Coach John Calipari Impacting Business Of Memphis Basketball
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Memphis' Athletic Program Benefiting
Financially From Addition Of Calipari |
Univ. of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari's impact on the program's business is examined by FORBES' Monte Burke, who writes that when Calipari was hired in '00, one of his initial moves was persuading FedEx CEO Frederick Smith "to become a team benefactor." Calipari today is participating in a one-on-one interview at the SportsBusiness Daily/SportsBusiness Journal Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in N.Y. Calipari also asked Smith "to help set up a paid summer internship for the Memphis players," and since then, 25 players have participated in the program at FedEx, and one former UM player took a full-time job with the company. FedEx CFO Alan Graf Jr. "has pledged $500,000 of personal money to the athletic program," and Smith has become "one of Calipari's trusted advisers." Burke adds Calipari "speaks to booster groups 30 times a year," and donations to the UM athletic program have risen 120% to $5.6M this year. The athletics budget has jumped from $17M to $31M. UM sold 17,800 season tickets for the '07-08 season, "including 1,000 bought at a $500-a-plate barbecue cookout Calipari hosted" at his home in Memphis. UM basketball's revenue this season from ticket, ad and merchandise sales will total $4.7M. There are 20 billboards around Memphis promoting the basketball team, and all but $50,000 of the $2.5M cost of the ads was privately funded. Calipari's salary this season is $1.8M.
HE'S A MARKETER: Burke wrote that when Calipari was hired as coach at UMass in '88, one of his "first steps there was to recast the brand. When he arrived, the team's uniform spelled out the University of Massachusetts in a mess of letters," and Calipari shortened it to UMass. He opened an apparel store, Cal's Closet, to sell UMass-branded gear and "he would walk into a department store and order 20 UMass hats, to stir up demand. It worked. The university now goes by UMass" (FORBES, 12/10 issue).
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