COLUMBIA, Mo. 鈥 Missouri will be among the college programs opting into the legal settlement set to bring revenue sharing to college sports and will do so at 鈥渢he highest possible level,鈥 athletics director Laird Veatch told the Post-Dispatch.
It鈥檚 the expected and requisite move for an athletics department angling itself for relevance in the hyper-competitive Southeastern Conference, but MU鈥檚 intention to share roughly $22 million directly with athletes each year under the terms of the impending settlement has not previously been so clearly articulated.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no question,鈥 Veatch said. 鈥淚f we want to compete in the SEC and expect to win, then we need to be prepared to do that.鈥
But in order to sustain that kind of added expenditure 鈥 which is expected to increase in size year over year 鈥 Missouri is preparing to adjust its budget by increasing the revenue from existing streams and trimming back some expenses.
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Among the shifts in revenue generation strategy will be a rise in ticket prices for the Tigers鈥 football games starting in 2025.
The $2.8 billion antitrust settlement in the House v. NCAA case has wide-ranging implications for college athletics at large, from the ability for schools to direct revenue straight to athletes to the removal of scholarship limits and new imposed roster-size limits for sports.
The impact at a single school, like MU, is in a large sense a financial one.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a significant, eight-figure impact to next year鈥檚 budget 鈥 and then it continues to grow,鈥 Veatch said. 鈥淲e have to help our people understand what that is.鈥
Mizzou fans watch pyrotechnics on Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, before a game against Auburn at Faurot Field in Columbia.
Veatch walked the Post-Dispatch through the conclusions he and his staff have come to after six months of planning and research for how to best implement revenue sharing without fiscally capsizing the athletics department.
That began with a look the revenue that Mizzou athletics has been bringing in.
Missouri reported $141.6 million in revenue during the 2023 fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023. That value for the 2024 fiscal year, which will incorporate the MU football team鈥檚 breakout 11-win season and the start of an ongoing sellout streak for those games, is not yet publicly available.
That value falls 13th among SEC athletic departments, according to USA Today鈥檚 database of college sports finances. Only Mississippi and Mississippi State brought in less revenue during the 2023 fiscal year. Vanderbilt鈥檚 finances, as a private university, are not subject to the same policies as the rest of the conference鈥檚 public schools.
MU was nearly $100 million in annual revenue off the pace of Texas at the top of the conference and was roughly $35 million below the SEC average.
It鈥檚 a contrast from Mizzou鈥檚 efforts in the name, image and likeness compensation space, where the school is considered a trendsetter because of its progressive state laws and agency model.
鈥淲here we have not evolved as much is our overall fundraising, sales, revenue generation approach,鈥 Veatch said. 鈥淏ecause of that, we are significantly behind our competition in terms of revenue generated.鈥
鈥淎 lot of that is associated with football,鈥 he continued, 鈥渂ecause we鈥檝e been in a position where for the last several years 鈥 12 to be exact 鈥 we have not raised ticket prices. Because of that, our average ticket price is less than half of the average ticket price in football across the conference. Those things go together to create this gap, right? We鈥檝e got to find ways to start that close that gap and put us in a position where we can continue to be successful in this new world.鈥
Hence Missouri came to the conclusion that it is time for the cost of its football tickets to increase. Exactly how much prices will go up is still being determined 鈥 Veatch expects the athletics department to be sharing specifics with season ticket-holders and fans around December.
鈥淚t is going to need to be significant because we are so far behind,鈥 he said.
Twelve consecutive sellouts of Memorial Stadium 鈥 all seven home games in 2024, plus the final five of the 2023 season 鈥 were also part of why MU saw a need to raise prices.
鈥淚t鈥檚 actually one of the reasons why now is the time for us to take this step and to raise prices and get more aggressive in how we fundraise and some of those things because we鈥檝e reached capacity,鈥 Veatch said. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 solve the problem or the challenge by selling more tickets. So we have to catch up our prices.鈥
While more costly tickets may be the impact of Mizzou鈥檚 entry to the revenue sharing world felt most by fans, the athletics department will be looking to trim some of its own spending in order to maximize existing revenue streams.
In the 2023 fiscal year, MU athletics had spent just one dollar less than it brought in, creating a sliver of a surplus in part because of direct institutional support from the university itself.
鈥淲e are going to need to be in a position to generate more revenue,鈥 Veatch said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e gonna have to ask more of our people. We鈥檙e gonna have to raise prices, right? That is going to be a necessity for us. But we also take responsibility in other areas, so we know we need to reallocate expenses in ways that are smart and thoughtful and be really good stewards of those resources. We recognize that鈥檚 part of it too, but it鈥檚 a big gap that can鈥檛 be made up overnight.鈥
Missouri has not considered cutting sports as a way to reduce expenses.
鈥淭he only way it鈥檚 been talked about is that we are not considering it,鈥 Veatch said.
MU will also be changing how it provides tickets to its donors in order to maximize the value the department retains from philanthropic contributions. The Tiger Scholarship Fund, which receives donations, currently operates under what Veatch called an 鈥渦mbrella policy鈥 that dates back to the 1990s and when he first worked in fundraising for Mizzou.
It 鈥渁llows fans to make one donation and it provides them and covers access for football and men鈥檚 basketball tickets and parking,鈥 Veatch said.
Over time, other schools have dropped that policy, but Missouri didn鈥檛 鈥 leaving it disconnected from its peers. Now, Mizzou will 鈥渂reak up鈥 that policy to make donations more direct.
鈥淲e鈥檝e got to find ways to motivate and reward philanthropic support above and beyond, say, ticket sales,鈥 Veatch said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been a little more transactional here. We鈥檝e had some incredibly supportive donors at really high levels. But we鈥檝e got to get more people involved in helping above and beyond, and find ways to motivate and reward that, whether that鈥檚 access, benefits, recognition.鈥
The matter of athletics department finances was a priority when Veatch was hired in April from his previous post as Memphis鈥 AD. The department鈥檚 $1 surplus had raised eyebrows externally, and UM System administration sought someone to maximize Mizzou athletics鈥 chance of landing in the black 鈥 even as the cost of college sports continued to rise.
Earlier in 2024, the UM System Board of Curators had established a special committee charged with 鈥 among other duties 鈥 overseeing the athletics department鈥檚 financial workings.
鈥淲ith the statistics that we saw, we felt in filling our fiduciary duty that it was a must to step in and find out more about what was going on in the athletic department,鈥 curator Bob Blitz, the oversight committee chair, said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not trying to pick coaches; we鈥檙e not trying to do those kind of things. We鈥檙e trying to make sure that the athletic department is running in a financially responsible way and doing the best they can, that they have the best methods to raise money.鈥
University administration is aware of the reality that the cost of remaining competitive in college sports will continue to climb, especially with the accelerant that is the House settlement and eventual arrival of revenue sharing. Directly supporting the athletics department could be part of what it takes.
鈥淲hile we want to make sure that we operate as close to the black as possible,鈥 UM System President and MU Chancellor Choi said around the time of Veatch鈥檚 hire, 鈥渨e know that the future of college athletics 鈥 if you look at institutional support at all the other universities 鈥 it鈥檚 going to require more institutional support.鈥
