MPR: U's reward at Citrus Bowl may be glory; it won't be money; U could lose money

per Alex Friedrich:

The University of Minnesota will get long-awaited national exposure Jan. 1 when it plays against Missouri in the Citrus Bowl — Minnesota's first major bowl in more than half a century.

Just don't expect it to get a big payoff.

Because of the way the Big Ten and other conferences share bowl money, the university will get the same amount as every other school in the Big Ten — regardless of whether it plays in a bowl.

"It's not a payday for Minnesota — it's not a payday for anybody," said Mike Poorman, a Penn State University senior lecturer who covers the sports industry. "It's a very ... socialistic division of revenues."

Big Ten authorities are giving Minnesota a stipend of $2 million for travel and accommodation. With that stipend, the U of M will transport, house and feed its bowl delegation, which includes the team, marching band, spirit squads, regents and senior administrators. They'll fly down Dec. 29 and return just after the game on Jan. 1.

With travel and accommodation for so many, Werle said, $2 million "doesn't go as far as you might think."

But he said the Gophers "are going to do our damndest" not to go over budget.

"We're always very careful that we do things right — but not necessarily over the top," he said.

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/12/19/gopher-football-citrus-bowl

Go Gophers!!

Come on OSU...you can do it!

Summary:
Big Ten schools don't make as much money as you might think because the league shares it's revenue. MPR attributed costs associated with the Citrus Bowl appearance in a way that shows that this may not be a stand-alone profitable venture for the U as an institution, and may actually cost the school money. It concedes that this does not account for many non-quantifiable, non-monetary benefits. It implies that it is cheaper to not play in a bowl and just cash the Big Ten's huge check.

One major flaw: It makes no mention that the institution is not a "for-profit" venture, and insinuates that football should, at all times, be the money-making venture that subsidizes all other athletics.

Goldmember said:

It implies that it is cheaper to not play in a bowl and just cash the Big Ten's huge check.

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So true! All 14 teams should do this. Zero travel costs and a huge check!!

MPR is correct in how institutions profit. Correct me if I'm wrong here ......but they (MPR) have yet to raise / bring forth this issue when our Gophers were ineligible for a bowl appearance or while they were participating in "lower Tier" bowls of past. In other words, I could give a rat's @$$ what their opinion is. I grew up in a home where we watched as many bowl games as possible on NYD and always dreamed / hoped our University would play in a NYD Bowl. 44 years waiting for that and don't care if we lose money. Especially since our allotment sales are or should be every bit as good as last year's rep (Wisky). Someone has to represent the conference so why not us. Lastly, did they mention any profit earned from the BTN or from the season home games? Just Curious.
Appears to me that MPR has a hidden agenda in bringing this forth as a topic because what they have mentioned is not only useless information but also common knowledge to anyone having a pulse in following the college football landscape.

Buck_Buchanan said:

MPR is correct in how institutions profit. Correct me if I'm wrong here ......but they (MPR) have yet to raise / bring forth this issue when our Gophers were ineligible for a bowl appearance or while they were participating in "lower Tier" bowls of past. In other words, I could give a rat's @$$ what their opinion is. I grew up in a home where we watched as many bowl games as possible on NYD and always dreamed / hoped our University would play in a NYD Bowl. 44 years waiting for that and don't care if we lose money. Especially since our allotment sales are or should be every bit as good as last year's rep (Wisky). Someone has to represent the conference so why not us. Lastly, did they mention any profit earned from the BTN or from the season home games? Just Curious.
Appears to me that MPR has a hidden agenda in bringing this forth as a topic because what they have mentioned is not only useless information but also common knowledge to anyone having a pulse in following the college football landscape.

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You need to relax. Basically, an innocuous news story. And outside of your bubble in the real world there are people, U graduates even, who don't know this "common knowledge."

It is a bogus story with incorrect information across the board. There is no way the U loses money with a $2,000,000 budget without being totally out of control with their expenses. With negotiated rates, I could send a thousand people on one extraordinary fun time for 5 days.

Dean S said:

It is a bogus story with incorrect information across the board. There is no way the U loses money with a $2,000,000 budget without being totally out of control with their expenses. With negotiated rates, I could send a thousand people on one extraordinary fun time for 5 days.

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$2000/person for 5 days? Your definition of an "extraordinary" is different than mine. With that said I agree they should be able to send the players and what 300-400 other people they need to down to orlando for $2million. Hopefully they splurge a little more on the players than on the administrators...

bottlebass said:

$2000/person for 5 days? Your definition of an "extraordinary" is different than mine. With that said I agree they should be able to send the players and what 300-400 other people they need to down to orlando for $2million. Hopefully they splurge a little more on the players than on the administrators...

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I was simply illustrating that a very large contingent could go, be fed and housed and even do an event or two for 2K. If 800 go, well, party on dude. If only 700 go, then it is a gold plate week with constant fun at multiple venues. At 600 people, the week will be remembered for decades and that is all people will talk about. The whole MPR article is just nonsense.

To sum up bowl games are hugely profitable for all members of the big ten and playing in a New Years day bowl will result in far higher future revenues as compared to a 4 win team that doesn't go to a bowl.