No Change Must = Lost Revenue

[bg1984]

Math has never been my strength, but I can add up the amount I spent last season for the privilege of watching Louis Orr guide this team to a 13-19 record.

2 Anderson Club Seats:

$500.00 to the Falcon Club (donated directly to the football program): $500.00
($250.00 is the minimum Talon level gift in order to be eligible for Anderson Club seats)

$260.00 X 2 for the seats: $520.

$25.00 X 17 average per night spent in The Anderson Club: $425.00

Total: $1,445.00

$722.50 per ticket

I do not know how many Anderson Club seats are sold nor do I know what the average seat holder donates to the Falcon Club for the right to purchase Club seats. I also don't know what the average Anderson Club ticket holder spends per night. But since I am at the low end of the Talon level gift giving I'm guessing my $722.50 per ticket would be on the low end.

Maybe someone on this board knows the Anderson Club numbers but would 200 be a good guess? If half left and the average spent on a ticket is more like $1,000 rather than my $722.50 then that alone would amount to $100,000 in lost revenue.

Even if the president has concerns about eating Orr's salary and having to explain that to the faculty, wouldn't the administration have taken the prospect of lost revenue into consideration given the disgruntled fan base this past season?

Please add some aspects of this that I am missing.

[hammb]

I think you're spot on.

And it's not just about LOST revenue either, but about non-realized potential revenue. Our attendance is horrid because of this s**t product on the court. If they actually made a commitment to winning the attendance would go up. It wouldn't have to go up that much to easily cover Orr's firing.

It is ridiculous that we're going to have to sit through another year of his pathetic display of coaching.

[bg1984]

Very true hammb! Just think how easy it would be to fill a 5,000 seat arena. As I watched the poor student turnout game in and game out I reflected back to my trips to Athens and how much fun it looked like for students to be a part of the "O Zone."

I went to the OU/BG game there earlier this month because my daughter is a freshman at OU. She had an awesome time and did also for the Akron game in spite of losing. Why? Because OU can be competitive and exciting. They have a head coach who actually interacts with the students. He and the players go to the locker room and slap hands with students who want to be a part of the action.

If we had a dynamic head coach I've thought of a number of ways that the athletic department could reach out to student organizations to encourage them to attend games. They could visit the fraternities and sororities and assign them home games in which they would be prominently featured. They could be recognized on the video board, and even be made honorary captains for the game. They could reach out to the residence halls and do the same. Each member of the organization who attends could receive a free t-shirt. I mean come on, we only need about 1,000 students to show up to make a huge difference in attendance and atmosphere.

But NONE of this is possible under the current leadership of Louis Orr. It's impossible to reach out to the student organizations to sell THIS product. Even kids today are smarter than that!

[factman]

It's real easy to fill the Stroh Center. Just ask Ottawa Glandorf and Lima Central Catholic who filled the house last night, and both are 45-60 minutes away from BG. People standing all the way around the arena, despite the complete "cluster" with parking and trying to buy tickets.

[Globetrotter]

It's real easy to fill the Stroh Center. Just ask Ottawa Glandorf and Lima Central Catholic who filled the house last night, and both are 45-60 minutes away from BG. People standing all the way around the arena, despite the complete "cluster" with parking and trying to buy tickets.

Why would they know how to sell a bunch of tickets and park a bunch of people. They have never had to.

[Falcon137]

I know everyone who has basketball season tickets loves BG and has their reasons to keep them. But man. 10+ years of complete mediocrity with no end in sight. You guys are hearty souls. I salute you.

[transfer2BGSU]

It's real easy to fill the Stroh Center. Just ask Ottawa Glandorf and Lima Central Catholic who filled the house last night, and both are 45-60 minutes away from BG. People standing all the way around the arena, despite the complete "cluster" with parking and trying to buy tickets.

THAT was a great game in the second half.

O-G played a great game the whole game, but LCC must have gotten ripped in the locker room at half-time.

[factman]

That LCC coach showed more emotion in an 8 minute quarter, than some college coaches do in a career!

[BGWriter]

It seems pretty clear the administration is giving in on this for all the wrong reasons, and I don't believe they are financial. I think this is more about how it LOOKS as opposed to actual dollars involved.

There is a certain elitist viewpoint that rules most college campuses and it generally doesn't look favorably on athletics as a rule. Given the faculty issues at BG, I think we're seeing a fear of how an Orr firing would be PERCEIVED by these faculty elites as opposed to any economic realities.

I doubt we'll ever hear anything concrete, but I have to believe this decision is going to end up costing the university tens of thousands of dollars in potential donations, Falcon Club memberships, tickets sold, concessions and related funding.

[MarkL]

Given the faculty issues at BG, I think we're seeing a fear of how an Orr firing would be PERCEIVED by these faculty elites as opposed to any economic realities.

Right on. I was actually about to post something incredibly similar to this.

[It's the Journey...]

It's amazing that those same "faculty elites" were good enough to teach us to our degrees but are now the enemy.

[PGY Tiercel]

It's amazing that those same "faculty elites" were good enough to teach us to our degrees but are now the enemy.

Didn't one of these faculty elites just make a very large donation to BG athletics too.... Regardless, faculty types are just mooches and liberal weenies who don't provide to society. I'm always confused when Universities put academic concerns ahead of athletic.

[hammb]

See the thing is I think any faculty that would oppose a buyout of Orr are doing so short-sightedly. I don't at ALL think buying out this coach is a negative revenue move. Quite the contrary. We are losing money on hoops left and right, getting rid of him to re-energize the fanbase and hopefully start winning is the only thing that can help temper those losses.

When you start talking about academics vs athletics you're doing so on a grand scale. I have no problem with that discussion. As much as I love BG sports, and it pretty much is my only remaining connection to the university, I can fully understand an argument to drop athletics. The student fees that go to subsidize athletics at the MAC level are insanely high, it's VERY rare that our teams make any sort of national headlines, and it's been shown over and over again that the university students/alumni/locals just don't support the teams that well. I could easily make a case for dropping sports as a whole, and while it would disappoint me as a fan, I would see why it makes fiscal sense for the university.

But that's not the argument we're having. BG has, to my knowledge, never entertained the idea of dropping from D1 status and giving up it's athletic department. In that vein if you're going to maintain athletics you should commit to excellence. Buying out Orr's contract would pay for itself by next year if you bring in the right coach. The endowments that have gone to the hoops program in recent years should easily be enough to not only buy out Orr, but also invest in a REAL coach. None of this $170k BS. Go out, spend half a mill and get a REAL coach. With our paltry attendance numbers it won't take long for a winning program to start making all that money back. We have a great arena that sits mostly empty because the product on the court is crap. Making an initial financial investment in the program now should draw huge returns down the line that, in the end, make the athletic department LESS of a drain on academics.

And again, I beg to know, why in god's name would you commit to a multi million dollar facility and not be willing to pay $170k to start winning!?

[orangeandbrown]

Excellent post, hammb.

[Falcon137]

If BG ever dropped to D2 or cut athletics, I doubt the university would ever see another penny from me. I think a lot of people share that sentiment.

As it is now the basketball program is ran like a D3 program. I have no interest in spending or giving a dime until the university treats it like a D1 program. Most crowds look like a D3 game, family, friends, some locals, and 150 students sitting there talking to friends, with a coach no one wants but no one is willing to get rid of. A program that looks like it has no interest in getting any better. FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!!!!