Stanford AD: No sports will be cut after moving to ACC

[CHROMEBIRD]

It looks like Stanford wrestling will be safe after they move to the ACC next year. AD Bernard Muir says they've figured out a way to keep all 36 of the school's sports.

As we all know, travel expenses are expected to increase several-fold following the move. For comparison's sake, UCLA projects their travel budget will nearly triple from $8M/yr in the Pac-12 to nearly $24M when they move to the B1G. Also, while Stanford's media revenue will increase from $37M in the Pac-12 to $39M in the ACC, they will only take 30% of their payouts for the first 7 years (then 70% in Year 8, 75% in Year 9, and 100% in Year 10 and beyond) as part of their deal to join the conference. 

From the sound of things, the Athletics Department will be tapping into Stanford's endowment to keep afloat. Hopefully there are no academic or administrative cutbacks in the near future, as fingers will likely be pointed, rightly or wrongly, at sports. 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/college/article/stanford-athletics-acc-18555245.php

[billyhoyle]

When Florida State, Clemson, UNC, and Miami leave the ACC, that is going to be 30% of a much smaller number?

[CHROMEBIRD]

Possibly, but the NCAA D1 championships media rights deal expires this August and is "wildly undervalued" according to the article. It includes all the current D1 championships that are currently covered (except for basketball) and is expected to include streaming, etc. deals for the Olympic sports and others that Stanford usually does well in. So I think Stanford is hoping to bank on some of that, though I hope they aren't hanging their hat on it.

It's so crazy that they accepted that deal for 30% for 7 years. Desperate times, I guess.

[billyhoyle]

44 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

Possibly, but the NCAA D1 championships media rights deal expires this August and is "wildly undervalued" according to the article. It includes all the current D1 championships that are currently covered (except for basketball) and is expected to include streaming, etc. deals for the Olympic sports and others that Stanford usually does well in. So I think Stanford is hoping to bank on some of that, though I hope they aren't hanging their hat on it.

It's so crazy that they accepted that deal for 30% for 7 years. Desperate times, I guess.

All that matters is football.  I agree that it's crazy they took the deal, but they had no other choice.  And when the ACC collapses, they'll have no choice but to start cutting sports.  It's a terrible situation and Koll was smart to jump ship.  I hope wrestling can survive. 

[peanut]

2 hours ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

It looks like Stanford wrestling will be safe after they move to the ACC next year. AD Bernard Muir says they've figured out a way to keep all 36 of the school's sports.

As we all know, travel expenses are expected to increase several-fold following the move. For comparison's sake, UCLA projects their travel budget will nearly triple from $8M/yr in the Pac-12 to nearly $24M when they move to the B1G. Also, while Stanford's media revenue will increase from $37M in the Pac-12 to $39M in the ACC, they will only take 30% of their payouts for the first 7 years (then 70% in Year 8, 75% in Year 9, and 100% in Year 10 and beyond) as part of their deal to join the conference. 

From the sound of things, the Athletics Department will be tapping into Stanford's endowment to keep afloat. Hopefully there are no academic or administrative cutbacks in the near future, as fingers will likely be pointed, rightly or wrongly, at sports. 

https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/college/article/stanford-athletics-acc-18555245.php

Stanford is a behemoth. Last year it's total operating budget was $7.2 billion. The costs of its sports program are pretty small in comparison: $157 million in 2022.

With the SEC and Big Ten being out of reach, the most prestigious remaining conference was the ACC -- and Stanford apparently was willing to pay the price to join.

[Thumper]

5 hours ago, billyhoyle said:

All that matters is football.  I agree that it's crazy they took the deal, but they had no other choice.  And when the ACC collapses, they'll have no choice but to start cutting sports.  It's a terrible situation and Koll was smart to jump ship.  I hope wrestling can survive. 

You are incorrect when you wrote "they had no other choice".  That is simply false.   They had the choice of staying in the PAC 12 with Oregon State and Washington State.   IF they had stayed the course they would be sharing in the 2023-2024 PAC 12 revenue that Oregon State and Washington State will be enjoying for years to come.

Instead they made the moronic choice to triple their travel expenses and compete against schools literally on the other side of the United States (I bet the parents of the athletes are thrilled about that - NOT).  Keep in mind that the "leaders" at Stanford are the same group of ivory towered dimwits who wanted to eliminate about one third of their athletic teams just a few years ago.

Edited January 5 by Thumper

[1032004]

I’m just shocked Muir is still the AD after the sport cutting fiasco AND Varsity Blues

[Ohio Elite]

They should have joined the Big 12.

[Interviewed_at_Weehawken]

9 hours ago, billyhoyle said:

When Florida State, Clemson, UNC, and Miami leave the ACC, that is going to be 30% of a much smaller number?

NC State may also explore leaving.

[billyhoyle]

3 hours ago, Thumper said:

You are incorrect when you wrote "they had no other choice".  That is simply false.   They had the choice of staying in the PAC 12 with Oregon State and Washington State.   IF they had stayed the course they would be sharing in the 2023-2024 PAC 12 revenue that Oregon State and Washington State will be enjoying for years to come.

Instead they made the moronic choice to triple their travel expenses and compete against schools literally on the other side of the United States (I bet the parents of the athletes are thrilled about that - NOT).  Keep in mind that the "leaders" at Stanford are the same group of ivory towered dimwits who wanted to eliminate about one third of their athletic teams just a few years ago.

Yeah, but what would the revenue have been for a conference consisting of the worst pac12 teams? 

[CHROMEBIRD]

8 hours ago, Ohio Elite said:

They should have joined the Big 12.

BigXII didn't want Stanford and Cal.

[CHROMEBIRD]

5 hours ago, billyhoyle said:

Yeah, but what would the revenue have been for a conference consisting of the worst pac12 teams? 

I'm sure they did the math which makes it even crazier that Stanford was willing to take the 30% payout deal. Their cut comes out to around $11-12M revenue per year before travel expenses, which I would guesstimate to be in the $25-30M range (UCLA estimates a $24M Big Ten travel budget for about 25 varsity sports, but Stanford has 36 sports). Even if they were earning zero in media money and ticket sales by staying in the Pac-12 they'd be losing less money than by going to the ACC. Maybe that's where the value of being in a Power 5 conference comes in, though I am not convinced that Stanford will sell significantly more seats to fans who want to see them play visiting ACC teams. 

[Ohio Elite]

19 minutes ago, CHROMEBIRD said:

BigXII didn't want Stanford and Cal.

I heard it was the other way around. Not sure though, you might be right.