wfduck
10-06-2003, 12:33 PM
I found it interesting he flat out said only about 25 schools make money...ouch
Q & A with Big Sky Commissioner and CCA President Doug Fullerton
Big Sky Conference Media Relations, Paul Grua
Ogden, Utah -- In June of 2003 Doug Fullerton, Commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, was elected President of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA). Fullerton became the first I-AA commissioner to ever hold the post. As President of the CCA he will help set the agenda for all organization functions.
:
What would you want your colleagues and the public in general to learn about I-AA?
I think the most remarkable aspect of I-AA football is that for the most part, these institutions have a clear idea of what they want from their athletics programs. They understand their goals and they understand how much this should cost them as an institution. Competing at the I-AA level is a conscious, informed decision. This is unlike some of fourth quartile I-A institutions who muddle along trying to find some success in I-A but ultimately spend more and more institutional money on a program that does not market the University in a positive way. For the most part, the successful programs in I-AA are far more financially efficient than those in last quartile of I-A. But at these I-A schools, their institutional ego keeps them chasing a dream that is really nonexistent for them. Much of the recent reform suggested for I-A would encourage those programs to be more like the best I-AA programs with real student-athletes and reasonable salaries and expenditures.
But what about the argument that I-AA doesn’t make any money?
That is true. However, practically no one makes money at this enterprise. All but maybe 25 institutions in the NCAA need an unearned subsidy from either their institution or students in order to survive. When an athletics director says that he or she is "in the black" - that simply means they "made budget". When a President says they ran a deficit in their athletics programs what that means is they were over budget or have a shortfall of revenue. Since there is by definition a deficit in everyone’s budget (except for the twenty five schools mentioned earlier), what "running a deficit" really means is that you are talking to someone who doesn’t understand the dynamics of funding an athletics program. I-AA by its very nature does cost money - but it costs a lot less money than those schools in I-A spend.
Q & A with Big Sky Commissioner and CCA President Doug Fullerton
Big Sky Conference Media Relations, Paul Grua
Ogden, Utah -- In June of 2003 Doug Fullerton, Commissioner of the Big Sky Conference, was elected President of the Collegiate Commissioners Association (CCA). Fullerton became the first I-AA commissioner to ever hold the post. As President of the CCA he will help set the agenda for all organization functions.
:
What would you want your colleagues and the public in general to learn about I-AA?
I think the most remarkable aspect of I-AA football is that for the most part, these institutions have a clear idea of what they want from their athletics programs. They understand their goals and they understand how much this should cost them as an institution. Competing at the I-AA level is a conscious, informed decision. This is unlike some of fourth quartile I-A institutions who muddle along trying to find some success in I-A but ultimately spend more and more institutional money on a program that does not market the University in a positive way. For the most part, the successful programs in I-AA are far more financially efficient than those in last quartile of I-A. But at these I-A schools, their institutional ego keeps them chasing a dream that is really nonexistent for them. Much of the recent reform suggested for I-A would encourage those programs to be more like the best I-AA programs with real student-athletes and reasonable salaries and expenditures.
But what about the argument that I-AA doesn’t make any money?
That is true. However, practically no one makes money at this enterprise. All but maybe 25 institutions in the NCAA need an unearned subsidy from either their institution or students in order to survive. When an athletics director says that he or she is "in the black" - that simply means they "made budget". When a President says they ran a deficit in their athletics programs what that means is they were over budget or have a shortfall of revenue. Since there is by definition a deficit in everyone’s budget (except for the twenty five schools mentioned earlier), what "running a deficit" really means is that you are talking to someone who doesn’t understand the dynamics of funding an athletics program. I-AA by its very nature does cost money - but it costs a lot less money than those schools in I-A spend.