Louisville

[upstater]

Check the revenue and profit numbers from before the Yum Center was constructed. Louisville was tops in revenue when they played at Freedom Hall. Reason is they have a ticket donation program, sponsorship in a decent market devoid of pro teams and a huge facility.

You can argue one way or the other, but the only thing that matters from a conference standpoint is investment of that revenue. Louisville builds facilities and pays its coaches like a top 10 athletics program in the country. So whether the actual revenue numbers are inaccurate doesn't really matter. They spend, which is all anyone really cares about.

In 2008-9 Louisville was at $56,540, 896 total revenue.
That same year UConn was at $58,446,441.

That was the last year before Ville started rocketing forward in revenue.

The next year Ville went to $63 million (2009-2010) while UConn hit $63 million in 2010-2011.
Louisville meanwhile skyrocketed to $87 million.

That has EVERYTHING to do with the new facilities. There is no other explanation.

Especially when you consider that UConn's sponsorships and licensing (also in a market without pro teams, and a market that is much bigger than Louisville's) is much higher than Louisville's even today: Ville went from $12.6m in 2010 to $16.3 in 2011. UConn was at $24.9 in 2011.

Ticket sales are the story for Louisville jumping so high. You get great support. Back in 2006-07, Louisville got $15m in ticket sales and $13.1 in donations. That same year UConn got $13.5 in ticket sales and $12.1 in donations. The schools were practically even in total revenue, sponsorships, licensing, tickets and donations.

Ville, meanwhile, stayed at that level until football and basketball facilities expansion. It went from $15m in ticket sales to $26.4m in 2011, and from $12.1 in donations to $28.2m in donations. You literally jumped by $27m! In ticket sales and donations, you're literally almost $30 million ahead of UConn compared to where you were half a decade ago. This is much to your advantage.

But in terms of sponsorships and TV rights and licensing, UConn has outdone you (but by a much smaller margin). As you were building your ticket base, UConn was making up some of that $30m deficit by jumping out to a $9 million gain in terms of local TV, sponsorships and licensing. This is why the difference between the schools today (even about half a decade ago) is now $23m.

Lastly, I've said this a number of times on this board, but fans don't really know how these figures are calculated. Schools like Michigan raised money for facilities and then dumped the donations into AD revenues, while paying for facilities through school bonds. This means the private money raised for facilities is counted as athletics revenue. I don't know at all whether UConn has ever done this. I don't know that Louisville has either. But that huge donor jump for you may indeed be comprised in part of a trickle or a regular flow of facility donations. Who can say? UConn after all has also spent a huge amount on facilities (it has the best football training facilities of the entire old BE conference, and they are relatively brand new).

As for this statement ("You can argue one way or the other, but the only thing that matters from a conference standpoint is investment of that revenue") we'll have to disagree since facility investment doesn't come from athletic revenues, but the academic side. So it's not a matter of taking revenues from sports and investing it. The money comes from elsewhere entirely.

I have no idea whether UConn took the many tens of millions in donations for football facilities and included them as donations. I actually tend to doubt it because UConn donations have flatlined for many years at a level which is not very impressive. And we know that a few individual donors ponied up between $4m and $10m, but the donations don't show that. I suspect that this money was used entirely inside the university's general building budget and wasn't counted as athletic revenue at all.

This is largely what the discussion here is about. UConn too could have plowed donations for facilities into athletics revenue. UConn spent $60 million on the Shenkman training center and $48 million on the Burton facility. I forget exactly what the breakdown for these facilities are (i.e. how much was raised in private donations). But if the private money had been dumped into sports, that would have made Uconn look better from a PR standpoint when it comes to sports. Furthermore, if Uconn had dumped its AD revenues into a single sport (as Ville currently does) it would also have been a PR coup.

 

[BobbyPs Ghost]

E

It was a smart PR campaign. They just dumped all department revenues like sponsorships and donations, etc., into one sport. That's how they claimed that Ville bball was the most lucrative around. They just cooked the books a little bit, then called the media's attention to it.

The top line # has be for real however. Total revenues are real. They can only be cooked by giving ALL the school's royalty money to sports and by not including any facility money.

Another way is to start a capital campaign for sports facilities, and when you're ready to go, dump all the donations into sports as sports revenue while the academic side bonds the entirety of the buildout. I've seen that used to.

As for Louisville, if you go back just a few years, you'll see that they were under UConn in revenue. So, the extra revenue (about $15-20 million) seems to be entirely the result of free buildings and filling up extra seats. Jurich deserves the credit there.

I'm much less impressed by claims to Villebball being the most lucrative. If you look at Ville's column for AD revenues outside football and bball, it's barren. Everything got dumped into bball.

One way to compare the schools is sponsorships and royalties. UConn brings in $25 million while Louisville is up to $16 million from $12 a couple years ago.

Totals in 2012
Football Revenue: $25,658,653
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $40,887,938
Total Revenue: $66,546,591

Many factors weigh in the total revenue - not just basketball. Arena deal, alcohol sales, alumni donations (20M), luxury suites, ticket prices, etc. that said, the 40M basketball total is hoops only - no other sports thrown in.

 

[btstimpy]

There is no buyers remorse. The whining you hear now is more work by Luck to try and leverage some scheduling concessions for his school. I mean the travel in our current league is not going to be a picnic either.

The reason Luck needs the scheduling concessions is because WVU is in the wrong conference geographically. At the conclusion of this round of conference realignment in the Big 5 conferences, WVU is the only fly over school. They have to fly over the Big Ten and the SEC to get to their conference opponents geographically in another time zone. This creates stress for all the athletes outside football that play weekday games. The rest of the conferences did manage to retain at least some geographic integrity.

WVU doesn't fit in the Big XII although you won't get any WVU fans to tell you this. TCU on the otherhand does very much fit geographically. There is going to be some of this with The American conference. However, I still think UConn ends up in either the ACC or Big Ten at some point. But it's not going to happen fast, perhaps in 6-7 years or so. The Big Ten and the ACC are the two major conferences competing for the northeastern markets. UConn should work hard to position itself to be invited by one or the other.

 

[upstater]

E

Totals in 2012
Football Revenue: $25,658,653
Men’s Basketball Revenue: $40,887,938
Total Revenue: $66,546,591

Many factors weigh in the total revenue - not just basketball. Arena deal, alcohol sales, alumni donations (20M), luxury suites, ticket prices, etc. that said, the 40M basketball total is hoops only - no other sports thrown in.

What are you arguing here?

The point I was making was clear. UConn and many other schools count donations as revenue for the AD. When you look at Ville's breakdown, it was including this revenue under basketball.

I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand.

 

[LIUCHusky]

In 2008-9 Louisville was at $56,540, 896 total revenue.
That same year UConn was at $58,446,441.

That was the last year before Ville started rocketing forward in revenue.

The next year Ville went to $63 million (2009-2010) while UConn hit $63 million in 2010-2011.
Louisville meanwhile skyrocketed to $87 million.

That has EVERYTHING to do with the new facilities. There is no other explanation.

Especially when you consider that UConn's sponsorships and licensing (also in a market without pro teams, and a market that is much bigger than Louisville's) is much higher than Louisville's even today: Ville went from $12.6m in 2010 to $16.3 in 2011. UConn was at $24.9 in 2011.

Ticket sales are the story for Louisville jumping so high. You get great support. Back in 2006-07, Louisville got $15m in ticket sales and $13.1 in donations. That same year UConn got $13.5 in ticket sales and $12.1 in donations. The schools were practically even in total revenue, sponsorships, licensing, tickets and donations.

Ville, meanwhile, stayed at that level until football and basketball facilities expansion. It went from $15m in ticket sales to $26.4m in 2011, and from $12.1 in donations to $28.2m in donations. You literally jumped by $27m! In ticket sales and donations, you're literally almost $30 million ahead of UConn compared to where you were half a decade ago. This is much to your advantage.

But in terms of sponsorships and TV rights and licensing, UConn has outdone you (but by a much smaller margin). As you were building your ticket base, UConn was making up some of that $30m deficit by jumping out to a $9 million gain in terms of local TV, sponsorships and licensing. This is why the difference between the schools today (even about half a decade ago) is now $23m.

Lastly, I've said this a number of times on this board, but fans don't really know how these figures are calculated. Schools like Michigan raised money for facilities and then dumped the donations into AD revenues, while paying for facilities through school bonds. This means the private money raised for facilities is counted as athletics revenue. I don't know at all whether UConn has ever done this. I don't know that Louisville has either. But that huge donor jump for you may indeed be comprised in part of a trickle or a regular flow of facility donations. Who can say? UConn after all has also spent a huge amount on facilities (it has the best football training facilities of the entire old BE conference, and they are relatively brand new).

As for this statement ("You can argue one way or the other, but the only thing that matters from a conference standpoint is investment of that revenue") we'll have to disagree since facility investment doesn't come from athletic revenues, but the academic side. So it's not a matter of taking revenues from sports and investing it. The money comes from elsewhere entirely.

I have no idea whether UConn took the many tens of millions in donations for football facilities and included them as donations. I actually tend to doubt it because UConn donations have flatlined for many years at a level which is not very impressive. And we know that a few individual donors ponied up between $4m and $10m, but the donations don't show that. I suspect that this money was used entirely inside the university's general building budget and wasn't counted as athletic revenue at all.

This is largely what the discussion here is about. UConn too could have plowed donations for facilities into athletics revenue. UConn spent $60 million on the Shenkman training center and $48 million on the Burton facility. I forget exactly what the breakdown for these facilities are (i.e. how much was raised in private donations). But if the private money had been dumped into sports, that would have made Uconn look better from a PR standpoint when it comes to sports. Furthermore, if Uconn had dumped its AD revenues into a single sport (as Ville currently does) it would also have been a PR coup.

UConn spent a total of $42 million on the Shenkman training center and Burton facility. Less than 20% was raised in private money.

 

[upstater]

UConn spent a total of $42 million on the Shenkman training center and Burton facility. Less than 20% was raised in private money.

The two football buildings cost $48 million to construct, and taxpayers paid $31 million from the 21st Century UConn construction program - meaning more than 60 percent of the total.

 

[BobbyPs Ghost]

What are you arguing here?

The point I was making was clear. UConn and many other schools count donations as revenue for the AD. When you look at Ville's breakdown, it was including this revenue under basketball.

I'm not sure why this is so hard to understand.

I was making the point that the donations for a particular sport are allocated to that sport's revenue total - football donations go to the football revenue total, etc. Unless I misunderstood, you indicated that Louisville put all donations for all sports under the basketball total for the purpose of artificially inflating that total alone.

 

[upstater]

I was making the point that the donations for a particular sport are allocated to that sport's revenue total - football donations go to the football revenue total, etc. Unless I misunderstood, you indicated that Louisville put all donations for all sports under the basketball total for the purpose of artificially inflating that total alone.

No, what I was saying is that most schools don't do this. If you look at the accounts, most schools have donations under AD revenue. For instance, U. Texas doesn't have a foundation for football. They have something called the Longhorn Foundation which is a foundation for all sports. And that's where they count that revenue. This is why, in comparing schools, I always tend to look at total athletic department revenue (noting direct subsidies) instead of individual sports.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I have no idea what possible accounting gymnastics may have happened at Louisville to make them look good on paper. some interesting stuff here. my knowledge of accounting, is that I send all the papers I need to send, to my accountant, and then get a ridiculous bill to pay. But I pay it, b/c the guy I use is a forensic accountant that gets hired to do audits and stuff, private, and local or fed govt......so I know my books are right.

It sure seems, that if I grasp a bit of what's been discussed, it appears that the books at Louisville, have been adjusted in such a way, that sports like basketball, and football, end up at the top of lists that media people compile regularly, to fill their information voids...lists like "top revenue programs", etc.

In that sense, it most certainly is smart PR by Louisville, to do that.

In the grand scheme of things, Louisville has what - an 18 year head start on us, when it comes to being left out in the wilderness? Tom Jurich, wasn't born old and wise. He's been trying to get Louisville back into the "in" crowd for nearly two decades. Louisville got cut out of the "in" crowd back in the first great migration of 1-A football schools back when UCONN upgrading to 1-A football, was still just an idea. THey were lucky, (just like we were lucky), that the Big EAst conference existed, and had it's priorities lined up the way they were. Because without the Big East, Louisville, doesn't get their invite to the "in" crowd in 2004, and neither does UCONN in 1997.

UCONN officials, can learn a lot, from TCU and Louisville people, and how they've operated their schools for the past 20 years, because those two schools are essentially the only ones out there, that have lost as much as we have in the past, when it comes to athletics, and football, and also found a way back in.

As for revenue, all I know is that there is income and expense when you run anything. I honestly don't know anything about UCONNs AD revenue streams when it comes to income and expense. Where does the income come from? how does it break down? What's it used for? I don't know.

But I do know that in the past, they've kind of made a point of indicating that the AD supports not only the varsity sports, but also covers all the expenses for the on-campus intramural sports programs, which I know are extensive, and usually, the department on the books, if I'm not mistaken, pretty much ends up breaking even with income and expense.

I don't know how many deparments across the country that do that, support all on-campus intramura stuff, as well as varsity, maybe they all do, I do know, that they've made a point of telling people that in the past.

 

[upstater]

I have no idea what possible accounting gymnastics may have happened at Louisville to make them look good on paper. some interesting stuff here. my knowledge of accounting, is that I send all the papers I need to send, to my accountant, and then get a ridiculous bill to pay. But I pay it, b/c the guy I use is a forensic accountant that gets hired to do audits and stuff, private, and local or fed govt......so I know my books are right.

It sure seems, that if I grasp a bit of what's been discussed, it appears that the books at Louisville, have been adjusted in such a way, that sports like basketball, and football, end up at the top of lists that media people compile regularly, to fill their information voids...lists like "top revenue programs", etc.

In that sense, it most certainly is smart PR by Louisville, to do that.

In the grand scheme of things, Louisville has what - an 18 year head start on us, when it comes to being left out in the wilderness? Tom Jurich, wasn't born old and wise. He's been trying to get Louisville back into the "in" crowd for nearly two decades. Louisville got cut out of the "in" crowd back in the first great migration of 1-A football schools back when UCONN upgrading to 1-A football, was still just an idea. THey were lucky, (just like we were lucky), that the Big EAst conference existed, and had it's priorities lined up the way they were. Because without the Big East, Louisville, doesn't get their invite to the "in" crowd in 2004, and neither does UCONN in 1997.

UCONN officials, can learn a lot, from TCU and Louisville people, and how they've operated their schools for the past 20 years, because those two schools are essentially the only ones out there, that have lost as much as we have in the past, when it comes to athletics, and football, and also found a way back in.

As for revenue, all I know is that there is income and expense when you run anything. I honestly don't know anything about UCONNs AD revenue streams when it comes to income and expense. Where does the income come from? how does it break down? What's it used for? I don't know.

But I do know that in the past, they've kind of made a point of indicating that the AD supports not only the varsity sports, but also covers all the expenses for the on-campus intramural sports programs, which I know are extensive, and usually, the department on the books, if I'm not mistaken, pretty much ends up breaking even with income and expense.

I don't know how many deparments across the country that do that, support all on-campus intramura stuff, as well as varsity, maybe they all do, I do know, that they've made a point of telling people that in the past.

Yes, you've gotten the gist of what I've been saying. Louisville has gotten good PR by loading royalty and donation revs into individual sports, instead of counting them for the whole AD, as most schools do. UConn basically was doing what most did. Ville was the outlier. I doubt they impressed other ADs or Presidents in doing that, but they surely impressed the media--such as Forbes, which is a magazine that now regularly sells its name so any yahoo can compile an idiotic list.

The revenue streams are available at the databases at USAToday and Indystar. They typically include everything you can imagine, in separate categories. As for expenditures, they also show things such as direct institutional subsidy (often in the tens of millions, as at UConn) and student fees (about 5 million or so). In this respect, unless you're running the most luxurious intramural sports system in history, we can guess that the cost is well below the subsidy. After all, Rhode Island's total budget for ALL sports is under $10 million. I'm guessing a school's intramural program should be cheaper to run than a school like URI's total sports program.

There are some expenses not included under the AD's budget, such as building construction and facility maintenance. A big cost, obviously. The cost per student subsidy isn't included either (though it's figured into academic departmental budgets). Lastly, all university royalties when it comes to branding are included as AD revenue. About the only thing that I can think of that still remains murky is the salary for tutoring and training staff for athletics, but since these people are servicing student-athletes, absolutely no one should ever complain about that.

 

[Carl Spackler]

All of that stuff makes my brain turn into a glazed donut, upstater. Glazed. All I know, is that as long as it doesn't actually amount to anything more than reshuffling the papers, and line items on the spreadsheets, and doesn't actually change anything of substance.....then adjusting the accounting in the bookkeeping for the athletic department, such that UCONN always ends up at the top of the media compiled lists for top revenue, most valueable, etc media lists - then I'm all for it.

 

[omniorange]

No, what I was saying is that most schools don't do this. If you look at the accounts, most schools have donations under AD revenue. For instance, U. Texas doesn't have a foundation for football. They have something called the Longhorn Foundation which is a foundation for all sports. And that's where they count that revenue. This is why, in comparing schools, I always tend to look at total athletic department revenue (noting direct subsidies) instead of individual sports.

Yes and No. If a school makes someone be a particular donor level in order to get favorable season tickets in a particular sport than it's possible to see that donation included with that particular sports revenue.

However, if your overall point is that because different schools interpret the individual reporting lines differently that one can't compare individual sports revenue at that site, I would concur. Which is why the best one can do in terms of the Equity site is to look at overall revenue and overall expenses and know that those that report an equal balance in both are basically operating in the red and have fudged the figures to get to even and those that generated a profit probably generated more profit than listed.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[NEforceUConn]

blah blah blah, blah, blah, blah, Luck and Jurick are dicks.

 

[Dann]

No they are go getters. Aggressive minded hungry people. They bring bread home. Uconn lacks that. Nice guys finish last and the early bird gets the worm and all of those freaking quotes. We have a lady in a midlife crisis dreaming ivy and a guy who likes donuts.

 

[WestHartHusk]

Yes and No. If a school makes someone be a particular donor level in order to get favorable season tickets in a particular sport than it's possible to see that donation included with that particular sports revenue.

However, if your overall point is that because different schools interpret the individual reporting lines differently that one can't compare individual sports revenue at that site, I would concur. Which is why the best one can do in terms of the Equity site is to look at overall revenue and overall expenses and know that those that report an equal balance in both are basically operating in the red and have fudged the figures to get to even and those that generated a profit probably generated more profit than listed.

Cheers,
Neil

Neil, are you British? I ask because I want to incorporate cheers into my diction, but I'm not sure I can pull it off.

 

[TRest]

Neil, are you British? I ask because I want to incorporate cheers into my diction, but I'm not sure I can pull it off.

He is British on the internet.

 

[omniorange]

Neil, are you British? I ask because I want to incorporate cheers into my diction, but I'm not sure I can pull it off.

Nope, I'm American of Irish/Scottish bloodlines.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[J187Money]

No they are go getters. Aggressive minded hungry people. They bring bread home. Uconn lacks that. Nice guys finish last and the early bird gets the worm and all of those freaking quotes. We have a lady in a midlife crisis dreaming ivy and a guy who likes donuts.

Glad you are back. Kind of.

But seriously this was not fixable once she got here. Agree with your sentiments completely but we have been so far behind everyone else on fundraising for so many years it can't get fixed overnight.

So aside from the bashing please list the HFD iron clad steps that Herbst could have followed that would have won, not just what might have made you feel better.

I expect what will follow is some nonsense like "go getters get what can be got" which is pretty much like " we are winning winners that win" which means dick in the real world.

 

[ruskin]

I understand the bitterness but most of it is directed at the wrong AD. The ground work for UConn's conference situation was all laid out by Hathaway. He hired PP, he allowed the APR situation to occur, he woefully understaffed our compliance department, alienated big doners, and never got the new basketball facility off the ground. It took Pendergast, what, like three months (during a recession!) to get enough cash to start the building process... and it had been on the table for what seems like a decade.

Spot freaking on Mind. Hathaway took what Perkins had handed him and lived on cruise control for 10 years while treating ppl below him -- staff & fans alike -- like crap. He only had to make one major decision and it up so bad it qualifies him to be the Rutgers AD. Over-the-hill coach? check. Piss off major donor? check. Let the BOT head install an old crony into the most important coaching job? check.

The funny thing is when the Burton stuff blew up he tried to change the subject at a meeting in Bridgeport and said the hoop facility was coming along just fine. In hindsight it sure looks as if he was nowhere close to telling the truth. Think when SH caught on to that -- after the Burton fiasco -- JH was toast.

I do think if a ball-buster like Jurich was in charge things would be different. the problem is Jurich would not be a good 'cultural fit' here in CT, sad to say

 

[ThetaZoo]

Spot freaking on Mind. Hathaway took what Perkins had handed him and lived on cruise control for 10 years while treating ppl below him -- staff & fans alike -- like crap. He only had to make one major decision and it up so bad it qualifies him to be the Rutgers AD. Over-the-hill coach? check. Piss off major donor? check. Let the BOT head install an old crony into the most important coaching job? check.

The funny thing is when the Burton stuff blew up he tried to change the subject at a meeting in Bridgeport and said the hoop facility was coming along just fine. In hindsight it sure looks as if he was nowhere close to telling the truth. Think when SH caught on to that -- after the Burton fiasco -- JH was toast.

I do think if a ball-buster like Jurich was in charge things would be different. the problem is Jurich would not be a good 'cultural fit' here in CT, sad to say

As I sat in the stands at a soccer game in '02 or '03 shortly after Hathaway was named AD and watched him gladhand everyone within reach I was embarrassed.

 

[Marty Jackson]

Nope, I'm American of Irish/Scottish bloodlines.

Cheers,
Neil

If you use 'cheers' and aren't British, you're a pompous arse.

Tally Ho,

 

[upstater]

Yes and No. If a school makes someone be a particular donor level in order to get favorable season tickets in a particular sport than it's possible to see that donation included with that particular sports revenue.

However, if your overall point is that because different schools interpret the individual reporting lines differently that one can't compare individual sports revenue at that site, I would concur. Which is why the best one can do in terms of the Equity site is to look at overall revenue and overall expenses and know that those that report an equal balance in both are basically operating in the red and have fudged the figures to get to even and those that generated a profit probably generated more profit than listed.

Cheers,
Neil

Again, even for tix packages for specific sports, many schools do things differently. Some do it by overall points; others like Texas look at donations to the Longhorn Foundation. That money may be used to buy football tix, but doesn't count as footballr evenue.

 

[Dann]

Glad you are back. Kind of.

But seriously this was not fixable once she got here. Agree with your sentiments completely but we have been so far behind everyone else on fundraising for so many years it can't get fixed overnight.

So aside from the bashing please list the HFD iron clad steps that Herbst could have followed that would have won, not just what might have made you feel better.

I expect what will follow is some nonsense like "go getters get what can be got" which is pretty much like " we are winning winners that win" which means in the real world.

I like to focus more on what the ad should be doing as u know. I think Susan is doing a ok to good job and doing the right things mostly but the way it's happening I am not a fan of. I will give it a crack.
- I think her uconn vs Connecticut brand is wrong
- I think buying the farm lot was the right thing to do. But I think we needed to announce that certain border areas in town were all within reach and we needed to create a buy plan to purchase houses in the area and land.
- I think we need to parlay dt storrs into turning all of that road into a downtown fairfield post road type. Apartments, stores the 9 yards and I think we need to be loud and proud about that idea.
-the student gym needs to get get done. I don't know what the deal is but it should have been done already. One huge massive gym and with a turf field also. Just a master facility. The aspect of uconn student life lacks from what I understand
- AAU I don't know a lot about. I think she's on track and I applaud that but I also worry she's rushing it. I'm not a huge fan location wise of the tech park and there seems to be some questions as to jax labs and why others passed on it. I don't think I am one to complain about this from where I sit.
-the endw needed a boost. She was right to do this but I think we need to pump it way more
- I think she's willing to do a lot but quick. It's just seems to me some of these things could wait vs others. The fact she's tooling with so many thing and the way she speaks gives me the idea she's looking ivy.

I know I'm a crazy ja. But I envision the band on Saturday mornings marching up 195 with a packed town on both sides cheering and partly. They work there way up and in the stadium. Then the husky walk thru the parking lot. I envision a huge sports complex walking distance between dt storrs and parking lots. A 60k stadium, a 15k bball arena, a 5k puck barn, a 3k baseball field etc. I envision days when 60k are in town and 20k of 30k undergrads are in the stands. She's has to be the voice that that is where we are going. Not this we are winners bs.

I think uconn needs to come out with a new 50 year vision because the old one lacked in several areas and one of those was brand strength and another aspect was local size.

I have seen many ideas on here. Some good some bad. I read last week on here that the band needs new uniforms. How much do those cost? Why can't we put 55gal drums at ever exit and put a sign up at each saying what the fund is. At the end of games make sure you have 2 cheerleaders at each drum to take picture or at least say thank you to anyone who drops change or cash. Make this a usual thing. Tradition of left over beer money getting dumped after a good win. One year it's the band uniforms next year cheerleader outfits then new this and that. Things like this a ad and president need to put in place. Have they?

Eventually some here are going to have the light go on and say well they have been here long enough how come is not happening. These 2 are phony and looking elsewhere already. Everything they do is resume puff but not the best for uconn. Warde gets to put that he hassled a hof's hand pick for money and time. Susan gets to talk about endow and AU stuff. Resume fluff. She changed a brand quick Yadayada.

 

[huskyniner]

HFD, you're a bit crazy but you always have great ideas. I honestly think you could help in a big way as some type of "ideas man" for UConn marketing.

 

[J187Money]

I like to focus more on what the ad should be doing as u know. I think Susan is doing a ok to good job and doing the right things mostly but the way it's happening I am not a fan of. I will give it a crack.
- I think her uconn vs Connecticut brand is wrong
- I think buying the farm lot was the right thing to do. But I think we needed to announce that certain border areas in town were all within reach and we needed to create a buy plan to purchase houses in the area and land.
- I think we need to parlay dt storrs into turning all of that road into a downtown fairfield post road type. Apartments, stores the 9 yards and I think we need to be loud and proud about that idea.
-the student gym needs to get get done. I don't know what the deal is but it should have been done already. One huge massive gym and with a turf field also. Just a master facility. The aspect of uconn student life lacks from what I understand
- AAU I don't know a lot about. I think she's on track and I applaud that but I also worry she's rushing it. I'm not a huge fan location wise of the tech park and there seems to be some questions as to jax labs and why others passed on it. I don't think I am one to complain about this from where I sit.
-the endw needed a boost. She was right to do this but I think we need to pump it way more
- I think she's willing to do a lot but quick. It's just seems to me some of these things could wait vs others. The fact she's tooling with so many thing and the way she speaks gives me the idea she's looking ivy.

I know I'm a crazy ja. But I envision the band on Saturday mornings marching up 195 with a packed town on both sides cheering and partly. They work there way up and in the stadium. Then the husky walk thru the parking lot. I envision a huge sports complex walking distance between dt storrs and parking lots. A 60k stadium, a 15k bball arena, a 5k puck barn, a 3k baseball field etc. I envision days when 60k are in town and 20k of 30k undergrads are in the stands. She's has to be the voice that that is where we are going. Not this we are winners bs.

I think uconn needs to come out with a new 50 year vision because the old one lacked in several areas and one of those was brand strength and another aspect was local size.

I have seen many ideas on here. Some good some bad. I read last week on here that the band needs new uniforms. How much do those cost? Why can't we put 55gal drums at ever exit and put a sign up at each saying what the fund is. At the end of games make sure you have 2 cheerleaders at each drum to take picture or at least say thank you to anyone who drops change or cash. Make this a usual thing. Tradition of left over beer money getting dumped after a good win. One year it's the band uniforms next year cheerleader outfits then new this and that. Things like this a ad and president need to put in place. Have they?

Eventually some here are going to have the light go on and say well they have been here long enough how come is not happening. These 2 are phony and looking elsewhere already. Everything they do is resume puff but not the best for uconn. Warde gets to put that he hassled a hof's hand pick for money and time. Susan gets to talk about endow and AU stuff. Resume fluff. She changed a brand quick Yadayada.

This is the HFD that I like. Thanks.

I do disagree about her having one foot out the door. Maybe I'm wrong but some of the stuff she does she really doesn't have to do if that were the case. I really think she is genuinely trying to push UConn forward.

Warde? I think he had done ok and I'm not on his case like some are. But it could be a stepping stone for him. I think this is a great President's job but there are other schools I'd rather be AD.