C
Collyn Taylor
Guest
Pastides, recapping SEC spring meetings:
--Athletic directors and presidents talked and they're not in favor of expanding the College Football Playoff. He said there's no reason to add games to an already long season and the people clamoring to expand the playoff usually come from smaller, group of five conferences that don't have as much a shot to make the playoff.
--SEC is concerned about declining attendance at football games. Pastides said not South Carolina particular but across the SEC people are worried about dwindling attendance numbers. They also talked about pace of games and Pastides said the only thing that worries him that he doesn't like excessive reviews or timeouts stalling games.
--Another big thing he talked about was him being in favor of rotating SEC West opponents. Said some rivalries need to be kept in place but it's not fair for the teams and fans to have to travel about 1,000 miles one way to Texas A&M for a football game. He called it a "dis-incentive." A more detailed review will be done but it could take awhile to get to.
Ray Tanner, going over the past fiscal year/budget:
--Starts by mentioning the athletic department's 3.3 GPA and the 12 teams with a perfect 1,000 APR score. Said student athletes logged 7,057 community service hours, which is the most in the SEC by at least 2,000.
--In terms of proposed revenue for the 2019-20 fiscal year is $125,411,845 with expenses projected at $113,010,085. That means South Carolina is one of the roughly 20 programs in the country that is self-sufficient and operating in the black.
--Gift and donation money goes down a little bit entering next fiscal year ($2.5 million) but Tanner mentioned that's in part to the fact USC was doing a lot of fundraising to get started on projects on campus. The biggest is a $22.5 million project to renovate Williams-Brice. Those renovations are going to begin immediately after the 2019-20 season ends.
--Ticket sales are expected to be up entering this season and ticket sales are up 12.3 percent from this time last year. Expected ticket revenue is about $21 million.
--In terms of football guarantees for non-conference pay games, Gamecocks owe Charleston Southern $400,000 and Appalachian State $900,000. The athletic department is also budgeting a $1 million payoff to East Carolina as well. The Gamecocks are scheduled to host ECU and if they cancel that game then they'd owe the Pirates that figure. Tanner said he's not sure if that will happen, but they're budgeting that just in case.
He also said South Carolina is scheduled to play at ECU that he and ECU's AD are working on moving back to a later season.
Another scheduling note, but Tanner said there are a few more games with App State forthcoming in sports like baseball and women's basketball.
--In terms of TV deals, negotiations are underway between the SEC and CBS to renegotiate their deal, which expires in 2023. Tanner and Pastides mentioned that the next deal would be even more fruitful. Right now CBS pays the SEC $55 million a year for the SEC game of the week.
--The department will spent almost $2 million on recruiting this year.
--Athletic directors and presidents talked and they're not in favor of expanding the College Football Playoff. He said there's no reason to add games to an already long season and the people clamoring to expand the playoff usually come from smaller, group of five conferences that don't have as much a shot to make the playoff.
--SEC is concerned about declining attendance at football games. Pastides said not South Carolina particular but across the SEC people are worried about dwindling attendance numbers. They also talked about pace of games and Pastides said the only thing that worries him that he doesn't like excessive reviews or timeouts stalling games.
--Another big thing he talked about was him being in favor of rotating SEC West opponents. Said some rivalries need to be kept in place but it's not fair for the teams and fans to have to travel about 1,000 miles one way to Texas A&M for a football game. He called it a "dis-incentive." A more detailed review will be done but it could take awhile to get to.
Ray Tanner, going over the past fiscal year/budget:
--Starts by mentioning the athletic department's 3.3 GPA and the 12 teams with a perfect 1,000 APR score. Said student athletes logged 7,057 community service hours, which is the most in the SEC by at least 2,000.
--In terms of proposed revenue for the 2019-20 fiscal year is $125,411,845 with expenses projected at $113,010,085. That means South Carolina is one of the roughly 20 programs in the country that is self-sufficient and operating in the black.
--Gift and donation money goes down a little bit entering next fiscal year ($2.5 million) but Tanner mentioned that's in part to the fact USC was doing a lot of fundraising to get started on projects on campus. The biggest is a $22.5 million project to renovate Williams-Brice. Those renovations are going to begin immediately after the 2019-20 season ends.
--Ticket sales are expected to be up entering this season and ticket sales are up 12.3 percent from this time last year. Expected ticket revenue is about $21 million.
--In terms of football guarantees for non-conference pay games, Gamecocks owe Charleston Southern $400,000 and Appalachian State $900,000. The athletic department is also budgeting a $1 million payoff to East Carolina as well. The Gamecocks are scheduled to host ECU and if they cancel that game then they'd owe the Pirates that figure. Tanner said he's not sure if that will happen, but they're budgeting that just in case.
He also said South Carolina is scheduled to play at ECU that he and ECU's AD are working on moving back to a later season.
Another scheduling note, but Tanner said there are a few more games with App State forthcoming in sports like baseball and women's basketball.
--In terms of TV deals, negotiations are underway between the SEC and CBS to renegotiate their deal, which expires in 2023. Tanner and Pastides mentioned that the next deal would be even more fruitful. Right now CBS pays the SEC $55 million a year for the SEC game of the week.
--The department will spent almost $2 million on recruiting this year.
