology, I don't think it has much prestige nationally with average joes. It's just another midwestern state university that's not in the B1G.
Depends on majors. You go anywhere in the Ag world and saying you have an ISU degree, you have some instant cred.

I believe engineering is respected pretty well too. I can’t speak for certain on that since I don’t go in those circles.
 

AlaCyclone

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Depends on majors. You go anywhere in the Ag world and saying you have an ISU degree, you have some instant cred.

I believe engineering is respected pretty well too. I can’t speak for certain on that since I don’t go in those circles.
I don't think Iowa State sports dropping down a notch would change the perception of either of those programs. Sports perception would take a hit, but I think the University perception Academically would remain the same. Think UC-Davis.
 

Kinch

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Sep 19, 2021
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Depends on majors. You go anywhere in the Ag world and saying you have an ISU degree, you have some instant cred.

I believe engineering is respected pretty well too. I can’t speak for certain on that since I don’t go in those circles.
Outside of Missouri and Northwestern, Iowa states journalism department at one time was considered very good. For example, an Iowa state grad editor has won National Newspaper of the Year more than a half dozen times.
 

2speedy1

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Jan 4, 2014
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My main issue with all of this, is they keep raising ticket prices. This is just pricing out more and more people. ISU already has some of the highest ticket prices in the B12 let alone P4. I have discussed this on here before.

I ended up giving up my season tickets because of a lot of weekend conflicts have made it difficult to make every game, and selling them you never get your money back. The math just doesnt work out. I can go to as many games as I want and spend way less money for very similar seats, than what my tickets and donation cost divided out. Really the only issue is parking passes. There just is not enough of a benefit to continue to spend a premium price for season tickets, for limited or no benefit over just buying them on the secondary market.

At some point something has got to give. ISU is expected to pay the same amount of money to players as teams in the B1G, that is not revenue sharing, that is a set fee. Revenue sharing would be a percentage of the Revenue, so teams that make more money, like in the B1G would have a larger portion to pay than teams that earn less revenue. The entire system is just ridiculous.
 

Pope

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This is what needs to happen at ISU.
If ISU required a mandatory student fee of $100/term, it would be enormously unpopular and would generate only $6 million per year. The Athletic Dept would still be $14 million short of generating the $20 million needed for direct payment to athletes.

I think a better approach would be for the Iowa legislature to pass a new tax on the sports gambling industry in Iowa that would generate $40-$50 million per year and be evenly split between between ISU and Iowa.
 
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