Tag: Budgets

New Mexico, New Mexico St asked by NM governor to stop football prep

Big developments in the state of New Mexico

Had USC been playing a full schedule this fall, recent news from a few days ago would have had a potentially severe impact on that.

The Trojans were scheduled to play the New Mexico Lobos on September 12, right after the Crimson Tide (Sept. 5) and right before Stanford (Sept. 19). With the move to conference-only scheduling by the Pac-12, New Mexico lost out on a $1,050,000 payday against USC, $100,000 of which had already been paid to UNM back in 2016 to help with their budget shortfall situation, per Geoff Grammer of the Albuquerque Review Journal.

If a story affects UNM or NMSU, Grammer is usually the first to break the story.

So, UNM was already facing a problem given it was likely to have to pay USC back unless the Lobos could work out a plan to include that money in a game to be played after the pandemic ends. That’s likely what will happen. No college is callous enough to try to bleed a stone at this juncture, especially USC. $100,000 to the Trojans is a very small buffet to feed the entire athletic department on a random Tuesday. It is pocket change… but not for New Mexico or New Mexico State.

The state of New Mexico has intervened. The governor asked the Lobos and the Aggies to suspend all football activities immediately due to a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases both in New Mexico and around the United States. Geoff Grammer broke this news story as well.

What this would cost both schools was not mentioned in the letter, but it’s safe to assume it’s going to be a lot of money over the course of a season. The two programs — the Lobos and Aggies — will also miss out on conference revenue sharing, unless the playing institutions agree to share the pie anyhow. While the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University may have been the first programs to face these problems at the Division I FBS level, they’re not likely to be the last. If cases keep rising, governors will have little choice but to suspend large gatherings of people, just as they did early in the pandemic.

The economic toll facing some of these programs is eye-popping. How some of these schools are going to survive may come down to the generosity and magnanimity of their elite donors and booster clubs. The season is already facing a massively disjointed dimension in competition. Should teams within those conference begin dropping like flies, it’s only going to compound the complications of the season. It’s sure as hell not going to make choosing postseason teams any easier, and we covered that in a previous article for Trojans Wire.

There is a lot to consider. A lot to ponder… and there is still so much that will ultimately exist beyond the control of those in charge. Pandemics do not listen to health commissioners or sports commissioners. They don’t care about your budget shortfalls or canceled games with UCLA.

Sorry, New Mexico State, you’re simply out that $1.2 million. What’s going to happen to the sport as a result of the coronavirus is going to far surpass what’s going to happen to the sport as the result of a name, image, and likeness rules. Mark that down and be ready to cash it in the bank.

If only New Mexico and New Mexico State could cash those winnings. Alas, they won’t be able to.

Big 12 Football: Without football, huge changes could be on the way

As college football hangs in the balance, no fall season could result in the Big 12 schools like Texas making drastic cuts to the budget.

Not exactly breaking in news here, but in the south football is king. Especially the state of Texas. The term Friday Night Lights inspired a movie and tv show. College football is also a huge part of the weekend culture. However in today’s climate the game we love so much is at risk. Due to the coronavirus pandemic we lost college basketball tournaments, baseball and softball. Many of our favorite college pastimes were cancelled. Now football hangs in the balance almost a full six months later.

According to the Dallas Business Journal, schools may have to cut other sports just to survive. Here is how the revenue breaks down for each school.

University Football revenue Percentage of total revenue
Texas $156.1M 72%
Oklahoma $94.8M 60%
TCU $65.4M 55%
Oklahoma State $52.2M 57%
Iowa State S51.9M 65%
Texas Tech $51.1M 59%
Kansas State $46.2M 51%
Baylor $45.6M 45%
Kansas $38.2M 32%
West Virginia $24.7M 24%

No school in the conference generates anywhere near the amount of revenue dollars as the University of Texas. No other school generates as much of the total revenue from football as Texas. Without football, Texas will have to make some tough decisions due to how heavily reliant they are on football to generate revenue.

Schools like Baylor, Kansas and West Virginia are lower risks. None of these schools generate more than 45 percent of their revenue from the game of football. All three have good basketball programs that can help lighten the load a bit.

Around the country, schools and conference are having to eliminate programs due to these budget cuts. It is quite possible that if there is no football that Big 12 schools will have to follow suit in the coming weeks.