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[h=2]University of Miami’s on-field success lead to financial win[/h]
The 10th-ranked University of Miamifootball team's winning ways are paying off at the ticket office, Athletic Director Blake James said.
The Hurricanes are 5-0 going into Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. nationally televised game at North Carolina. The men’s and women’s basketball teams, both coming off March Madness runs, open their seasons in a few weeks. James talked to theBusiness Journal about the financial gains the program has made this season, the renovation of Sun Life Stadium, as well as the big changes in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
See the slideshow for photos of UM’s new Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence. The 34,000-square-foot, $14.7 million complex for student athletes should be a lure for recruits.
Business Journal: Has UM seen an uptick in football ticket sales this year?
James: Yes. At the end of September, we had the largest increase in any program in college athletics. We’ve seen a significant increase in season tickets – close to 6,000 more season tickets – and more single-game sales, as well. You can attribute the continued maturation of our program and the great players we have, both on offense and defense. The University of Floridagame brought a lot of people out. We sold about 30,000 season tickets.
Business Journal: When was the last time it was this good?
James: There was a lot of excitement going into [head coach] Al Golden’s first year with the program so this is around what it was his first year. With the hiring of Golden in 2010 and buildup to 2011, there was a buildup in season ticket sales. Overall, tickets are significantly higher because of more single-game sales. Both are significantly increased from last year.
Business Journal: Are you seeing better basketball ticket sales coming off the Sweet 16?
James: Tremendously. We’ve had an increased response on our season ticket renewals, and we are seeing more new sales. The community recognizes the great job coach Jim Larrañaga is doing, and we’re getting a lot of inquiries.
Business Journal: Have merchandise sales picked up?
James: Merchandise sales have been very good. It’s a tough one to tell based on running the numbers now. We’ve seen a significant uptick in basketball merchandise. It’s on a different fiscal year from the academic year, so it’s hard to answer right now.
Business Journal: What impact will the Schwartz Center have on recruiting?
James: It will have a tremendous impact on recruiting in that it gives us a modernization of our facilities. It gives us a grand entrance to walk people into the Gallery of Champions to see the great things the people who came before them accomplished. The academic facilities provide them with all the support they need to succeed academically in a Top 50 institution in the country and a top institution in Florida. The football lockers and lounges are an investment in our program that will help the young 18- to 22-year-old look at UM and think about accomplishing great things, whether earning a degree or competing for national and ACC championships.
Business Journal: How will it make life better for the student athletes?
James: It provides more space, whether that is in the academic center or in the training room or in the student athlete lounge. We’ve had great people working in all those areas. We have a great training staff and medical support team from UHealth, and they have more space to service our student athletes. It gives academic support people more space to help support our student athletes.
Business Journal: Are there any other facilities improvements the athletic program is working on?
James: We are constantly working on things, whether it’s internal messaging programs to a student athlete training table to having better practice fields and support programs. In college programs, unless you are improving, you are falling behind. The Schwartz Center is a great win for our program, but we are moving on to the next things we need to achieve excellence. Dining is important, so we are working with campus on a student athlete dining area. We have to make sure we are helping them monitor what they eat. It’s something that puts us in a better position to have success.
Business Journal: Has UM had input on the Miami Dolphins' plans to upgrade Sun Life Stadium and how do you believe the proposed changes would benefit UM football?
James: The Dolphins are great partners, and they have communicated some of their desires to us and looked for our feedback. Moving the lower level closer to the field helps in creating the atmosphere. Listening to fans' concerns that the atmosphere isn’t what it was at the Orange Bowl, moving the stands closer to the field would improve the atmosphere. The modernization of the facility is a huge win for us because when you are bringing young men and women into a facility, you want to have that wow factor. As facilities are modernized, it keeps you on the cutting edge. It’s an investment in our home stadium, and one that would help support our efforts to win the ACC and, ultimately, the national championship.
Business Journal: How would having a partial roof at Sun Life Stadium help UM football?
James: It would be hard for me to speculate on the benefit of that. I don’t think it hurts. It would be great for our fans. Anything that betters the stadium is a win for us.
Business Journal: What do think of all the conference realignment with the new super conferences that have so many teams (soon 15 in the ACC)?
James: We are in the ACC, and that’s the right fit for us. We felt it made the most sense to bring in Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame for all sports besides football and playing five football games a year. It’s the best college athletic conference in the country, when you look academics and athletics. The media makes more out of it than what it really is. You have to look at the bigger picture. What is the difference between six leagues and five leagues? It was putting a couple additional teams in all of the leagues.
Business Journal: Do you think the ACC will be done making changes after Louisville joins next year?
James: Yeah. I don’t see us making any other changes.
Business Journal: How do these large conferences balance the schedules between rivals in the other half of your conference, given that you may only play a team like Clemson once every four years, and finding competitive non-conference games?
James: There are only so many games you can play in a year, and you want to be aligned with like institutions. While it would be great to play every team in the league every year, given the size of the league, it’s not possible to do that. That is why you have an ACC championship game, and it gives that game more excitement. If it’s a constant replay of a regular season game every year, it’s not as much excitement. If it’s a team in the Coastal Division and the Atlantic Division that haven’t met in the regular season and will play for ACC championship, there is more excitement in that. You want some regional games and some games you have that help your team grow, whether it’s a big, non-conference game like Florida or a game within the state. There is a benefit for alumni of both schools when you play Florida Atlantic University or University of South Florida.
Business Journal: Will the addition of Notre Dame to the ACC in most sports plus some football contests be a big financial benefit to UM and the other ACC members?
James: Yes, the addition of Notre Dame is a tremendous benefit to the league financially, and obviously from a membership perspective. Notre Dame is a great institution both athletically and academically, which is in line with the type of institution we at UM want to be aligned with and we as a league want to be aligned with. It nets an immediate financial increase to the league. We play them in 2016 and 2017, and we are still finalizing a couple more dates. It will probably be in 2020 and 2025. It would be a home-and-home series.
(The NCAA has yet to rule on its 1,000-day-plus investigation into UM that started when jailed Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro made allegations that he gave improper benefits to players.)
Business Journal: Has UM taken steps to ensure that donors don’t cross the boundaries of NCAA rules when dealing with the program and its players?
James: We’ve taken steps to further educate the donors on the importance of understanding NCAA rules and complying with those rules. At the same time, it’s important to educate our student athletes and our staff to understand the rules and be sure we are vigorous to stay within the rules. You can never say there is no way anyone could break the rules because if someone wants to break the rules, it’s like anything in life. If someone wants to speed or run a red light, they will. There are certain things we put in place. You have to recognize there are 450 students athletes, and they will be students first and go out and live their lives as college students. And you can never eliminate potential contact in the community, and you have to educate them on what the rules are and tell them to ask us before they act. We’ve taken steps that limit the amount of contact that will happen with student athletes at athletic events, but there are a lot of days when you aren’t controlling all things around them. So, what is more important is the education aspect.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflo...sity-of-miamis-on-field-success.html?page=all
The Hurricanes are 5-0 going into Thursday’s 7:30 p.m. nationally televised game at North Carolina. The men’s and women’s basketball teams, both coming off March Madness runs, open their seasons in a few weeks. James talked to theBusiness Journal about the financial gains the program has made this season, the renovation of Sun Life Stadium, as well as the big changes in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
See the slideshow for photos of UM’s new Schwartz Center for Athletic Excellence. The 34,000-square-foot, $14.7 million complex for student athletes should be a lure for recruits.
Business Journal: Has UM seen an uptick in football ticket sales this year?
James: Yes. At the end of September, we had the largest increase in any program in college athletics. We’ve seen a significant increase in season tickets – close to 6,000 more season tickets – and more single-game sales, as well. You can attribute the continued maturation of our program and the great players we have, both on offense and defense. The University of Floridagame brought a lot of people out. We sold about 30,000 season tickets.
Business Journal: When was the last time it was this good?
James: There was a lot of excitement going into [head coach] Al Golden’s first year with the program so this is around what it was his first year. With the hiring of Golden in 2010 and buildup to 2011, there was a buildup in season ticket sales. Overall, tickets are significantly higher because of more single-game sales. Both are significantly increased from last year.
Business Journal: Are you seeing better basketball ticket sales coming off the Sweet 16?
James: Tremendously. We’ve had an increased response on our season ticket renewals, and we are seeing more new sales. The community recognizes the great job coach Jim Larrañaga is doing, and we’re getting a lot of inquiries.
Business Journal: Have merchandise sales picked up?
James: Merchandise sales have been very good. It’s a tough one to tell based on running the numbers now. We’ve seen a significant uptick in basketball merchandise. It’s on a different fiscal year from the academic year, so it’s hard to answer right now.
Business Journal: What impact will the Schwartz Center have on recruiting?
James: It will have a tremendous impact on recruiting in that it gives us a modernization of our facilities. It gives us a grand entrance to walk people into the Gallery of Champions to see the great things the people who came before them accomplished. The academic facilities provide them with all the support they need to succeed academically in a Top 50 institution in the country and a top institution in Florida. The football lockers and lounges are an investment in our program that will help the young 18- to 22-year-old look at UM and think about accomplishing great things, whether earning a degree or competing for national and ACC championships.
Business Journal: How will it make life better for the student athletes?
James: It provides more space, whether that is in the academic center or in the training room or in the student athlete lounge. We’ve had great people working in all those areas. We have a great training staff and medical support team from UHealth, and they have more space to service our student athletes. It gives academic support people more space to help support our student athletes.
Business Journal: Are there any other facilities improvements the athletic program is working on?
James: We are constantly working on things, whether it’s internal messaging programs to a student athlete training table to having better practice fields and support programs. In college programs, unless you are improving, you are falling behind. The Schwartz Center is a great win for our program, but we are moving on to the next things we need to achieve excellence. Dining is important, so we are working with campus on a student athlete dining area. We have to make sure we are helping them monitor what they eat. It’s something that puts us in a better position to have success.
Business Journal: Has UM had input on the Miami Dolphins' plans to upgrade Sun Life Stadium and how do you believe the proposed changes would benefit UM football?
James: The Dolphins are great partners, and they have communicated some of their desires to us and looked for our feedback. Moving the lower level closer to the field helps in creating the atmosphere. Listening to fans' concerns that the atmosphere isn’t what it was at the Orange Bowl, moving the stands closer to the field would improve the atmosphere. The modernization of the facility is a huge win for us because when you are bringing young men and women into a facility, you want to have that wow factor. As facilities are modernized, it keeps you on the cutting edge. It’s an investment in our home stadium, and one that would help support our efforts to win the ACC and, ultimately, the national championship.
Business Journal: How would having a partial roof at Sun Life Stadium help UM football?
James: It would be hard for me to speculate on the benefit of that. I don’t think it hurts. It would be great for our fans. Anything that betters the stadium is a win for us.
Business Journal: What do think of all the conference realignment with the new super conferences that have so many teams (soon 15 in the ACC)?
James: We are in the ACC, and that’s the right fit for us. We felt it made the most sense to bring in Pittsburgh, Syracuse and Notre Dame for all sports besides football and playing five football games a year. It’s the best college athletic conference in the country, when you look academics and athletics. The media makes more out of it than what it really is. You have to look at the bigger picture. What is the difference between six leagues and five leagues? It was putting a couple additional teams in all of the leagues.
Business Journal: Do you think the ACC will be done making changes after Louisville joins next year?
James: Yeah. I don’t see us making any other changes.
Business Journal: How do these large conferences balance the schedules between rivals in the other half of your conference, given that you may only play a team like Clemson once every four years, and finding competitive non-conference games?
James: There are only so many games you can play in a year, and you want to be aligned with like institutions. While it would be great to play every team in the league every year, given the size of the league, it’s not possible to do that. That is why you have an ACC championship game, and it gives that game more excitement. If it’s a constant replay of a regular season game every year, it’s not as much excitement. If it’s a team in the Coastal Division and the Atlantic Division that haven’t met in the regular season and will play for ACC championship, there is more excitement in that. You want some regional games and some games you have that help your team grow, whether it’s a big, non-conference game like Florida or a game within the state. There is a benefit for alumni of both schools when you play Florida Atlantic University or University of South Florida.
Business Journal: Will the addition of Notre Dame to the ACC in most sports plus some football contests be a big financial benefit to UM and the other ACC members?
James: Yes, the addition of Notre Dame is a tremendous benefit to the league financially, and obviously from a membership perspective. Notre Dame is a great institution both athletically and academically, which is in line with the type of institution we at UM want to be aligned with and we as a league want to be aligned with. It nets an immediate financial increase to the league. We play them in 2016 and 2017, and we are still finalizing a couple more dates. It will probably be in 2020 and 2025. It would be a home-and-home series.
(The NCAA has yet to rule on its 1,000-day-plus investigation into UM that started when jailed Ponzi schemer Nevin Shapiro made allegations that he gave improper benefits to players.)
Business Journal: Has UM taken steps to ensure that donors don’t cross the boundaries of NCAA rules when dealing with the program and its players?
James: We’ve taken steps to further educate the donors on the importance of understanding NCAA rules and complying with those rules. At the same time, it’s important to educate our student athletes and our staff to understand the rules and be sure we are vigorous to stay within the rules. You can never say there is no way anyone could break the rules because if someone wants to break the rules, it’s like anything in life. If someone wants to speed or run a red light, they will. There are certain things we put in place. You have to recognize there are 450 students athletes, and they will be students first and go out and live their lives as college students. And you can never eliminate potential contact in the community, and you have to educate them on what the rules are and tell them to ask us before they act. We’ve taken steps that limit the amount of contact that will happen with student athletes at athletic events, but there are a lot of days when you aren’t controlling all things around them. So, what is more important is the education aspect.
http://www.bizjournals.com/southflo...sity-of-miamis-on-field-success.html?page=all
