$92 mil athletic budget this year...

[engie]

Per Scott Stricklin on This is Our Show. Great interview as always. Also talked a little about the impending Hump renovation and further work at DWS which seems to be a good bit further along than I realized(firms hired). Said new video board and utility adjustments for the new Dudy Noble are about to begin immediately.

Given our fiscally conservative approach under Stricklin showing a couple mil surplus every year, we should be knocking on the door to $100 mil income entering the 3rd year of the new structure. Would love for us to start reporting this real number instead of throwing out the head scratching $68 mil or whatever we showed this year, which in my opinion negatively affects outside perception.

 

[dawgstudent]

Thanks for listening.

 

[Shamoan]

is this further work including a total overhaul to the locker room? that is our one area of disappointment as far as facilities imo.

 

[BiscuitEater]

No matter how you compare budgets .. as long as the comparisons are for the same expenses, MSU is STILL dead last in the SEC. Yes, with the addition of SECN $$ we have improved but relatively speaking, we are in the same place as before.

The 'real numbers' are going to be hard pin down and depend on what is included. OM, for example, usually shows a 'balanced' budget with no profit. MSU, along with Bama, GA & LSU, have shown profits over the last couple of years.

MSU, more than any other SEC school, seems to get more for less. See this WSJ article .. No. 1 Mississippi State: Proof That Money Isn’t Everything .. here.

 

[patdog]

We will always be at or near the bottom in SEC revenue. Small, poor state with 2 SEC schools = at or near the bottom. But we're in a lot better shape competitively with a $90M budget when the major powers have $180M (just throwing a number out there), than we were with a $6M budget when they had $30M.

 

[Xenomorph]

Are you shocked that the rising tide lifted all the boats?

 

[121Josey]

Are you shocked that the rising tide lifted all the boats?

I see what you did there.

 

[esplanade91]

No matter how you compare budgets .. as long as the comparisons are for the same expenses, MSU is STILL dead last in the SEC. Yes, with the addition of SECN $$ we have improved but relatively speaking, we are in the same place as before.

The 'real numbers' are going to be hard pin down and depend on what is included. OM, for example, usually shows a 'balanced' budget with no profit. MSU, along with Bama, GA & LSU, have shown profits over the last couple of years.

MSU, more than any other SEC school, seems to get more for less. See this WSJ article .. No. 1 Mississippi State: Proof That Money Isn’t Everything .. here.

However you want to show it on the books, MSU and OM are both "not profiting" off athletics (rolling my eyes at the notion of not-profiting). We have to spend what we make, being an NCAA school. The facilities are great and I'm not complaining, we desperately needed them, but the other side of the story of why there's an arms race for facilities nationwide is it's the easiest way to spend the money athletic departments are left with at the end of each fiscal year.

Once we catch up from the 1980's with our facilities hopefully we can launder some of that money to assistant coaches. Maybe even steal some marketing people from Clemson (industry standard) instead of hiring people from within who grew up in Mississippi, received degrees from Mississippi State, and have never worked anywhere other than Mississippi State.

 

[engie]

It's still a self-oiling machine. The more we have -- the more people we attract and the more we have the ability to make. It's a momentum machine, not unlike how finances tend to work in the real world.

Having this is allowing us to have better coaches and facilities -- attracting more fans -- raising prices -- building better facilities -- attracting more students, etc...

We are among the 65 most attractive situations by default. Instead of being #60-65 like we have been for most of our existence -- this new money has made us #30-#35. There is a lot of potential to make more IMO. Especially in Davis Wade and Dudy Noble.

 

[spbdawg]

is this further work including a total overhaul to the locker room? that is our one area of disappointment as far as facilities imo.

I don't think DWS locker room facilities are a big deal. The football team spends 10ish days per year there. Meanwhile the team spends 330 days per year at the Seal Center.....that's where we should continue to spend money.

 

[spbdawg]

No matter how you compare budgets .. as long as the comparisons are for the same expenses, MSU is STILL dead last in the SEC. Yes, with the addition of SECN $$ we have improved but relatively speaking, we are in the same place as before.

The 'real numbers' are going to be hard pin down and depend on what is included. OM, for example, usually shows a 'balanced' budget with no profit. MSU, along with Bama, GA & LSU, have shown profits over the last couple of years.

MSU, more than any other SEC school, seems to get more for less. See this WSJ article .. No. 1 Mississippi State: Proof That Money Isn’t Everything .. here.

I believe the "utility gap" between us and everyone else is closing though.....it's not really not about the overall amount of revenue (though that certainly helps). At certain point how much more utility can $5B per year buy compared to $1B per year? You could probably buy everything you need with the first $1B and everything you buy with the remaining $4B is unnecessary (think gilded toilets in the football operations facilities -- doesn't really add any significant value)

 

[HD6]

Interesting that Clemson's marketing is the industry standard when Mississippi State's marketing department just won the award as the department of the year.

http://www.hailstate.com/news/2016/...g-team-of-the-year-by-nacma.aspx?path=general

The top two people in that department are Scott Weatherbee (Ball State '97) and Leah Beasley (Louisiana Tech '05). From what I can tell, only Rhett Hobart meets your criteria of "people from within who grew up in Mississippi, received degrees from Mississippi State, and have never worked anywhere other than Mississippi State" in the people listed in the Marketing Department.

 

[00Dawg]

Excellent.

Always love to be wrong when it's good news for State. We need to trumpet this at every opportunity.

The numbers we publicly reported for fiscal 2015 were $75 million revenue, $69.5 expenses. This new level will hopefully get us into the top 30 nationally.

 

[engie]

I thought I had remembered reading this but wasn't sure...

People in the profession seem to think we've done a tremendous job of marketing. There is more to be done, certainly, as there always is. Then again -- I've only ventured into the sales arena in the recent past -- and I'd imagine if someone examined my little niche they would find my marketing to be by far my weakest trait, while the products at the price points sell themselves. Basically, I don't know jack about marketing.

We've got to continue to do a better job of selling MSU to out-of-staters. As is, I'm pretty sure we're a good bit behind Keenum's stated attendance growth goals, and that's mostly attributable to failure to see the projected influx in that sector IMO...

 

[engie]

is this further work including a total overhaul to the locker room? that is our one area of disappointment as far as facilities imo.

Pretty sure we are planning on redoing the Seal Center altogether at the most reasonable price point we can since it's days are numbered overall...

 

[Xenomorph]

After the bulldozers finish Dorman they need to trek north about 100 yards.

 

[57stratdawg]

+1. I spent some time in the Seal Center last year and came away rather unimpressed.

 

[57stratdawg]

I hope this begins putting pressure on the city of Starkville. If I were given a magic pen to make changes with MSU/Starkville, I believe the majority of my edits would fall on the city.

It's time, IMO, for the leaders of Starkville to feel the pressure the leaders of MSU felt 10 years ago. We're making some progress. The idea that Russell St and the Cotton District could centralize events and entertainment are very encouraging.

 

[futaba.79]

not sure we want to tear down...........

a building that honors the patriarch of the Seal family.........unless the current Seals give their blessing.

 

[spbdawg]

+1. I spent some time in the Seal Center last year and came away rather unimpressed.

Which Seal Center are we talking about? The Leo Seal M-Club in the south endzone or Seal Complex north of the Palmeiro facility?

 

[Xenomorph]

Putting the name on whatever will be built in it's place would suredly make amends.

 

[Shamoan]

problem is we have a brand new practice facility. not sure why we would need to pour millions of dollars or even a penny into a facility that is brand new. our locker room looks bad and isnt on par with the rest of the facilities. from a facilities portfolio perspective, it is our weakest area and a very prominent one at that. keep in mind, the championship games for high school alternate between dws and vhs and that is the first impression to a lot of high school teams who are using that locker room and facility.

 

[Shamoan]

which would be smart assuming we dont have to spend many more seasons without a significant upgrade.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Yeah, I will say though that there are Oxonians who have wondered if too much has been done too fast to Oxford so that it's become too handle. At least, that's my interpretation...

 

[57stratdawg]

My comment was about the one in the end zone.

 

[futaba.79]

state is at absolute capacity............

there is no way another 1000 could be crammed onto campus.

 

[KurtRambis4]

I woud assume he's

speaking about the one in the south endzone. That thing is in some major need of updating. Hell, it was 15 years ago. It's just a very Larry Templeton-esque type building, to me.

 

[CookieMonster.sixpack]

Not putting words in his mouth but

Interesting that Clemson's marketing is the industry standard when Mississippi State's marketing department just won the award as the department of the year.

http://www.hailstate.com/news/2016/...g-team-of-the-year-by-nacma.aspx?path=general

The top two people in that department are Scott Weatherbee (Ball State '97) and Leah Beasley (Louisiana Tech '05). From what I can tell, only Rhett Hobart meets your criteria of "people from within who grew up in Mississippi, received degrees from Mississippi State, and have never worked anywhere other than Mississippi State" in the people listed in the Marketing Department.

he's probably referencing Clemson's social media team which is getting more attention all the time. They've got some talented folks working on their vine, twitter, instagram, etc.

 

[57stratdawg]

I've been led to believe the same. I'm pretty sure Keenum has said that MSU's enrollment growth curve is expected to flatten in the next couple of years too.

Which brings me me back to Starkville. The growth I see around town seems typically confined to student housing. Think about every new freshman class requires a new building on or off campus to accommodate the extra 500-1,000 students.

I'm afraid one day we're going to look back at this decade and say:

MSU's athletic department added $60MM in revenue, student enrollment increased 33%, and Starkville built some houses for them and downtown died.

 

[engie]

If you consider State to be at capacity, I doubt you've ever spent a day or two on campus in Oxford the last 15 years...

keenum's stated goal was something like 22k by 2015. The main way we close the gap with the haves is by catching their enrollment over time.

eta: http://www.msstate.edu/newsroom/article/2010/09/msu-enrollment-rise-six-consecutive-years/

 

[Shamoan]

sooner or later, enrollment will be at 30 K. when is the question. as populations grow, so too do the college aged bodies assuming a consistent modest growth rate. here is our growth map per the census bureau:

we are just at 3,000,000 in 2016 and we are the slowest growing state in the south. with that said, growth is inevitable as people live longer, live healthier lives, and economic opportunities slowly creep back into the state. Since the 1960, our meager population has risen from just under 2.2 million to a current estimated total of 2.99 million. at some point, msu will have an 80,000 seat stadium and enrollment will be near 30,000. it is inevitable and will undoubtedly grow bigger from there minus the unforeseen zombie apocalypse.

for a comparable university we are about 40 years behind auburn's rate. As late as 1979, their stadium seated 61,261. auburn's enrollment then was 18,105. it currently sits at just over 27,000 with a stadium that holds 87,500. growth and expansion are inevitable.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

One problem here... # of MS HS graduates is decreasing

sooner or later, enrollment will be at 30 K. when is the question. as populations grow, so too do the college aged bodies assuming a consistent modest growth rate. here is our growth map per the census bureau:

we are just at 3,000,000 in 2016 and we are the slowest growing state in the south. with that said, growth is inevitable as people live longer, live healthier lives, and economic opportunities slowly creep back into the state. Since the 1960, our meager population has risen from just under 2.2 million to a current estimated total of 2.99 million. at some point, msu will have an 80,000 seat stadium and enrollment will be near 30,000. it is inevitable and will undoubtedly grow bigger from there minus the unforeseen zombie apocalypse.

for a comparable university we are about 40 years behind auburn's rate. As late as 1979, their stadium seated 61,261. auburn's enrollment then was 18,105. it currently sits at just over 27,000 with a stadium that holds 87,500. growth and expansion are inevitable.

This is why you have seen us step up recruiting for out of state students. The number of HS grads in MS is projected to flatten or even decline over the next few years. On top of that, the ones that do graduate, very few are college ready.

 

[Shamoan]

this article from the clarion ledger and another from the dept of education says that high school graduation rates were at a 4% increase from 74% to 78%....

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/26/mississippi-graduation-rate-improves/83545948/

http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/TD/news/20...e-improves-significantly-dropout-rate-shrinks

if the graduate numbers are decreasing but the dropout rate is decreasing as well, what is going on?

 

[Duke Humphrey]

Less people

this article from the clarion ledger and another from the dept of education says that high school graduation rates were at a 4% increase from 74% to 78%....

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/04/26/mississippi-graduation-rate-improves/83545948/

http://www.mde.k12.ms.us/TD/news/20...e-improves-significantly-dropout-rate-shrinks

if the graduate numbers are decreasing but the dropout rate is decreasing as well, what is going on?

Our overall population growth is flat, and numbers of HS age kids are slightly decreasing.

 

[57stratdawg]

My understanding is the plan was to increase MSU's enrollment up to its currently level. I really don't think you're going to see MSU grow much more unless there is a change in direction regardless of population.

 

[lanceharbor7]

Interesting that Clemson's marketing is the industry standard when Mississippi State's marketing department just won the award as the department of the year.

http://www.hailstate.com/news/2016/...g-team-of-the-year-by-nacma.aspx?path=general

The top two people in that department are Scott Weatherbee (Ball State '97) and Leah Beasley (Louisiana Tech '05). From what I can tell, only Rhett Hobart meets your criteria of "people from within who grew up in Mississippi, received degrees from Mississippi State, and have never worked anywhere other than Mississippi State" in the people listed in the Marketing Department.

Joe Galbreath, who was at MSU, is now in Clemson's Sports info Department.

I recently heard the director of IPTAY, Clemson's athletic fundraising arm (think Bulldog Cllub), point out that ACC schools are behind the 8 ball compared to SEC and Big 12 schools because of the lack of a network. Pointed out the lack of an extra 20mm in funding in comparison.

Then he talked about the new Clemson Football facility, which is absolutely ridiculous.

https://spark.adobe.com/page/b8HAd/

Check out the virtual tour.