Revenue and spending for the Illinois athletics department both "rank in the bottom half of the Big Ten," and school AD Josh Whitman intends to be "aggressive" in marketing in Chicago as one way to help the school's bottom line, according to Marcus Jackson of the Champaign NEWS-GAZETTE. Whitman: "It's a city and a community that's waiting for something to support. And Chicago does present an interesting dynamic." Jackson notes UI generated $91.6M in revenue for FY '16 while spending $97.8M. The 14 Big Ten schools generated an average of $113M while spending $109M. But Whitman during a Monday presentation to the university's Senate Exec Committee said the school's answer to increase revenue "cannot be to outspend Ohio State or outspend Michigan." Whitman: "When they have a problem, candidly they are able to throw money at it in a way that we can't. What we have to do is be better. We have to hire better people, we have to come up with a better plan and execute that plan in a better way than they do." Whitman said UI's "biggest source of untapped revenue" is the 20,000 "empty seats in our football stadium and 5,000 empty seats in the basketball arena and that represents ticket revenue, concessions, parking, private donations, merchandise." He added there is probably $10-15M in revenue per year UI is "leaving on the table by not having the success that we need in those two priority sports." Whitman: "If we're able to build strong programs, see the financial piece fall in place and that will ultimately allow us to reinvest, not only in our own program, but more directly in the university as well" (Champaign NEWS-GAZETTE, 4/25).
WILDCAT FORMATION: In Chicago, Teddy Greenstein notes Northwestern AD Jim Phillips yesterday from the Under Armour Brand House in downtown Chicago "announced lengthy extensions" for football coach Pat Fitzgerald and men's basketball coach Chris Collins. Phillips said of the Evanston-based school, "This place has changed. ... We have one of the top 10 institutions in the country. We're outside one of the great cities in the world. We're in one of the premier conferences. We work with world-class student-athletes. We've had an investment of over $400 million in facilities." Fitzgerald is signed "for 10 more years" at a salary between $3.5-4M. Collins' salary doubled to north of $3M that is "believed to rank among the top 15 in college basketball" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/26).
