April 15, 2004

D1A Conference Finances: BCS / Non-BCS = Haves / Have-Nots?

FROM AN NCAA REPORT on Division I-A conference finances come confirmed suspicions (of have and have-not conferences), no-brainers (the gap between BCS and non-BCS conferences) and counterintuitive deductions (that increased spending does not create more wins or attract a greater number of applicants).

With a mind-numbing surfeit of graphs and charts, the study clearly shows that institutions in the top six �have� D-1A conferences�ACC, SEC, Big 12, Big 10, Pac-10, Big East�generate significantly greater revenues than the five �have not� D1-A conferences�Conference USA, MAC, Mountain West, Sun Belt, WAC.

For example, the smallest of the so-called BCS leagues (the �haves�) is the Big East, which generated revenues of $27 million in 2002. Meanwhile, the biggest of the non-BCS leagues (the �have-nots�), the Mountain West, generated only $18 million in 2002.

More noticeable to many, however, the study shows that the �haves� grew at a much higher rate over the life of the ten year study than the �have-nots.� All BCS conferences at least doubled revenues from 1993 to 2002, with the Big 12 posting an impressive 146% increase. Meanwhile, some non-BCS conferences posted only �modest� increases of 42%, 63% and 85% over the same period.

This does not appear to be an example of the �rich getting richer, and the poor getting poorer.� Rather, this is the �rich getting richer, and the poor getting richer too�but not as fast as the rich.�

Whereas in society and political circles there exists the phrase �class envy,� what we seem to have in Division I-A is �conference envy,� or maybe �BCS envy.�

Curiously, the data for expenses include operating budgets only, and not capital expenditures. As it is, most D1A programs fail to operate at a profit. Inclusion of the amortization of a $30 million stadium expansion would only exacerbate an already bleak profit-and-loss performance for most D1A athletic programs.

But hey, it's only money.

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(this 298 word excerpt�with added commentary�was condensed from an 1191 word article in The NCAA News of 4-12-04)