Caleb Troop

No doubt about it—the wins piled up for Bobcat Athletics during 2009-10.  We know about the success on the court and gridiron, sure, but has that translated to success outside the lines?

Simply put, what do these NCAA Tournament upsets or bowl appearances mean to an athletic department that, according to a January article in The Post, runs a nearly $20 million budget?

Enter Associate Athletics Director for External Operations, Dan Hauser, who is trying to crunch the numbers to answer exactly those questions.  Problem is, it’s hard to put a finite number on just what good football and men’s basketball seasons can do for a department as a whole.

“You can’t just go in and find out the total,” said Hauser.  “We’re in the process of trying to put our arms around that.”

Some financial gains are easy to forecast.  In men’s basketball, the Mid-American Conference will get $2.4 million paid out annually for the next six years from the NCAA thanks to Ohio’s berth and upset win in this year’s hoops tournament.  That’ll mean about $400,000 to the MAC every year split evenly amongst its 12 basketball institutions.  In short, Ohio and all other 11 teams in the MAC will get about $33,333 annually for the next six years purely from the Bobcats’ success.

That number is easy to calculate, but the rest?  Not so much.

The most eye-popping data right now centers on the spike in visitors to the department’s website, OhioBobcats.com.  According to information gathered from host CBS Sports, the site saw a 109% increase in month-over-month unique visitors and a 77% increase in unique page views last March when John Groce was leading Ohio to a first round upset of Georgetown.  Subpages for the men’s basketball home page, roster, schedule, and NCAA Tournament Central accounted for four of the top six most-visited sites on OhioBobcats.com.

“Those types of numbers enable you to make more money,” said Hauser.  “So the ramifications of the NCAA tournament sometimes aren’t realized right away.  Some of those can be a giant increase in the web hits which helps you make your rate card on there potentially have a chance to go up.”

Hauser said the website, which sells advertising based on a revenue sharing deal with both CBS Sports and ISP Sports, has been and continues to be profitable.  But that’s just one area impacted by a great year between the lines.

Ohio Director of Athletics Jim Schaus travels the country talking to members of the university’s 200,000-plus living alumni, which surely have been much more enjoyable plane rides to visit possible donors after a fantastic 09-10 campaign.  The alums with deep pockets love wins, and Schaus said that’s starting to show.

“I think our fundraising numbers are up,” said Schaus.  “The fact that our annual giving is going to be up this year in an economy that is very difficult, I would say that is a very positive factor.”

GAINS FROM GREEN AND WHITE GEAR?

It’s not a question of whether Ohio will benefit financially in the merchandise department, it’s just how much.  That number appears to be a mystery right now.

Even when Ohio is barely mentioned on T-shirts like these, the NCAA tournament appearance pays dividends.  Furthermore, royalty fees pay out at 10 percent for Ohio gear sold at outlets like College Bookstore or Universitees, for example.  But these merchandise sales based on the 09-10 success don’t necessarily have an end point, making the benefit hard to calculate.

“There could be sales beyond the end of (a certain fiscal) quarter because (College Bookstore) is going to continue to sell that shirt all summer long, into the fall, next basketball season.—they’re going to sell it until it sells out,” Hauser said.

So if a fan comes to the Convo and buys a MAC Champions T-shirt before an early December game next winter, the revenue from that shirt means just as much as the shirt bought a day after the ‘Cats’ win over Akron in Cleveland.  The timeline in revenue-making is continuous.

One licensing area where Ohio will not benefit is in its contract with Russell.  Not even halfway through its 10-year agreement with the apparel company, the Bobcats won’t be getting a hefty raise anytime soon.

”The impact of winning can result in a greater deal in that, but the timing’s got to match up,” Hauser said.

The key financial gain with an apparel contract can come if a department has long term success or has a fantastic year like Ohio had one or two years away from the end of the current contract.

Hauser points out most apparel deals are long—five year minimums at most schools—so companies like Russell can implement apparel into the marketplace.  The same can be said with radio and television contracts.  The larger the investment for Nike, ISP, Russell, and others, the longer the deal.

PACKING PEDEN

Ohio may not be able to calculate revenue produced by merchandise, but ticket sales are often related to wins.  With high expectations for Ohio football in 2010 paired with six home games before November when the students are still on campus and, well, Schaus is hoping for good ticket sales.

“We’ll see this year if we see a bump in that,” said Schaus.  But even he admits there are a lot of factors other than last season’s success that play a role in whether a fan decides to either buy season tickets or upgrade current seats.  Things like the opponents on the schedule and the economy as a whole play a large role, too.

While it’s way too early to begin to calculate ticket sales for men’s basketball in 2010-11, Hauser is expecting most current season ticket owners to return to Peden Stadium this fall for football.

“Our target is a 92, 93 percent renewal rate.  That’s what we are shooting for,” Hauser said.

Right now the football program has nearly 5,000 season ticket holders, and Hauser notes the renewal percentages for those fans hits about 80 to 85 percent annually.  But the 90-plus percent renewal rate for 2010 is realistic, he says.

“We’re not going to accomplish (huge sales increases) in one year or a magic trick, but success breeds that.  Maybe 5,000 turns into 7,000 and 7,000 turns into 9,000.  Every time you start pulling that up, the challenge of single game revenues diminishes,” Hauser said.

“The chances of rain (at one home game) ruining a great huge chunk of your revenue becomes a non-factor.”

While he says sales are doing well, Hauser could not get into specifics with season ticket numbers for this fall yet because he says a lot of fans buy tickets 30 or 60 days in advance.  But one formula is simple.  The more season tickets they sell, the better off they will be.

“You don’t have to advertise your games. Your expenses are lower.”

THE BALL STATE EFFECT

More jerseys flying off the racks, more bodies flipping through turnstiles—it’s all great for that next season, but it won’t mean nearly as much if Ohio football and/or men’s basketball fall flat next season.

It’s the ‘Ball State Effect.’  The Cardinals followed a 12-2 football season in 2008 with an abysmal 2-10 campaign last fall.

“I’ll bet you their season ticket sales were up at the beginning of last season, but you have to sustain it,” Schaus said. “For some people to want to jump on board (and buy tickets), they want to make sure it’s safe.  They want to make sure it’s stable.”

Schaus will be the first in the department to point out winning increases exposure–between hoops and football Ohio had eight national TV appearances this year—which results in an improved Ohio University and Bobcat Nation brand.

But consistency is key.

“It’s all headed in the right direction.  Now, how dramatic is that?  I think we will see some noticeable benefit, but it’s going to take some time,” Schaus said.  “Our ability to string together multiple good seasons in our higher profile revenue producing sports, I think in the long run that will position us to have a more visible impact financially.”

Filed under: 2010 Bobcat Blog, June '10 Notes, Ohio Football Notes, Ohio Men's Basketball Notes |