04-10-2015, 04:16 PM
Few quick thoughts,
Stanford AD this fiscal year should have expenses near that $110M, as noted already. That level would put Stanford in the very top tier of the Pac-12 with Oregon and perhaps SC. Below the level of spending at many in B1G and SEC land, but still better than most in the Pac-12 at least.
Stanford AD is not burdened with massive long-term debt for facilities. Some of the wannabe big factory schools have debt associated with their facility construction (think UCB), so a meaningful portion of their annual revenue must be allocated to debt payments.
A lot of the big factory programs (ie. Texas, Alabama, TXA&M, Ole Miss) require very large gifts to renew the best season ticket locations. That strong dependency on football success (football TV revenue, football ticket revenue and donations directly linked to football ticket locations) makes it very hard to siphon off funds for activities which will not enhance the future value of football season tickets. Stanford AD's endowment and annual donations are not quite as linked to football success, and that allows Stanford to invest in other sports.
Ultimately the SEC, B1G and Texas ability to capture more TV money and recruit all types of HS athletes could overwhelm Stanford's competitive advantages. In many ways that is already happening, but at least Stanford will be able to withstand the TV revenue disadvantages for a longer period of time than many other programs.
Stanford AD this fiscal year should have expenses near that $110M, as noted already. That level would put Stanford in the very top tier of the Pac-12 with Oregon and perhaps SC. Below the level of spending at many in B1G and SEC land, but still better than most in the Pac-12 at least.
Stanford AD is not burdened with massive long-term debt for facilities. Some of the wannabe big factory schools have debt associated with their facility construction (think UCB), so a meaningful portion of their annual revenue must be allocated to debt payments.
A lot of the big factory programs (ie. Texas, Alabama, TXA&M, Ole Miss) require very large gifts to renew the best season ticket locations. That strong dependency on football success (football TV revenue, football ticket revenue and donations directly linked to football ticket locations) makes it very hard to siphon off funds for activities which will not enhance the future value of football season tickets. Stanford AD's endowment and annual donations are not quite as linked to football success, and that allows Stanford to invest in other sports.
Ultimately the SEC, B1G and Texas ability to capture more TV money and recruit all types of HS athletes could overwhelm Stanford's competitive advantages. In many ways that is already happening, but at least Stanford will be able to withstand the TV revenue disadvantages for a longer period of time than many other programs.