IMG Intercollegiate Forum: Facility Arms Race Has Not Abated

Maturi Claims TCF Bank Stadium Gave School An Extra $7M This Season

College administrators said yesterday at the SBJ/SBD IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum they believe the ongoing facility arms race has not abated and continues to level significant pressure on their institutions and individual jobs. "The arms race is hotter than ever, and I don't think it's cooling off," said Univ. of Arizona AD Jim Livengood. Univ. of Minnesota AD Joel Maturi added, "I love what I do, but I'm not having fun anymore. The job is so all encompassing now." The panel, exploring new avenues of revenue growth, did spotlight several key areas, including new forms of premium seating and secondary ticketing. Maturi said the Gophers' new TCF Bank Stadium this season yielded more than $7M in incremental revenue, largely through premium seating that was not available to the school when they played at the Metrodome, and another $1M in new revenue through a reworked deal with Learfield Sports. Aspire Group Principal Bernie Mullin said he is eager to see colleges get aggressive with "Jack Nicholson"-type courtside seating. "There's a real opportunity there to provide a unique experience with premium pricing."

CHANGE IT UP: The panel readily agreed that more functions of college sports administration, including ticketing and fundraising, will be outsourced to third-party outfits, providing both a professional level of management as well as a more stable flow of revenue. "For me, outsourcing certain things has worked well," Maturi said. "It hedges against an uncertain market." ISP Sports Chair & CEO Ben Sutton added, "There are plenty of people like me who are willing to take the risk." Streaming of mobile content, now being actively explored by many schools, conferences, and media outlets distributing college games, found substantial favor as a source of new revenue, both through the distribution of video and other content and a ticket delivery mechanism. "If you want a silver bullet, this is it," Mullin said, holding up his smartphone. Meanwhile, the concept of reseating facility seating bowls with a new, higher price structure, was also actively discussed, in concert with a need for a greater analytics now being actively used by professional teams. "Reseating is good, but it's a combustible issue," said Livengood. "It makes sense, but how do you do it without alienating much of your market. It's not a good time, but probably will be the answer for a lot of us (eventually)."