[Mick]

In these tough times, if there's one whipping boy that will unite just about all of us, it's Larry Scott. From the Oregonian:

Scott directed Gary Stevenson to negotiate an 11-year lease with Kilroy Realty Corporation to secure two floors and 113,000 square feet of prime office space in downtown San Francisco. The deal cost the conference $6.9 million in rent last year and another $11.7 million in deferred rent.

Those offices sit mostly empty this week, amid a social-distancing mandate.

I couldn’t help but think about that glaring expense amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The NCAA announced some bad news on Thursday. It revealed the payment it would make to members would only be $225 million, down from $600 million that was budgeted before the cancellation of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

Blame the pandemic. Its created a mess for a lot of businesses. But the financial shortfall created by the latest loss of revenue underscores what was already glaring issue for the conference even in the best of financial times.

Big Ten headquarters in Chicago will cost that conference less than $1.5 million this year. The SEC, which secured a sweetheart deal in Birmingham, Ala., pays only $1 annually in rent.

If I’m a member of the Pac-12′s CEO Group -- the presidents and chancellors of the 12 universities -- I have one question: Why are we still there?

Depending upon the wording of the contract (obviously), we're having some success with rent abatements.  Basically, if you're denied use of a facility, in certain circumstances, you don't have to pay the rent.  I imagine their lawyers are pursuing this angle.

[Mick]

In these tough times, if there's one whipping boy that will unite just about all of us, it's Larry Scott. From the Oregonian:

Scott directed Gary Stevenson to negotiate an 11-year lease with Kilroy Realty Corporation to secure two floors and 113,000 square feet of prime office space in downtown San Francisco. The deal cost the conference $6.9 million in rent last year and another $11.7 million in deferred rent.

Those offices sit mostly empty this week, amid a social-distancing mandate.

I couldn’t help but think about that glaring expense amid the COVID-19 outbreak. The NCAA announced some bad news on Thursday. It revealed the payment it would make to members would only be $225 million, down from $600 million that was budgeted before the cancellation of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments.

Blame the pandemic. Its created a mess for a lot of businesses. But the financial shortfall created by the latest loss of revenue underscores what was already glaring issue for the conference even in the best of financial times.

Big Ten headquarters in Chicago will cost that conference less than $1.5 million this year. The SEC, which secured a sweetheart deal in Birmingham, Ala., pays only $1 annually in rent.

If I’m a member of the Pac-12′s CEO Group -- the presidents and chancellors of the 12 universities -- I have one question: Why are we still there?

Depending upon the wording of the contract (obviously), we're having some success with rent abatements.  Basically, if you're denied use of a facility, in certain circumstances, you don't have to pay the rent.  I imagine their lawyers are pursuing this angle.