The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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SEPTEMBER 2018 THE WOLVERINE 19 supports everything we do, and I worry about what's that going to look like? Are we going to continue to de- rive revenue from television with the amount of cord-cutting that's going on? If I lose sleep at night, those are the two things that cause it." The Big Ten — and a football/ basketball television contract from a year ago — does provide a major boost in the bottom line. The confer- ence will kick in $52.1 million in 2019 for each league school, up from $51.1 million last year. The figure jumped dramatically from 2017, when Big Ten distributions were worth $36.3 million per school. That jump resulted largely from a new television deal, the conference negotiating a multi-pronged agree- ment with ESPN/ABC and Fox, while retaining its own Big Ten Net- work. U-M will also see a rise in revenue from playing seven home football games this season, as opposed to just six in Michigan Stadium a year ago. The seven-game home slate for 2018 figures to be worth $46.475 million, and eight home contests in 2019 are expected to produce $52.389 million. In other words, football remains the golden goose for Michigan's ath- letic department — hardly a revela- tion. Its renewed health under Jim Harbaugh has confirmed its strong- draw status, a component essential to the operation Manuel oversees. "The thanks goes to our fans, our donors, our suite holders, our club seat holders, who purchase tickets and fill that stadium every Saturday," Manuel said. "Obviously, Jim and his staff and the team are working. "Last year wasn't the year we wanted to have in football, but it wasn't for lack of effort. Our fans and everyone saw the effort they were putting out on the field. We just need to continue to ensure the success of the sport of football here. It's impor- tant to us as a sport, and important to us financially. "It's driving the fan experience, making sure the fans have a great time when they come to Ann Arbor, when they come to the stadium. We want them to really find it enjoyable to return to Michigan Stadium and cheer on the football team." Football also possesses the power to greatly enhance or decrease the revenue line marked "other." For 2019, the projection there is $7.9 mil- lion, down from $15.8 million a year earlier. That's largely because there's no big payout for the coming fiscal year due to a neutral-site football game, like when the Wolverines played at AT&T Stadium for last year's opener. Michigan's Amazon Prime series on Harbaugh's crew, "All Or Nothing," also contributed to the bottom line. That series boosted revenue for 2018, and so did early preferred seat- ing contributions for football. Those resulted from tax law changes, mak- ing it advantageous to make contri- butions sooner, rather than later. "You have to remain diligent," Manuel said. "You appreciate the success, and the fact that our fans show up. You don't take them for granted. I tell our staff all the time: 'You never know who is a first-time visitor, or if this is their 50th, or 100th, or 200th game.' "You want to make people feel welcome and treat them with respect. You want it to be safe and enjoyable … obviously, what's primary in our fans' mind is they want to see us win. So do we. So does Jim and that team. That's what they're working to do. "But the bottom line is, it's not something I ever take for granted." The athletic department also wound up transferring a projected $9.1 million to the University for fis- cal year 2018, and projects a transfer of $5.8 million for fiscal year 2019. That represents a dramatic difference from many athletic departments, which are not self-funding and re- quire significant cash flowing from the universities to operate. Manuel acknowledges the contri- bution as a great point of pride. "Having had the experience of be- ing at two institutions that did re- ceive student fee support and uni- versity support for athletics, it is a great deal of pride I take in being able to contribute back to the general fund of the University, for things the president would like to fund," he said. "It's also for student life and recreation. "For me, I'm happy to be in that position. I hope we continue to be in that position, because of monies derived from television and the like. We'll see where it goes in the future." FACILITIES MOVING FORWARD Michigan completed the South Competition and Performance Proj- ect in the past fiscal year, part of an addition of almost 280,000 square feet of new facilities. The project fea- tures a new indoor track, lacrosse stadium, rowing tank, weight train- ing areas, nutrition station and more on the burgeoning South Athletic Campus. New football weight facilities have been completed, giving the Wolver- ines 32,000 square feet of space in which to train, at a cost of $21 million. Those were two of the high-pro- file features of Michigan's effort in training and com- petition venues over the last 12 months. Manuel appreciates both projects for what they add to the athletic landscape, but cautions that Michi- gan has more facilities work to do down the road. Regarding the South Competition and Performance Project, he noted: "Now that I've seen it in operation, it's even better than I imagined it would be. As a former track athlete, I see the ease with which we can run track meets now, the significance of the competition we can bring in, be- cause of the surface we have and the bays we can do the throws in. "This was the first season of la- crosse out on the new field. The facil- ities staff did an excellent job clean- ing the field, making sure in the early months — with all the snow we had — that was a playable surface. "To see the weight room and the training room and the nutrition cen- ter, the locker rooms, the coaches' of- fices … to walk around and just visit all of that, is great." Mark Rothstein has directed Michi- gan's rowing program for 26 seasons — five as a club team, and ever since it became a varsity crew in 1997. Manuel noted how he's glad that program has a true home. "They've been nomads," he said. Manuel "What makes me feel great is the continued support of our fans, our donors and our alums who purchase tickets to support the sports of football and basketball in significant numbers."