Recruiting Football Talk VIII

[TheMookieMonster]

People don’t have to like it (I don’t) but getting mad at Danny White like some of our fans are doing online currently is stupid. He either adapts to the new environment, or Tennessee falls behind. We may be the first to announce this, but we won’t be the last. Just like we were the first to announce on field sponsorships (Pilot) and others have yet to do so. He’s a trailblazer, which is why we are where we are on the field.

Trust me, I don’t like the continued nickle and diming of fans. It sucks. But the genie is out of the bottle and this is what happens after years of screaming for college athletes to get a piece of the pie. It’s not “Tennessee’s fault”. This is just where college athletics is headed.

It’s an arms race and it’s not going to slow down. Does a head coach need to make $10 million annually for college sports? No. But either you pay them or someone else takes them. Do college facilities need to be shinier with insane bells and whistles that some pro facilities don’t even have? No. They don’t. But either you spend money and build it or you lose recruits. I’m not really sure how you solve it other than continue to spend more money. It just is what it is.

 

[jave36]

As long as we keep winning, they can do whatever.

 

[Glitch]

What if I just want to take my family to the games for a fair price?

Spoiler

Tuff

 

[Brillovol]

And now we are four (the 4th is behind us) - and we have mustered up for the next leg of our invasion. Next stop, Catherine’s Landing RV Resort in Hot Springs, AK!

View attachment 677705

Heup on the way to OK…

 

[mr.checkerboards]

Hmm maybe that’s why I can’t see at night because of astigmatism. Never thought about that being the issue

Headlights drive me crazy because there's like a starbust coming at me.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Thoughts on paying college players…

• I always hated the prohibition of pay for play
• Paying top athletes is a tale as old as time
• Adding to tickets is about as fair as it gets
• More sales = more athlete pay
• Less sales = less athlete pay
• Advertising ≠ equal revenue
• Top players will get paid more for advertising
• Everyone wants to see success
• Not everyone is willing to pay for it
• Success ain’t free and ain’t cheap
• Like it or not, here we are

The bold I 1000% agree with. They could also create rate bands. A freshmen wouldn't make as much as a senior, but a starting freshmen would make more than a redshirt that isn't playing etc.

With the current NIL you're basically throwing cash at potential and some may never develop, may never go to the school anyway, or may not play there at all (Quinn Ewers for example with Ohio State).

 

[#Vol4Life1991]

We sponsor 20 sports (9 male, 11 female) and what I can't figure out is why we have 0 sales for so many, are we not allowing public viewing or what?

View attachment 677692

Also alarming IMO...Rowing a sport with 0 ticket sales is costing the second most in student fees behind only Football.
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And this predicament isn’t exclusive to Tennessee. I know there is title lX, but there has to be another way for this to operate. If not, the customers (us) will continue to be milked.

I wonder what is going to happen with money over everything (moe) philosophy in our society as a whole. People are getting priced out of food, housing, transportation, events, etc.. And we wonder why mental health is such a problem in today’s culture. Our society values the american dollar over everything else. Its crazy, I would guess the foundations of these industries will begin to crumble (bubble burst).

 

[SugarCC]

Squirrel missed a catch he would normally make too.

I actually forgot about that one! I know exactly the play you're talking about. Yep, should've been caught.

We're now at 12 of 16...75%.

 

[TN-POSSUM]

People could have at CLT. There are cheap seats for the cupcakes. In the end the better we get the more people want to go and the more it costs. I hope not to see them cheap again because that means we suck.

I get that but when the corporations and old money are the only ones that can afford it, those people don't generally go to every game. The "loud" fans do.

I sit in an "old money" section (45 yrd line, behind TN's bench, appx. 35 rows up) in 98 and got told to "sit down" and "be quiet" several times that day. Not my kind of fans.

 

[TrippieRedd]

Hope these recruits pan out or there’s going to be some pissed off fans.

Everything is already expensive as ****

 

[TheRain]

 

[MoCo_Vol]

I think ya gotta look at HS model a bit more...if the school is involved the event should be open to the general public, even events with free tickets will generate some sort of revenue from concessions, parking, etc.

I've seen plenty of people pay to watch rowing events in Oak Ridge. And I have seen track and field crowds fill football stadiums at the HS level. If those events are generating 0 revenue it's because the university wants them to imo.

 

[Big Orange#1]

False. You can contribute to NIL without having a Vol Club membership. Buying merch, one-time contributions, attending public NIL events, etc.

Ok so 10x the number of vol club members to 45,000 fans are contributing to NIL in some form. Now its only 55,000 fans at each ball game are not contributing to NIL. The fact is the vast majority of vol fans are not. ( and thats fine.) This is just a way to massively increase the NIL revenue. It is what it is. Georgia just decided to go this route to make up for being so far behind with their collective and now we are trying to stay a step ahead of them.

 

[MarcoVol]

Hope these recruits pan out or there’s going to be some pissed off fans.

Everything is already expensive as ****

Don’t think it’ll matter much. All the big schools will follow suit on this

 

[Enki_Amenra]

 

[Ashevolle]

UGA’s fee is going toward Drivers Ed

Not sure why Kirby doesn't give them cars with governors in them.

 

[TheRain]

Prices are going up everywhere. Georgia just upped prices and said it had nothing to do with NIL. They'll be raising prices again.

 

[TN-POSSUM]

How about just myself?

What's it gonna cost me by the time I park, pay the trolley, buy a shirt, buy a lower bowl ticket to a good game, buy 3 beers and a hotdog? $550?

You don't need all that. I'm talking a single game ticket and parking. That's it.

*A lower bowl ticket to a bama game is probably going to be $500+ just by itself.

 

[SmokinBob]

Can we swap out cats for Crocs, please?

Hear me out, I would like to ban cat pictures.

 

[orangejuice]

The reality is that everyone throwing a fit are the ones that expect the rich boosters to just continue footing the bill of the ever growing expense of paying for the good players to come, while also demanding excellence on the field every year no matter the cost (even though it’s not their money paying for it).

The economy of how much players cost exploded with NIL and having boosters pay for that while also paying for the never ending faculty upgrades is not sustainable and at some point soon, something is going to give unless we change the model. Bravo for Danny White continuing to be the pioneer and lead TN at the front of the pack. This will happen everywhere, whether they admit the reason or not.

 

[mr.checkerboards]

You don't need all that. I'm talking a single game ticket and parking. That's it.

*A lower bowl ticket to a bama game is probably going to be $500+ just by itself.

It was in 22.

Hell it's $100 just to see them beat down an overwatch Kent St. It's insane.

 

[JP_UT_O&W]

i hope the students are still enjoying those nice prices!!

 

[Enki_Amenra]

People don’t have to like it (I don’t) but getting mad at Danny White like some of our fans are doing online currently is stupid. He either adapts to the new environment, or Tennessee falls behind. We may be the first to announce this, but we won’t be the last. Just like we were the first to announce on field sponsorships (Pilot) and others have yet to do so. He’s a trailblazer, which is why we are where we are on the field.

Trust me, I don’t like the continued nickle and diming of fans. It sucks. But the genie is out of the bottle and this is what happens after years of screaming for college athletes to get a piece of the pie. It’s not “Tennessee’s fault”. This is just where college athletics is headed.

It’s an arms race and it’s not going to slow down. Does a head coach need to make $10 million annually for college sports? No. But either you pay them or someone else takes them. Do college facilities need to be shinier with insane bells and whistles that some pro facilities don’t even have? No. They don’t. But either you spend money and build it or you lose recruits. I’m not really sure how you solve it other than continue to spend more money. It just is what it is.

When I said the athletes should get a piece of the pie, I meant the ADs pie, not my pie. . .

 

[VolGee4]

So here's my big annoyance.

Tennessee Athletics Reaches New Revenue Milestone - University of Tennessee Athletics

For the first time in school history, the department eclipsed the $200 million mark in revenue generation.

utsports.com

Per UT's own reporting the university made over $200 million in revenue in 2023.



So all the increase came directly from the fans ALREADY.

If you open the 80 page report you'll see that the real problem could be solved by eliminating sports that are costing more than they make OR finding a way to improve their revenue.

Football made 75+ million over expenses.
Men's Basketball 5+ million over expenses.
Women's Basketball 5 million under expenses. (this was impacted by KJH buyout and new hire, should level off some)
"other sports" 36+ million under expenses. If you don't include baseball in this category it's a lot worse
"non-program specific" 28+ million under expenses.

So somehow with over 200 million in revenue the total excess ended up being 11 million. Even if their ticket sales DON'T decrease with the 10% increase that's only adding 4 million a year and it wouldn't be counted as revenue excess as they'd write it off as an expense since it's for the student athletes.

While they will put money in reserves, running an athletic department is not a for profit venture. They essentially spend what they bring in. That is why programs were paying for new facilities and amenities every so often. The players were actually benefitting from that. As you say, they also have to cover expenses for a bunch of sports that don't generate revenue- that will continue to be an issue. I don't know how title 9 will play into all of that, but eliminating sports in the name of paying others is a touchy situation (even though its a typical financial decision). So, athletic departments are paying for things that most for profit businesses would have probably sold or cut years ago.

As with everything, economics will take over. I hate to think about it, but when the product is poor, revenue will go down. They will then have to make different decisions.

 

[jmacvols1]

These are good..