UltimateSportsInsider.com moving to Peoria

The home office for UltimateSportsInsider.com is moving to Peoria, Illinois as of January 1, 2010.  The reason for the move is that I have been named Bradley University's Director of Athletics. 

There is an incredible amount of closure that needs to happen at Princeton and even more preparation that needs to happen before my arrival in Peoria.  Because of this, the frequency of my posting will decrease in the near future as I transition between the institutions. 

I appreciate your readership and patience during the transition and look forward to continuing to provide updates when possible.  I encourage you to become a subscriber to the site (using the easy sign up box near the top of www.ultimatesportsinsider.com) so that we can continue to discuss the national issues related to intercollegiate athletics.

Hofstra University Dropping Football

Hofstra University has just announced the decision to drop football.  The decision was made after a unanimous vote by the Hofstra Board of Trustees.  The program had been in existence since 1937. 

The following link provides more information about the decision.

ESPN also has coverage of the decision.

The savings will be allocated to academic initatives and need based financial aid. 

One year anniversary and a Happy Thanksgiving

The vagaries of the calendar created an alignment of Thanksgiving Day with a slightly less important event, the one year anniversary of http://www.ultimatesportsinsider.com/.  One year ago, I wrote my first blog entry "College rankings and the athletic solution".  I'm sure it stands as one of my least read postings.  Each day after it was written, I would check my Google Analytics to see if I had achieved ESPN-like readership.  I was part of the global conversation and of course Google would have thousands of people reading my postings in short order.  Reality check - it took nearly 45 days, and another 9 postings to reach double digit readership for a single day.  Needless to say, growth was slow. 

In the last 365 days, an additional 113 postings have focused on a variety of topics with the economic environment and athletic budgets serving as the primary issue by a wide margin.  My favorite topic is the RPI.  And the posting that I most enjoyed writing also received the most attention - Sports Leadership by the Stadium Lights.  The result has been steady growth.

Today, USI (some friends like to refer to the blog this way, but the domain name is already owned by a phone company) has achieved a level of readership that I would have laughed at had someone suggested it during the paltry numbers of USI's early days.  The most recent statistics include:

• 27,232 visitors (includes individuals who return to the site more than once);
• 14,984 unique visitors (counts each individual person once, regardless of how many times they visit);
• 820 visitors in a single day (October 7, 2009); and
  
• Readers in 84 countries (United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, India, Belgium, Brazil, Netherlands, and Philippines are the top ten countries). 
  

So on this Thanksgiving evening, after the turkey is gone and everyone has gone to bed, I thank you for your readership, critical comments, article suggestions, and notes of support.  While ESPN.com still surpasses my readership by a wide margin, I believe USI is filling a niche.  I thank you for the opportunity to learn so much about college athletics through the countless connections that we have developed in the last 12 months through http://www.ultimatesportsinsider.com/.  I hope you've received some value along the way and I look forward to the next 12 months.

Northeastern Dropping Football

Northeastern University Director of Athletics Peter Roby announced that the football program will be discontinued, effective immediately.  The press release announcing the move stated, "The decision is consistent with the university’s strategic approach to prioritize programs and invest in signature strengths."

Northeastern was averaging fewer than 1600 fans per game and the program needed major infrastructure investments in order to maintain competitiveness.

Athletic Budget Update #55

New Orleans Chancellor Timothy P. Ryan indicated the University is evaluating the possibility of the moving from Division I to Division III due to their dire institutional and athletic budget situation. 

Boise State has announced that they are selling shares of stock that provide ownership in Boise State Athletics, Inc.  The non-profit corporation will allow shareholders to vote for board members and provides an influx of financial support similar to what the Green Bay Packers experienced in the 1997 when they went public.  Shares are $100 each and 1,200 have already been sold.

Boise State's football team is also seeking a home and home series to fill out its schedule, but having little success finding a game.  They are also willing to accept $900,000 to $1 million to play a guarantee game.   

The Chair of New Mexico's Student Fee Review Board intends to reconsider the $1.5 million the athletic program receives in light of a number of recent high profile incidents surrounding the program. 

Stanford's continuing budget situation has reached the stage where there is dialogue about the possibility of cutting sports on The Farm, although it is still considered a last resort.

California Chancellor Robert Birgeneau indicated that he will be working to develop a plan that removes all institutional support for athletics.  

USA Today has done an in depth series of articles about the salaries of college football coaches.  A database of the salaries was developed as well as a number of articles.   Inside Higher Education has also looked at the issue.

Alaska Anchorage's attempt to increase their student fee was rejected by the student government in a 10-1 vote.   

Media guides have yet another twist.  Jayda Evans who writes the women's hoops blog for the Seattle Times posted a fascinating article about Florida State women's basketball in which "Players are depicted in silky, metallic-colored, sleeveless dresses either stepping out of a limo or leaning beside one in artistic glam shots."  It's an article that is sure to spark discussion about the depiction and approach.  The Florida State site can be accessed here.

Athletic Budget Update #54

The pressure on Cal's athletic department continues to mount following a faculty resolution calling for the end to subsidies for the athletic program.  Athletic Director Sandy Barbour was strong in her defense of the program stating, "I object vehemently to the notion that athletics is not part of the educational mission." 

Elsewhere in California, Cal Fullerton balanced its budget in part by mandating that gymnastics and wrestling fund a large portion of their budgets through donations.  Gymnastics needed to raise $90,000 in just a few months to keep the program afloat. As the state budget situation worsens, there is concern that the programs may not last beyond this year.  Wrestling will need to raise $200,000 in order to save their program.

Meanwhile a faculty member at Louisville is taking a page out of the Cal faculty's playbook and doing his own research about athletic subsidies at his institution, finding various payments to athletics in the previous few years. 

Central Florida allowed Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, to wear Nike sneakers, instead of adidas.  As a result, adidas will not renew the deal with UCF.  It will be interesting to see if Jordan rewards the Golden Knights with a Nike sponsorship.

Cal Poly has cut three staff positions, including one fund raiser, to help close their budget gap.  They have also eliminated printed media guides and may look to reduce scholarship allocations.  
 
The Detroit News has a detailed article about the financial situation at Michigan and Michigan State, indicating that despite the overall budget environment in the state, that they are maintaining robust athletic programs.  At Michigan, major construction continues at Michigan Stadium with additional changes coming for basketball in the form of a practice facility as well as renovations to Crisler Arena.  The Detroit News also has a smaller article about the financial situations at Central, Eastern and Western Michigan who have much less robust budgets than Michigan and Michigan State.

Kentucky spent $300,000 to host its "Big Blue Madness" promotion to kick off the first day of basketball practice. 

Boston College is not going to pay for their band to travel to away contests this year, which will save approximately $30,000 for the Eagles. 

Hawaii Pacific has cut an athletic trainer in order to help with their budget situation.

Nevada coaches have seen their budgets drop significantly and the details of those cuts can be found here.  

Inside Higher Education is reporting that 26 states are anticipating another $16 billion budget shortfalls. The impact from these mid-year cuts on higher education and athletics remains to be seen, but this is obviously not a good sign.