Some economics on swimming

Once again, John, you have provided us with a short concise explanation. In the old days, when there was only one televised college FB per week (the NCAA game of the week), FB provided most of the money, followed by BB. Every other sport lost money. Now we have title 9 and even 0-12 teams have almost every game televised.

The result is more income from FB and BB, but women’s sports had to be created and funded. After FB and mens BB, womens BB is the cash cow of all other sports, but it is lucky to break even. Adding womens sports meant the elimination of some mens sports that lost money, like wrestiling or gymnastics.

As the cash crunch continues, the emphasis will be on cheap sports over expensive sports. Its hard to imagine a $10M donation being turned down, but I didn’t consider pool maintenance costs. Thats why womens crew is being added at colleges and now “sand volleyball” is on the way. Hey, a couple of boats and a sandbox don’t cost much. Who knows, mats last 10 years or more, maybe womens wrestling is next.

This really is a sad story. A great University should have a swim team. William Gerberding and Todd Turner were much more the death sentence than the football penalties of the early 90’s. Turner left the athletic department in shambles and Woodward has a huge mess to clean up.

I don’t like the idea of axing programs, especially with such a long tradition, but until football gets cleaned up, that is what we are faced with.

That is too bad for all the swimmers of both past and present.

We all live with our decisions…the consequences of which often takes years, even decades, to manifest.

If our ‘leaders’ would have found a way to work around the residents of Montlake in the mid 1990s, the result is that we’d be in the last years of lease and proud owners of a renovated Husky stadium.

Not the crumbling tower we call home today.

Now we’re crawling, hat in hand, to the legislature in Olympia. Wasn’t one of those ML residents Dan Evans who’s now trying ‘helping’ to find the $300 million for the new Dawg House?

I have no idea of why no one wanted a pool on the lower campus. Perhaps it’s the hallowed ground halo of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition?

I’m sure this too could have been worked around as well.

Short term reasons…near term logic…is generally reasonable. The problem is that circumstances change and the foundation on which the short term is based becomes increasingly untenable.

There’s a “polite” word for this leadership style: myopia. And other terms not so nice.

Apparently we all agree that football is the engine that drives the AD. That being the case, shouldn’t we maximize football revenues wherever possible?

Not just for the greater glory of football, but those Olympic sports few us ever go to watch? Or follow.

Hindsight is always clear as hell. But isn’t the same thinking still being entertained? The same kind of mistakes still being made? Today we’re still blessed with same myopia.

We just left a significant amount of money — yes, that almighty dollar — in abandoned negotiations to hold the Apple Cup annually at Qwest field.

Aren’t we bemoaning cutbacks because of lack of funds yet turning up our noses at opportunities to make…dare I say it…money.

Go back over the ‘against’ arguments — from both school’s sides. There’s a lot “football only” reasons put forth. Few ‘against’ fans are arguing what would be good for each school’s respective ADs. They bring up the ‘sacredness’ of the tradition of snow at Martin and wind howling off Lake Washington. They’re talking football.

The proponents, in their “qwest” for cash, tend to bring up AD benefits. As if WSU and the UW were somehow…universities…offering programs of ‘universal’ education of which athletics are an integral part.

Nick Daschel writing at Buster Sports had a suggestion: “…since apparently athletic departments are strapped for cash and can’t pay the bills: maybe it’s time to start reining in coaching salaries.”

Now there’s a great way to get the next Pete Carroll to a Washington institution.

Maybe someone better remind Nick that last year’s Apple Cup was a double overtime thriller between arguably college football’s two worst football teams.

Apple Cup? Nationwide it could have been billed “battle for the basement.”

And perhaps we should remind ourselves that Woodward said it ain’t just swimin’. Other cuts are a’comin’.

None of us are really going to lose much sleep over swimming’s demise, but the way the AD has been thinking the past decade let’s hope we don’t have to console ourselves of a future UW as just a institution for higher education.

It’s fantastic to have world class medical programs. But it’s hard to go “rah rah” for med school rankings.

I’m probably being too hard on the current Admin. After all, these are guys that have just hired — with those almighty dollars — one of America’s best coaching staff.

Ignoring the Daschel Doctrine, they paid talent like Nick Holt $600,000 per year — by far the most UW has ever paid an assistant.

That’s more mulla that any of the seven Nobel laureates on UW’s faculty earn.

Damn right! What can you do with a Nobel on third and short? These guys don’t move the chains!

But if we going to play (again) in the Big Leagues of college football, we’d better start thinking of Big Business ways to pay our way. And, while we’re at it, for archery as well.

Because it’s much more a business today that it was in 1991.

Sorry to bring up the Qwest debacle. Again. But it looks like the wool’s being pulled down yet again.

So let’s get down on our knees and pray…

We don’t get fooled again!

How many tickets are accorded to the UW the years the Apple Cup is played at Martin stadium? 5K, 10K?

What’s the average for the past 20 years of Dawg fans making the semi-annual Pullman pilgrimage in the tradition of freezing their butts off on the cheap aluminum seats of Martin Stadium?

Given Nov. weather, the distance, driving conditions, do most folks want to scale the mountains to and fro the same day? Or do the pilgrims plan to park overnight in Pullman area motels? Given their numbers, do many have they skid up to Spokane? And what’s the total cost for this adventure vis a vis a ticket to a game at Qwest? Even a higher priced ticket?

Is there an opportunity to offer a “premium” season ticket, in addition to a “regular” season ticket? A ‘gold’ ticket package that includes the Apple Cup EVERY year. Sold on a first come basis.

If Sark & Company can start generating wins on the field, 31,000 sales at this membership level could be sold out months (years?) in advance generating even MORE cash for the Dawg House given it’s premium pirce and of course the time value of money. Thus giving an underlying financial security base to UW football revenues.

Number one rule of product development: create a premium brand and you can charge a premium price.

I agree with John that we need to know the exact numbers of what a Qwest-based cup would bring. I’m only going by the substantial cash figures I’ve read in the local press. But the fact remains you can only generate so much from a 35 thousand seat stadium. It’s really hard to envisage a scenario where every other year Martin-based games can bring anywhere near what a Qwest-based cup would.

But even here, the story is half analyzed. For example, has anyone looked at how much additional revenue could be made from Qwest’s premium 7,000 club seats and 111 suites? That’s something we can’t get from games at Husky stadium. Are there some corporate possibilities here? A “platinum” season ticket as well? Hmmm…

Let’s also remind ourselves that for most of always, Husky season was an 11 game ticket. That 12th game has just been added on and we’re only talking about one game at Qwest. Doesn’t that mean one more guaranteed game in Seattle EVERY year? That’s one more game added to the season ticket — premium version — every year, not the odd one.

And yes, given the smaller size of Martin, it would have been probably more beneficial to the Cougs. So what? If they currently want to schedule a national team, they’ll almost certainly have to have their “home” game at a Qwest-sized field. As they indeed have done.

Our focus should be only how Qwest could benefit the UW…which brings up some more questions.

Like TV rights. Is the Apple Cup currently only a ‘regionally televised’ game in the years of its Martin venue? Would the larger crowds capable at Qwest make it of greater interest to a national audience? Would a late afternoon/early evening game, make it more marketable to eastern timezone football junkies as a late night TV game — after most all of America’s football games have been played for the day. A venue that could be ideally filled by a west coast game? How much more cash would that bring both schools? Particularly from a multi-year based deal.

Oh, here’s an non-monetary consideration for those who who refuse to kneel before the ‘almighty’ dollar: how much more national awareness could be created for our football program by “annual” TV coverage to markets in say Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and Texas clicking over to an annual UW-WSU night game?

Would that be of any value to Sark’s recruiting efforts?

If you think the Apple Cup is just a rivalry between Washington’s two largest universities, think again. In a relatively recent phenomena, you now read in national publications or hear on national media about the annual “civil war”.

Ouch! That’s Oregon stealing the thunder. A state with half the population.

Ask yourself this: Does Oregon’s Civil War generate more interest — on a national stage — than the Apple Cup? If the answer is a resounding “no” we better starting looking at what we’ve been doing.

In 2001, this story appeared: “The Civil War has seen its share of drama in the last three seasons; so much, in fact, that the sports fans outside of Oregon are beginning to notice. And next season…anyone in the United States with a television will be able to witness the 104-year-old rivalry.”

And then, in 2006, this: “For the schools, it’s a chance to make $250,000 each in TV money, and to play in front of a national audience.”

Catch those last two words.

That’s kind of “buzz” you want the Apple Cup to have: a “national” positioning. Superbowl it (tastefully)…and you can do that at Qwest. A half time that maybe features a renown WA-based band and entertainment…WA ‘royalty’ waving from the boxes.

Sorry Coug readers, but that’s kinda hard to envisage that in a glorified high school football house that’s Martin Stadium.

Given that Qwest Field has earned a reputation for being one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL, some 67,000 ruckus Coug and Dawg fans just might help create a venue that could draw much more national interest…cash and awareness for both schools…awareness for the state.

That’s great for the UW. And WSU. And the rivalry. And for all those sports we not going to follow anyway.

Have our well paid leaders started to consider/research any of this? At least from what I’m reading, there seem to be little thinking along the lines of how this could be built up into a much bigger, more profitable and a more national event. One that starts to transcend the parochial interests of Washington state.

Actually, isn’t the UW is a bit lucky? In most states, it would be pretty difficult to even consider having an the annual rivalry game in one of the school’s home city. But given that some 85% of WA’s population lives in Cascadia — the moonsoon side of the hills — and that most kids across America typically take advantage of reduced in-state tuition fees, the vast majority of Coug alums live…well next to you in Renton, Ballard and Olympia.

We’ll have no problem filling Qwest. All the ingredients are here to create one rocking football gig. More so, if Sark is successful in rebuilding the Husky Nation.

Yet a lot of what we see from both sides of football aisle is a knee jerk “no way” that comes up the minute of first obstacle is raised. As if the “divine rights” of 40K season ticket holders must be protected at any cost. With no examination of what’s being left…
 
Where are the negotiation skills in that?

As my first post queried, do we want to repeat the mistakes of the past? Ones that may become glaring apparent years down the road. I strongly suspect we may be leaving a valuable opportunity at the table.

More so IF we ever do get that $300 million; we’ll probably be playing a lot of home games at Qwest as Huskyville is renovated in any event. Ditto if we don’t get the cash!

Problems, my friends, are opportunities…creative solutions to which can bring much greater benefits. And maybe contribute to those ‘other’ sports that generate little fan support.

We need leadership that starts to think ‘outside the box.’

The optimist in me says they’re doing all this behind closed doors. But when I look at the program over the last decade or so I begin to worry we’ve lost our ability to see ‘long term.’

You know, that ‘vision’ thing.

“I can’t see that oregon vs oregon state is EVER going to interest the whole country.”

Well you certainly can’t fault them for trying. Here’s a couple of stores from just last January:

“The University of Oregon and Oregon State University will be taking an untraditional approach to their traditional rivalry this fall by scheduling the 2009 Civil War football game on a Thursday night in December.”

And this bit:

"This package represents a tremendous opportunity to not only showcase our football program as well as an in-state rivalry…but will provide unprecedented national exposure for the University of Oregon," Director of Athletics Pat Kilkenny said.

I bet that both the AD’s of UO and OSU were more than happy to learn Qwest talks had broken down. The last thing they want is a more dynamic rivalry up north.

Apparently these two schools see the benefits of co-operating with each other and leaving the competition part to actual game day. Which makes the game an even bigger draw.

They looking at a much bigger picture. Like how to get national attention to their respective programs. And how that will help pull more recruits from California and elsewhere. Recruits that Don James’s Dawgs more or less had a lock on.

How often do you see that ‘national audience’ idea come up in the Qwest AC debate? Or are the UW and WSU are fighting over petty parochial interests. Where’s the vision here?

College football is still very much a regional gig and like you said oregon has half the population as Washington.

Yes and No. Certainly Notre Dame and a number of other big program are a national draw. And while West Virginia may not be America’s biggest or most dynamic state, one certainly hears about their Mountaineers far beyond its borders.

Population is an advantage yes, but you still have to “smartly” use your advantages. As much as any Dawg fan hates to admit, the days are gone when OU was just as an average PAC-10 team and OSU typically hanging about in the bottom rungs.

Over the past decade or so they’ve done a lot more right than wrong. And they way they’ve trying to market the Civil War to a national audience is but one example.

So in that sense, there’s definitely been a ‘shift’.

The good news is that it doesn’t have to be permanent.

We can be smarter too!

Hiring Sark was an important first step. Let’s just not stop there!