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Jun. 26—CHAMPAIGN — The timing of Josh Whitman's annual media roundtable in late June means financial numbers for the fiscal year are typically a week or two from being finalized.
Illinois finished the last fiscal year with a surplus of approximately $2.5 million dollars after record-setting revenues and expenses. The results of the current fiscal year could still change in the next week-plus, but the Illinois athletic director is expecting another year of record revenue.
"I expect for the first time in program history we will surpass $200 million in revenue," Whitman said Thursday. That includes a ticket revenue record just north of $30 million.
"We also will set a record for expenses, I'm sure. That's the new environment we're in. With the (House vs. NCAA) settlement and the opportunity to revenue share with student-athletes, that by itself added about $21 million in expenses. We'll see how things go over the next week. I do hope — we're keeping our fingers crossed — that we'll cross the finish line with another surplus."
Generating more revenue, year over year, is Illinois' challenge. Particularly if the intent remains to max out revenue sharing with its athletes, of which 223 received some amount of money this past year. Revenue sharing will top $21 million this coming school year.
How much Illinois can pull from its two sports that actually generate revenue — football and men's basketball — is limited. They'll never be maxed out, but the room for growth will diminish with State Farm Center already selling out yearly and Memorial Stadium getting closer to that goal.
"It's incumbent on us to be exploring other revenue streams," Whitman said. "How else can we make money to support the athletic program? We're spending a lot of time on that right now trying to identify more non-traditional revenues that might be available either now or in the future to ultimately bring additional resources into the program."
Corporate sponsorships are one such path.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet, which Whitman chairs, approved a proposal in January that will allow programs to place commercial logos or patches on uniforms, equipment, apparel and facilities. Michigan State, for example, announced a 10-year jersey patch sponsorship with MSU Federal Credit Union for all 23 men's and women's teams earlier this month.
"We have the ability to put a patch on every uniform," Whitman said. "We have the ability to put a logo on every playing surface. Whether we ultimately do that or not remains to be seen. I don't know if it would be every one, or some, but for some subset of our uniforms and our playing surfaces I would hope to see a corporate presence by the time we start this fall."
Illinois did announce this week an expanded partnership with Gameday Spirit as the official online team store effective July 1. That's on top of the existing relationship as the program's in-venue merchandise partner, which dates back to 2002.
Enhancing other existing partnerships and expanding its reach with new deals is Illinois' goal.
"That is an area where I do think we have a lot of room still to grow," Whitman said. "As our brand becomes more prominent, it becomes more valuable. People get better benefit from associating with us. You'll see us continue to try and grow our sponsorship portfolio in the years ahead."
Fundraising has also remained successful in the past year. The I Fund has topped $13 million for the second consecutive year, and at $13.2 million is barely behind last year's record $13.5 million.
"I think what's notable about that is last year's record was accomplished on the heels of the Illini ERA projects, which was the re-seating of both the football stadium and the basketball arena," Whitman said. "One of the reasons we do that is to precipitate more giving. Usually, you'll see that kind of spike and then settle, so it's really notable we're essentially going to be even year over year from the re-seating."
Fundraising also generated more than $150 million this past year. While last year's fundraising totals were driven mostly by Larry Gies' $100 million gift — that led to the re-naming of Gies Memorial Stadium — this year's total includes a notable, albeit anonymous, estate gift.
"It's really impressive the way (the donors) continue to step up," Whitman said. "Let's not kid ourselves. They're excited. There's a lot of enthusiasm our program right now. There's a lot of momentum. Things are feeling really good, and they want to be a part of it."
Continue reading...
Illinois finished the last fiscal year with a surplus of approximately $2.5 million dollars after record-setting revenues and expenses. The results of the current fiscal year could still change in the next week-plus, but the Illinois athletic director is expecting another year of record revenue.
"I expect for the first time in program history we will surpass $200 million in revenue," Whitman said Thursday. That includes a ticket revenue record just north of $30 million.
"We also will set a record for expenses, I'm sure. That's the new environment we're in. With the (House vs. NCAA) settlement and the opportunity to revenue share with student-athletes, that by itself added about $21 million in expenses. We'll see how things go over the next week. I do hope — we're keeping our fingers crossed — that we'll cross the finish line with another surplus."
Generating more revenue, year over year, is Illinois' challenge. Particularly if the intent remains to max out revenue sharing with its athletes, of which 223 received some amount of money this past year. Revenue sharing will top $21 million this coming school year.
How much Illinois can pull from its two sports that actually generate revenue — football and men's basketball — is limited. They'll never be maxed out, but the room for growth will diminish with State Farm Center already selling out yearly and Memorial Stadium getting closer to that goal.
"It's incumbent on us to be exploring other revenue streams," Whitman said. "How else can we make money to support the athletic program? We're spending a lot of time on that right now trying to identify more non-traditional revenues that might be available either now or in the future to ultimately bring additional resources into the program."
Corporate sponsorships are one such path.
The NCAA Division I Cabinet, which Whitman chairs, approved a proposal in January that will allow programs to place commercial logos or patches on uniforms, equipment, apparel and facilities. Michigan State, for example, announced a 10-year jersey patch sponsorship with MSU Federal Credit Union for all 23 men's and women's teams earlier this month.
"We have the ability to put a patch on every uniform," Whitman said. "We have the ability to put a logo on every playing surface. Whether we ultimately do that or not remains to be seen. I don't know if it would be every one, or some, but for some subset of our uniforms and our playing surfaces I would hope to see a corporate presence by the time we start this fall."
Illinois did announce this week an expanded partnership with Gameday Spirit as the official online team store effective July 1. That's on top of the existing relationship as the program's in-venue merchandise partner, which dates back to 2002.
Enhancing other existing partnerships and expanding its reach with new deals is Illinois' goal.
"That is an area where I do think we have a lot of room still to grow," Whitman said. "As our brand becomes more prominent, it becomes more valuable. People get better benefit from associating with us. You'll see us continue to try and grow our sponsorship portfolio in the years ahead."
Fundraising has also remained successful in the past year. The I Fund has topped $13 million for the second consecutive year, and at $13.2 million is barely behind last year's record $13.5 million.
"I think what's notable about that is last year's record was accomplished on the heels of the Illini ERA projects, which was the re-seating of both the football stadium and the basketball arena," Whitman said. "One of the reasons we do that is to precipitate more giving. Usually, you'll see that kind of spike and then settle, so it's really notable we're essentially going to be even year over year from the re-seating."
Fundraising also generated more than $150 million this past year. While last year's fundraising totals were driven mostly by Larry Gies' $100 million gift — that led to the re-naming of Gies Memorial Stadium — this year's total includes a notable, albeit anonymous, estate gift.
"It's really impressive the way (the donors) continue to step up," Whitman said. "Let's not kid ourselves. They're excited. There's a lot of enthusiasm our program right now. There's a lot of momentum. Things are feeling really good, and they want to be a part of it."
Continue reading...
