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SPORTS
KANSAN.COM/SPORTS | MONDAY, NOV. 23, 2015
Despite unsustainable funding in collegiate athletic departments, Kansas Athletics appears able to withstand
JAMES HOYT/KANSAN
CHRISTIAN HARDY
@ByHardy
With TV deals, ticket sales, money from the NCAA and subsidies from the University, among other sources of revenue, Kansas Athletics drew in an average of $84 million per year in total income from 2010-14, according to The Huffington Post.
However, schools without large budgets often pour money they don't have toward athletics, as that money can loosely lead to more success. But athletic departments that receive a majority of their budget from university subsidies without success work at a deficit and hurt the university as a whole.
These models of college athletics — seen at Northern Colorado, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, or Kent State
— aren't sustainable, according to research published by University of Kansas assistant professor Jordan Bass.
But in the case of Kansas Athletics, which only drew 4 percent of its total income from University subsidies in 2010-14, the model seems sustainable.
"We have a really good relationship with the hill," said Jim
The Huffington Post found that Kansas Athletics is "mostly self-sustaining," just as all other athletic programs in the Big 12. For Kansas, the relationship between the academic and athletic aspects of the school seems to be in balance.
Marchiony, associate spectators at a Kansas football game on Oct. 31 received complementary flags featuring a block 'K."
istration has an excellent understanding of athletics and the role that athletics should play and the place in the University. We are not the most important thing that goes on at this University."
The first thing people often familiarize a university with is a mascot or an athletic team rather than the academic successes, according to Bass's research. In that aspect, no athletic department in the country is different than Kansas: Branding is a gargantuan task, which, in turn, affects the entire university.
However, with the national exposure from TV and other media in the Power 5 conferences, branding is made a bit easier — Kansas can thank its standing in the Big 12 for that. That branding, in turn, draws eyes to the University of Kansas as a whole.
"Athletics opens the door. Without those big-time athletic programs, we probably wouldn't be part of the conversation."
"A small Division II school, or NAIA school, or Division III, your first reaction when you go across the country is, 'Who is that? Where is that?' said Matt Melvin, vice provost of enrollment management at the University. "When you're from KU and you're in California, people don't have that — they have some knowledge of KU. We're on the radar."
The problem for Kansas and other Big 12 schools is the gap between the funding of athletic programs in the conference.
"What [students] tend to land on is this sense of
Where Texas pulled in $161 million in total revenue in 2014 with no university subsidy, Iowa State brought in only $68.2 million — less than onehalf the total of Texas — including a nearly $2 million subsidy, according to USA Today.
community Those rituals and traditions, which largely pivot around athletic programs, build that sense of community and that spirit that is very difficult for other institutions to mimic."
MATT MELVIN Vice Provost, Enrollment Management
Kansas fell in the middle — fourth of the available eight teams in the Big 12 — with $97.7 million.
Just like pro sports, Marchiony said, it comes down to the decisions made, recruiting, coaches brought in, and how the team performs on the field — among other things — in building a winning program, rather than the money the program might have.
"Fortunately, the standings aren't made up by how much revenue a school brings in", Marchiony said.
Claire Schaeperkoetter, who co-authored Bass's study, said she saw it a bit differently but came to the same realization: It's not all about the amount of money pouring into programs. "It's definitely not an X-Y equation where whoever puts in the most money is going to win the most championships," Schaeperkoetter said. "Everyone wants to be the best. Everyone wants to bring in the most money. Everybody wants to win the most championships. By virtue, there can only be one best or one athletics department that brings in the most money."
That competition has created a space where some schools pull attention and funding away from academics and push it to athletics for a small chance to compete with better funded teams.
Bass gave the example of Rutgers, which could have hired 256 assistant professors or 132 full professors with the university's subsidy that it gave to athletics in 2010.
The report also cited the rise in compensation for college coaches, which is up 750 percent since 1984, while professors' compensation has jumped 32 percent.
In general, money pushed to athletics has dramatically increased, according to the study. However, the University of Kansas' subsidy for athletics has dropped in recent years, mostly as a result of the per-se
mester, per-student athletic fee dropping from $25 to $7. Even before the drop, which was voted in by Student Senate in 2013 Kansas fell in the middle of the Big 12 in percent of revenue brought in through university subsidies.
Though numbers from TCU and Baylor were not available because of their private status, Kansas ranked third of the eight teams in the current Big 12 in the percent of its budget that came from the university's subsidies, according to The Huffington Post.
Of 230 teams researched by USA Today, Kansas subsidy for athletics — by percent of total budget — is the 17th lowest.
Kansas fell behind only Oklahoma and Texas in the big 12, which do not pull in a subsidy from their respective universities and are self-sustaining.
It's not the same for schools outside the Power 5 conference, which can eat up millions of dollars from students every year and still fail to compete. At Norfolk State, a university in Virginia, the yearly student athletic fee of $1,468 accounts for 17.5 percent of the total in-state tuition of $4,183 per semester.
In 2014, Norfolk State pulled in $9.6 million in athletic fees, and 79.22 percent of its athletic revenue was from university subsidy. Kansas Athletics receives over $1 million per year with the reduced student fee.
"At some operations [the student fee] is huge. It keeps the
operation going," Marchiony said. "It helps, but that is certainly not the case here.
"I do think it's valuable for the students here to realize that they are paying a very minimal expense to athletics at the University compared to what students at many, many other universities pay."
Though the study comes to the conclusion that current funding of college athletics is not a sustainable model, Kansas' model seems to be one that works.
Millions of dollars are in the hands of Kansas Athletics, but the department serves a purpose that students pay $7 a semester for. The athletics, in turn, are able to increase the university brand equity and interest and enroll students. It's all part of building the brand, Marchiony said.
"What [students] tend to land on is this sense of community," Melvin said. "Those rituals and traditions, which largely pivot around athletic programs, build that sense of community and that spirit that is very difficult for other institutions to mimic.
"There's a tendency for students to want to be a part of that; they want to be part of something that allows them to have that kind of connection at a much more grand scale than what they could do individually."
-Edited by Derek Skillett
Turnovers doom KU football in 49-0 loss to West Virginia
HANNAH BETTIS/KANSAN
HANNAH BETTIS/KANSAN Junior receiver Tre' Parmalee fumbles the ball on Saturday, Nov. 21
BRIAN MINI
@daftpunkpop
During Saturday's 49-0 loss to the West Virginia Mountainees at Memorial Stadium, the Jayhawks were doomed by a slew of bad mistakes
After forcing a three-and-out on defense, the Jayhawks had some early life. Seeking their first Big 12 win of the season — and first win overall on the year — the Jayhawks looked to build some momentum against the Mountaineers.
However, the team immediately turned the ball over on offense. After a great pass from freshman quarterback Ryan Willis to senior wide receiver Tre' Parmalee for 23 yards, the Mountaineers forced Parmalee to fumble. West Virginia scored five plays later. On the ensuing drive, Willis threw a pick-six on his first pass, giving West Virginia an early 14-0 lead.
With 13:21 left in the game, Willis threw his second interception of the game on a deep pass into the end zone. That interception gave Willis his ninth interception of the year.
"The ball was underthrown and it was picked off" said
Turnovers aren't new for the Jayhawks. In every game, except for week two against Memphis, Kansas turned the ball over at least once. Against West Virginia, the Jayhawks managed to do it twice in the first quarter.
“[There were lots] of self-inflicted wounds there,” Beaty said. “That's coaching; that's on us.”
Late in the game, when junior T.J. Millweard entered for Willis, Kansas put together a nice drive. Even with the game out of reach, the Jayhawks still desperately wanted to avoid a scoreless performance for the first time this year. It seemed like they'd be able to avoid that until Millweard threw an interception in the end zone. This was Kansas' second game of the season with four turn-overs.
Considering turnovers play a big part in winning games,it's not really a surprise the Jayhawks have lost many of the games that they have.
Kansas coach David Beaty. "Accuracy [on those throws] is very important."
On the flip side of all that, with less than a minute left in the first quarter, West Virginia junior quarterback Skvler
Sophomore cornerback Derrick Neal also added an interception for Kansas. This was Kansas' fourth game in a row forcing a turnover on defense.
["Neal] was able to break up that pass in the end zone," Beaty said. "That was a nice instinctual play by him."
In the opening home loss to South Dakota State, Kansas turned the ball over twice. Kansas ended up losing by three in a game full of mistakes.
Most of the turnovers ended up being relatively harmless, because Kansas was in danger of losing the game after a disastrous first quarter. In some cases, however, they ended up dooming th' 'ayhawks.
Kansas' home loss against Texas Tech was a perfect example of turnovers ultimately making the difference between a win and loss. Down three
Howard threw a jump ball, which Kansas safety Michael Glatczak intercepted. After the game, Glatczak noted the interception was not only crucial, but necessary after an offensive mistake.
"When the offense has a turnover, we just [have to] be firemen and put out that fire," Glatczak said.
in the fourth quarter, Willis threw a pick-six and later fumbled to spoil any chance of what would have been an impressive home win.
Kansas is in some pretty good company with its turnover issues. Louisville (6-4) and Cincinnati (6-5) have lost more turnovers on the season than Kansas, and would most likely have better records if that weren't the case, although in defense of Kansas among those teams, two of the top-10 Division I teams in takeaways are in the Big 12. Kansas has played both of them: Oklahoma State and West Virginia.
While the layhawks might be last in the Big 12 record-wise, they can take solace in the fact that they aren't last in turnovers forced. That spot belongs to instate rival Kansas State. Kansas State has eight take-aways through nine games.
Regardless, the Jayhawks need to improve on both sides of the bull in terms of turnovers. And if they want to pick up their first win of the season in the season finale, that needs to happen sooner rather than later.
— Edited by Derek Skillett
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