Axing the Idea that MSU Basketball is Bleeding Money...

[engie]

Found these numbers interesting.

The 2012/2013 MSU basketball team -- which is the worst in a long time -- brought in $6.75mil.


The 2009/2010 MSU basketball team -- which started the season with pretty high expectations -- brought in $6.2mil.


This is from publicly available Equity in Athletics Data...

[Belegal]

What is the point?

[Coach34]

That the basketball program is still making good money

[Belegal]

Ok- so that is bad? What's the point?

[Dawg61]

Not sure how. The Hump wasn't even half full vs the #3 team in the country.

[FlabLoser]

Not sure how. The Hump wasn't even half full vs the #3 team in the country.

Aren't season tickets sold out? It could be empty and we'd only be down concession stand money.

[engie]

Ok- so that is bad? What's the point?

The point is clearly stated in the title.

A fairly large contingent of our fanbase talk about the atmosphere in the Hump being dead(obviously it is) -- and then try to translate that into the basketball team bringing in less money -- and even go so far in cases as to say that it isn't a "revenue-generating" sport for MSU right now. In some cases, it's to push an anti-Ray agenda -- and in some cases, it's a legitimate concern. I felt it was a legitimate concern after the Florida game -- so I checked the numbers -- and was totally shocked to see that there's been no notable drop-off on our bottom line whatsoever.

[messageboardsuperhero]

The point is, we are having no problem selling tickets- people just need to show up.

[engie]

Aren't season tickets sold out? It could be empty and we'd only be down concession stand money.

Which I don't believe we see any actual $$ from anyway. Seems like we receive a lump sum yearly for the concession rights -- and a 3rd party company actually handles it(and thus absorbs the profit/expenses)?

[dawgs]

TV money is worth more than tickets sold

[dickiedawg]

I don't believe we sold all the season tickets.

[Dawg61]

There's just no way we are that profitable unless they are adding in ESPN money or something and if we are truly making that money off of non-season tickets and concessions then it is even more ridiculous that the Hump has been such a ghost town. They could be making 10mill+ if the place was .80% full.

[codeDawg]

TV money is worth more than tickets sold

Exactly. I bet ticket sales are less than a million when maxed out.

[engie]

There's just no way we are that profitable unless they are adding in ESPN money or something and if we are truly making that money off of non-season tickets and concessions then it is even more ridiculous that the Hump has been such a ghost town. They could be making 10mill+ if the place was .80% full.

Sure -- let's just make up things in our heads and pretend it's factual. That was the point of this thread**

I'm still waiting on you to tell me the difference between the basketball TV money in 2010 and 2013 -- as well as providing me a nice link and/or breakdown to this alleged possibility of making $10mil plus in the currently-configured Hump? The place has been full before -- so surely you can show records of where this income was accomplished.

[engie]

Exactly. I bet ticket sales are less than a million when maxed out.

Why don't you look up easily-searchable numbers instead of throwing blind speculation out there?

We'd have to sell less than 4000 season tickets -- and they would all have to be to the cheap seats without PSL fees -- for ticket revenue to be less than $1 million.

[Goat Holder]

The point is, we are having no problem selling tickets- people just need to show up.

BINGO. Same for baseball.

But I will say this....I think we should do more to accommodate students in both sports, they are the lifeblood if the school and they create 'atmosphere'. Win win for everybody.

[tcdog70]

I never thought MSU wasn't making a shitpot load of money. But when you sell out your seats to Companies and they never come to games, You have effectively ruined your atmosphere and your grass roots fan base. My question has been, Is it not better to have the Hump a rocking , fun place that opponents dred playin in. With all this money we are making with TV and the SEC affiliation , why do we need to ruin the HUMP.Is a couple of Million worth makin our Basketball atmosphere suck. I think MSU report 8000 fans at the Fla. game, we all are not blind.

[engie]

I never thought MSU wasn't making a shitpot load of money. But when you sell out your seats to Companies and they never come to games, You have effectively ruined your atmosphere and your grass roots fan base. My question has been, Is it not better to have the Hump a rocking , fun place that opponents dred playin in. With all this money we are making with TV and the SEC affiliation , why do we need to ruin the HUMP.Is a couple of Million worth makin our Basketball atmosphere suck. I think MSU report 8000 fans at the Fla. game, we all are not blind.

Of course it's better to have a tremendous atmosphere for all the games. That's not my argument at all -- and is a whole different discussion actually. The atmosphere has been lacking for the first couple of years under Ray. It was for the first couple of years under Cohen too. That's why MSU can't continue to put coaches before programs -- because you end up in a no-win situation after letting them stay stay several years too long, still dividing the fanbase when they are finally gone, and effectively killing an atmosphere for half a decade...at least... and essentially causing the next coach to start over from scratch in many ways.

For all his faults, Croom was the only coach that we let go at the right time...

[Dawg61]

Sure -- let's just make up things in our heads and pretend it's factual. That was the point of this thread**

I'm still waiting on you to tell me the difference between the basketball TV money in 2010 and 2013 -- as well as providing me a nice link and/or breakdown to this alleged possibility of making $10mil plus in the currently-configured Hump? The place has been full before -- so surely you can show records of where this income was accomplished.

Sorry I misread your previous post about the concessions money vs season tickets money. I'm glad the basketball team is profitable. I never for a second thought it wasn't. However I was thoroughly embarrassed to be a Mississippi State fan and Alumni this last Thursday when they showed that disgusting fan turnout vs the #3 team in the nation on national tv for everyone to see. That shit is unacceptable. Plain and simple. It looked like the turnout of the SEC Tournament that got moved by the tornado. Can we buy cardboard cutouts with the $6 million and put them in the 8,000 empty seats? I'm only half joking.

[whosyourdawgy]

Gotta be TV money. No way we made more last season with ticket sales and concessions. No way