There was an interesting piece in the New York Times this past week on the money Big East teams spend on their basketball programs. Here’s how the whole thing looks.
- Marquette —— $10,306,548
- Louisville ——— $8,625,245
- Syracuse ———- $7,784,244
- Georgetown —— $7,405,214
- Connecticut —— $6,796,942
- West Virginia —- $5,963,760
- Villanova ——— $5,959,931
- Pittsburgh —— $5,337,512
- Seton Hall ——— $5,200,805
- St. John’s ———- $4,729,555
- Providence ——- $4,637,423
- Notre Dame —— $4,380,691
- Cincinnati ——– $4,011,357
- Rutgers ———– $3,793,356
- DePaul ———— $3,257,409
- South Florida —- $2,927,362
Now when you separate out the football schools:
- Louisville $8,625,245
- Syracuse 7,784,244
- Connecticut 6,796,942
- West Virginia 5,963,760
- Pittsburgh 5,337,512
- Notre Dame 4,380,691
- Cincinnati 4,011,357
- Rutgers 3,793,356
- South Florida 2,927,362
Pitt is dead center in both. But what strikes me is that Pitt is at the point where there is a significant drop-off.
Obviously there is also a significant difference in success when you spend money and don’t. Not just for this year or last, but over the past decade. When Pitt made the commitment to invest in the basketball programs results came.
Obviously hiring the right coach in terms of recruiting and player development makes more of a difference than shiny new buildings. The new facilities are vital for selling recruits on the seriousness of the program, but you need the coaches that can develop and sell things.
It sucks, to some degree to simplify winning to money, but everyone has learned over the years. The only way you win consistently is by consistently spending the money (or if you prefer, reinvesting) on the programs.
That money of course, is what drives the acceptance by every fan of Big East football programs that if another conference comes calling, of course they will jump. Whether it fits right or not.
Just look at the highest paid coaches in the nation: Self, Calipari, Donovan, Matta, Pitino, Izzo, etc. They have all been to a Final Four.
Don’t get me wrong, I never want to see Dixon leave Pitt, but in order to see his salary increase to the level of these guys, this is something he has to accomplish.
“@Tj 3 seed, LMAO…ok we will see” – Jeremy
Just in case you are still reading this blog Jeremy…I told you so.
Marquette, Nova, Gtown all rent out pricey arenas (bradley center, Wachovia center, and the Gilbert Arenas Gun Club respectively)
Syracuse plays in a football dome, which can’t be cheap to run considering it’s been around for a while… not sure but they might even have a terrible lease. Also Boeheim probably makes some good loot.
Then there’s Uconn who plays at the excel center in Hartford, again probably costs them a bit of cash, plus they have to pay Calhoun.
Louisville, not sure why they spend so much other than Pitino probably is expensive and they are likely paying for their new arena and they probably have issues with utilities and possibly a lease on freedom hall.
St. Johns, MSG lease and NYC is rediculously expensive
Seton Hall, plays in an NBA arena…
and that leaves:
Pitt still relatively new arena, low costs and most of that money goes to Dixon, his staff and the rest for operating expenses.
Providence, minor league arena
Notre Dame, plays on campus
Cincinati, plays in a minor league arena or on campus
Rutgers, plays on campus
Depaul, plays at a minor league arena, AND they don’t spend really on anything else
So… I think there is definitely something to having your OWN arena.
That being said, the author doesn’t list where he got his numbers other than from the department of education(I looked for about an hour and couldn’t find anything breaking it down like that) and he definitely doesn’t explain what that encompasses
So don’t take that as anything other than statistics that aren’t really explained… I would love it if someone could get the actual numbers and detail…
