Wilner Cal and Stanford prepare for life in the ACC with a nine-figure hole in their budgets, no firm plans to solve the "revenue challenge"


https://sports360az.com/wilner-cal-and-stanford-prepare-for-life-in-the-acc-with-a-nine-figure-hole-in-their-budgets-no-firm-plans-to-solve-the-revenue-challenge/


" How will they possibly compete "at the highest levels" on the field and court not to mention in the pool and on the track with a long-haul shortfall of $195.4 million?"

*" Statement from Cal vice chancellor for external communications Dan Mogulof:

"While the move to the ACC has created a revenue challenge, we are fortunate that our new Chancellor, Rich Lyons, is both well versed in financial issues and fully committed to protecting Cal Athletics' excellence, and the essential role it plays in the life of the university.

"Chancellor Lyons is now in listening mode, getting up to speed on the details and the perspectives of our stakeholders, with a particular interest in the role philanthropy can and should play going forward, and an acute awareness of the stakes. We will keep the public and our community well informed as the planning and decision-making process progresses."

Knowlton has been a disaster. Yes, we were lucky to get a lifeline in the ACC but his mismanagement is what ran us into the iceberg in the first place. And now we are in a lifeboat without food or water far from shore.

Lyons needs to understand that the philanthropy needed to solve the problem Knowlton is largely responsible for is only impeded by Knowlton's continued presence. If I had $100 million to give there is no way I am giving it to Knowlton, both because I don't trust him to spend it responsibly and because I don't want him to get credit for receiving it, and I'm sure many who actually have $100 million feel the same way.

The first step in fixing this is getting rid of Knowlton.

And the other 2 stooges!!

Wilner pushing the same tire libel over and over and over and over and over and over again for the last 15 years.
The dude literally nitpicks deficit years and excludes surplus years in his "analysis" of an educational institution based on managerial accounting principles which should only be applied to a for profit scenario.
Earth to Jon Boy! If expenses remain static in a 501c setting as revenues rise then the non profit status is lost.
Use a rolling metric for a 501c and then get back to us with your "findings"
No more "Wilner Fud Financial analyses" they make my brain hurt.

cnhth, ur dumb azz financial commentary suggests ur neither a haas biz ad grad who can decipher/analyze complex financial statements or a bro of wall street

luckily for berkeley rich lyons is both of those things

and that's ok, this is a judgment free safe zone for the financially illiterate

CNHTH said:

---

No more "Wilner Fud Financial analyses" they make my brain hurt.

---

Wilner pretty clearly gets to the $195 million/team shortfall versus other ACC members over the 2024-2036 timeframe where Cal and Stanford are 'donating' most of their media revenue back to the ACC as a condition of admittance. It is not a deficit or debt. But that money will have to come from somewhere if Cal and Stanford want to be competitive.

Do you think Cal Athletics most recent public financial statement showing a subsidy of ~$37 million and a deficit on top of that of $8.7 million is fake accounting?

https://calbears.com/sports/2013/4/17/208204144.aspx

fk wilner. he writes about the teams and athletes for other schools, and the only things he ever writes about cal are financial.

Shocky1 said:

---

cnhth, ur dumb azz financial commentary suggests ur neither a haas biz ad grad who can decipher/analyze complex financial statements or a bro of wall street

luckily for berkeley rich lyons is both of those things

and that's ok, this is a judgment free safe zone for the financially illiterate

---

Calling me a dumbass while not addressing any of my points? which are…
1.) using for profit analysis and KPIs on a not for profit is erroneous given expenses are inherently variable in order to closely match revenues yoy.
2.) conveniently ignoring endowments, fundraising, and other subsidies which are common to any non profit is erroneous.
3.) Recreating what he thinks is the athletics budget using line item managerial accounting is erroneous.

The bottom line is that we are top 40 in revenue. We elevate expenses to match that revenue. When there is a surplus it goes back to the campus and when there is a deficit the campus contributes. For Wilner to take a snap shot in time and ignore the cyclical nature of said surplus/deficit is erroneous. We had a surplus as recently as 3 years ago. Conveniently that is ignored.
And I am not arguing that we are not losing money, I am arguing that he could write the same exact article about literally half of the schools in America and even more 501c's. Cincinnati contributed 34 million to its ad this year. Are they being bashed by wilner each week?
The underlying truth is that our ad will always have expenses that are beyond revenue in down years and revenues beyond expenses in up years. Which might matter in a for profit setting but that is not how non profits work. The goal is to keep expenses tight to revenues.
In 22' we had 27 million in central campus subsidies while generating a surplus of 6mm. His alma (udubb) had 16mm in subsidies while generating a surplus of 8mm.
His analysis is flawed in many ways. The dude just likes bashing Cal.
How about he report on the fact that the university of Washington cut 1000 jobs, eliminated numerous programs, and increased tuition while simultaneously giving 16mm to their football program?
Anyway, our solution is a simple one for Lyons. 25k in undergrad tuition against 33k spent on each undergrad. An 85 million dollar shortfall doesn't look all that bad when you consider you can eliminate 120 million in deficit by raising tuition 4k a year as opposed to laying off 1000 people and eliminating entire departments a la the university of Washington.

CNHTH said:

---

Wilner pushing the same tire libel over and over and over and over and over and over again for the last 15 years.
The dude literally nitpicks deficit years and excludes surplus years in his "analysis" of an educational institution based on managerial accounting principles which should only be applied to a for profit scenario.
Earth to Jon Boy! If expenses remain static in a 501c setting as revenues rise then the non profit status is lost.
Use a rolling metric for a 501c and then get back to us with your "findings"
No more "Wilner Fud Financial analyses" they make my brain hurt.

---

Wilner, like most journalists, needs to get eyeballs. Saying something positive about your local school doesn't draw many eyeballs.

Cal is not a 501(c) (3) and doesn't run the risk of losing any status in surplus years. Cal is a part of the University of CA , which is a political subdivision of the State and is therefore excempt from taxes as a governmental agency. Since I know where this is going: with some minor carve outs (donations related to football and basketball tickets), charitable contributions to governmental units are tax-deductible under section 170(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code if made for a public purpose. Athletics is a generally accepted public purpose.

My issue with this sort of "shortfall analysis" is that it ignores that our only other option was to go the way of Oregon State and Washington State, which would be death by seppuku vs. death by financial adversity.

Until a bunch of academic-minded schools band together to combat the ESPN/FOX/B1G/SEC stranglehold on the sport, every school outside the "top-40 name brand" football schools are in deep scheisse.

The ACC was a life raft to allow us to ride the waves a bit longer rather than sinking to the ocean floor next to the dead Beavers and Cougars. What other option was there?

An overall comment on Jon's misleading article:

Pretty much every power 5 school is facing a serious deficit if it pays full NIL to players under the House settlement. NIL from successful collectives are likely to cannibalize donations to the schools. There are many reasons donors may prefer to contribute to collectives, rather than their school's athletic department's effort to pay NIL Cal and some other schools that are NOT presently receiving full media rights also are behind as Jon points out. Also, the departing Pac 10's revenue from the distributable Pac-12 revenue likely be less than usual for reasons discussed in other threads, and some additional costs due to greater travel for certain teams. Cal Athletics also has been receiving a subsidy from Chancellor discretionary funds to underwrite operating deficits. The degree that will continue at the same level with a more financially-oriented Chancellor in place is unknown.

What Jon the dunce doesn''t seem to appreciate is that Cal is being paid in Calimony in amounts equal to the amounts of media rights payments foregone in consideration for joining the ACC. Done deal. Also Cal and UCLA will be receiving funds for athletics from UC (which will be announced soon). Almost all schools have increased costs for travel due to away games with former Pac schools or the Pac 2, not just former Pac schools. Arguably there are extra costs for the former Pac schools since they will have to travel greater more, but not that much more, and the garbage numbers being floated by the former Pac commissioner are indeed garbage. Moreover, most Power conference schools receive revenues from Campus or through student fees to offset operating deficits. Cal isn't that much out of whack, especially with the creative accounting which occurs.

That is not say Cal doesn't still isn't in trouble, but that Cal is in the same trouble as many other schools. The biggest delta is the $20 million plus in revenues will need to be used to fund school NIL payments every year. The answer tor most schools, will be to cut non-revenue sports that run deficits.

My biggest concern was Wilner's analysis/interpretation that we are giving back 2/3 of the ACC Network revenue too, in additional to the base media revenue. I had heard/read/understood/wishcasted that Cal was keeping full shares of ACC Network revenue as well as postseason distributions, and that just the base ESPN revenue was subject to the 2/3 give back.

cnhth, shocky is honestly 1000% more financially savvy than u plus he's had direct conversations with former cfo tom lowry re: the debt load & also engaged in multiple public information requests for financial information that the department has been hiding from the public...bottom line, it's doubtful there is anybody on planet earth that understands the current existential athletic department crisis better than me other than chancellor lyons who worked for goldman sachs in new york city back in the day, got it?

ur naive idea to raise tuition 4k a year to cover sports (which would effectively end lyons term as chancellor) is about as politically realistic as oski evah getting a girlfriend, not gonna happen but ur math is all wrong...when's there financial challenges the right move is to reduce expenses aka rightsize the athletic department & not overcharging the many poor as **** students at the #1 ranked public university in the world of which a significant # of them are from low socioeconomic backgrounds that will become the 1st person in their families to earn college degrees

but with that being said & is the spirit of goodwill here's a couple of recent monster posts on this topic:
_________________________________________________________

Quote:

---

econ, one of chancellor lyon's 1st steps of action upon his coronation july 1st wuz initiating an outside audit of the athletic department, this is a behind the scenes monster look at this report

https://instagr.am/p/C93Bv-TvvtY
______________________________________________________________________________

HIGHLY CLASSIFIED super duper top secret audit report re: the Cal Athletic Department for Chancellor Richard Lyons

Executive Summary: This is a ******* financial ****show!!!!

1st recommended corrective action: Chancellor Lyons should issue an Executive Proclamation from the top of the Campanille prior to the August 31, 2024 home game at Memorial Stadium against the UC Davis Aggies that ALL students are invited/welcomed to attend all Football and Basketball games for FREE!!!

The future of the University is going to need a significant infusion of NEW season tixs buyers and future mega donors to financially survive the expected severe budget cuts from the State of California. Attending Football and Basketball games at their alma mater is a critical pipeline measure to developing the necessary school spirit to ensure future generational wealth donations particularly as the current Berkeley donor pool is dying due to poor diets/excessive drinking and old age.

With the escalating number of 1st generation Berkeley college students who come from poor as **** socioeconomic backgrounds (like Shocky's moms back in the day) and an increasing number of international students who have never attended a Football and/or Basketball game in their native countries, it is critical that the future fanbase/Builders of Berkeley be inclusively exposed to the Magic of Cal Football and Basketball during their formative college years!!

Please note that if any of these students are a curvy brunette yoga female Shocky will personally sit by them on gamedays & explain the nuances of the sports to them.


2nd recommended corrective action: Personnel changes

James Arthur Knowlton: The "Con Artist" is financially illiterate with poor judgement (Mark Fox contract extension), possesses an anti Football and Basketball bias and functions as a seasonal part time worker from Colorado Springs, he should be terminated immediately as the current Athletic Director based upon his role in the McKeever suicidal women's swimmers scandal as documented in the Dan Mogulof 2nd outside legal counsel investigation.

Jennifer Simon-O'Neil: "Jenny" is truly evil as **** with an anti Football and Basketball bias who has been a bad human being since her Bay Area prep school days, she should be terminated immediately as the #2 in Charge based upon her role in the McKeever suicidal women's swimmers scandal as documented in the Dan Mogulof 2nd outside legal counsel investigation.

Andrew McGraw: The Berkeley grad should be immediately appointed as the acting Athletic Director with the understanding this will become a permanent promotion upon successful results.

Jay John: The most savvy person in the Athletic Department should be immediately appointed as the #2 in charge.

Markeisha Everrett: Should be immediately reassigned to Berkeley Campus Parking Enforcement pending her successful completion of all mandated defensive driving classes.

Sierra Achin-Cryns: The Berkeley grad should be immediately named Chief Financial Officer with the June 1, 2024 retirement of Tom Lowry who shared his useless bureaucratic's boss anti Football and Basketball bias.


3rd recommended corrective action: Righting the department to a financially sustainable number of sports programs in full compliance with Title IX.

Programs to be prioritized:

1) Football (118 counters): The HIGHEST priority for all future expenditures.
2) Men's Basketball (21): Revenue growth potential with Coach Madsen.
3) Women's Basketball (14): WBNA growth is explosive, Cal's WBB program is currently poorly marketed.
4) Men's Golf (11): The $37,000,000 current endowment is the highest of all cal sports teams including football.
5) Women's Golf (6): Significant donor support
6) Women's Gymnastic (15): Championship program
7) Women's Swimming & Diving (32): Championship program
8) Men's Swimming & Diving (38): Championship program
9) Women's Volleyball (17): Required by the ACC for membership
10) Men's Tennis (11): Significant donor support
11) Men's Water Polo (34): Championship program
12) Women's Rowing (60): Huge roster "counters" is key to overall Title IX compliance.
13) Women's Softball (23): Growth sport in the United States with high school females.
14) Women's Tennis (10): Championship program
15) Women's Water Polo (24): Championship program
16) Women's Soccer (31): Growth sport in the United States with high school females.

Programs to be terminated/reclassified as Club teams:

1) Baseball (46 counters): Terminated. The original $18,000,000 fundraising to save the program has been spent and the program talent gutted by the MLB draft and transfer portal this offseason. Evans Diamonds should be "sold" to the Central Campus to burn down the massive debt liabilities incurred by Knowlton with zero probability of future revenues to repay this debt as it becomes due and repurposed for the greater good of the University.
2) Men's Gymnastics (23): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
3) Men's Rowing (69): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
4) Rugby (53): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
5) Men's Soccer (38): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
6) Men's Track and Field (58): Terminated. Edwards Field should be "sold" to the Central Campus to burn down the massive debt liabilities incurred by Knowlton with zero probability of future revenues to repay this debt as it becomes due and repurposed for the greater good of the University.
7) Women's Track and Field (57): Terminated. See above.
8) Women's Beach Volleyball (18): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
9) Women's Cross Country (16): Terminated
10) Men's Cross Country (13): Terminated
11) Women's Lacrosse (34): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
12) Women's Field Hockey (28): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.

Bottom line, failure to take ACTION at this time would be a dumb decision and result in a further **** situation.

Chancellor Lyons, do you want your legacy to be the Chancellor who lost Berkeley's ranking as the #1 ranked public university in the WORLD??

---

The Hotline obtained Cal's contract with the ACC, then ran the numbers to determine just how significant the revenue disparity will be for the Bears (and Stanford) over 12 years. And what the schools can do about it.https://t.co/OVTwu6xEao

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) August 1, 2024

MAJOR cal's monster class update: re shocky's initiative to have the big 3 (the con artist, jenny & markeisha) removed from power within the cal athletic department:

jon wilner's investigative article re: cal's estimated $200,000,000 acc revenues deficit does NOT quote either the athletic director or the associate director of communications/marketing...how BIZARRE, are they still collecting paychecks at this time?

instead the steely dan mogulof (shocky has communicated back and forth with the columbia grad re: his concerns) from the chancellor's office who initiated the 2nd law firm report/investigation into the role of jim & jenny in the mckeever suicidal women's swimmers fiasco which also included overt racism against black student athletes is the ONLY berkeley representative quoted in wilner's article (buying a subscription is highly recommended)

the article also quotes mogulof that berkeley is evaluating "the role that philanthropy can and should play" in funding athletics and that "we will keep the public and community well informed..."...does that mean Knowlton's Know Nothing Notes that are ghostwritten by markeisha will contain future updates re: financial matters???

yeah this **** is getting live
__________________________________________

Statement from Cal vice chancellor for external communications Dan Mogulof:
"While the move to the ACC has created a revenue challenge, we are fortunate that our new Chancellor, Rich Lyons, is both well versed in financial issues and fully committed to protecting Cal Athletics' excellence, and the essential role it plays in the life of the university.
"Chancellor Lyons is now in listening mode, getting up to speed on the details and the perspectives of our stakeholders, with a particular interest in the role philanthropy can and should play going forward, and an acute awareness of the stakes. We will keep the public and our community well informed as the planning and decision-making process progresses.
"Beyond the dollars and cents, there is a great deal of excitement here about officially becoming a member of the ACC on Friday. Providing our student-athletes with the ability to successfully compete at the highest levels, and, at the same time, to thrive academically, is and will remain our primary focus."
___________________________________________

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

https://instagr.am/p/C55P-dPOMtN
nerdy napkin math:

$15,000,000-fy23/24 covert loan by the athletic department from the central campus discovered by shocky's relentless public information requests

plus

$19,000,000-fy24/25 reduction in media rights revenues from pac 12 to acc

plus

$6,500,000-cal share of pac 2 settlement payment to oregon state/washington state

plus

$15,000,000-fy24/25 additional travels costs to acc competitions

equals

$55,500,000 revenue shortfall

minus

$10,000,000-fy24/25 calimony

equals

$45,500,000-revenue SHORTFALL with no financial plans/sports team cost cutting measures by knowlton, it shouldn't take an outside independent audit to recognize that the athletic department is heading towards an existential financial tsunami
____________________________________________________________________________

major cal athletic department staffing update:

cfo tom lowry has resigned effective june 1st...no replacement has been hired/named at this time

not so fun fact: the above nerdy napkin math does NOT include the recent acc vote for schools to make $20,000,000 direct nil payments in fy25/26 bringing the future annual financial deficit to $59,000,000 (the pac 2 settlement payment is a one time non recurring expense)



what's going on?? (in the cal athletic department is ethical & financial malpractice)#

---

cal athletic department financial debt load update:

in response to my request last week for financial information

"The current commitment from Campus to Intercollegiate Athletics for FY25 is $22.5 million."

---

Lair good. pic.twitter.com/s1o6GtSmJJ

— Rich Lyons (@richlyons) July 25, 2024

rich, 100% agreed the bear's lair is good

back in the day my tiger moms (who grew up poor as **** in san francisco upstairs to a dry cleaner & wuz a 1st generation family college grad in berkeley) took me & my sister to the lair in tahoe one summer (i made a blue & gold ashtray in the ceramics class for moms which shamed her into quitting smoking for good!)...they had a swimming contest & everybody who swam like 20 laps or something gotta trophy...so all the older kids got it done in a reasonable amount of time but a 8 year old shocky wuz still determinedly splashing away tryna get it done...the lair counselor wanted to keep the swimming events on schedule & since everyone (except me) wuz already outta the pool the camp counselor encouraged my sister to speak with me when i finished one of my laps

shocky's sister (who later competed in the iron woman triathlon in maui): hey shocky, there's some really good news, carrie says you've done enough to win the trophy so you can get out of the pool now!!

8 year old shocky: no way, i still got 8 laps to go!!!!!!!!

so 100+ people milled around laughing/eating hamburgers poolside another 15 minutes while a determined/oblivious shocky completed his QUEST & earned his trophy the right way

and so with the upcoming $2,800,000,000 landmark settlement by colleges that for 2025 will be increasing the number of future schollys in multiple sports including the football schollys being raised from 85 to 105 along with power conference schools paying football players $20,000,000+ now is the time for you to do the right thing & fire the financially illiterate knowlton & promote andrew mcgraw to athletic director with the understanding that cal athletics needs to be rightsized NOW!!!

rich, we both know u don't need an audit investigation to tell u what's going on ok?

https://instagr.am/p/C92YUOSB0XY

sosheezy said:

---

My biggest concern was Wilner's analysis/interpretation that we are giving back 2/3 of the ACC Network revenue too, in additional to the base media revenue. I had heard/read/understood/wishcasted that Cal was keeping full shares of ACC Network revenue as well as postseason distributions, and that just the base ESPN revenue was subject to the 2/3 give back.

---

I also thought that was the case. The reporting was that it was 2/3 of the Tier 1 revenue. Maybe the contract also includes ACC Network (which is Tier 2)?

sycasey said:

---

sosheezy said:

---

My biggest concern was Wilner's analysis/interpretation that we are giving back 2/3 of the ACC Network revenue too, in additional to the base media revenue. I had heard/read/understood/wishcasted that Cal was keeping full shares of ACC Network revenue as well as postseason distributions, and that just the base ESPN revenue was subject to the 2/3 give back.

---

I also thought that was the case. The reporting was that it was 2/3 of the Tier 1 revenue. Maybe the contract also includes ACC Network (which is Tier 2)?

---

Cal and Stanford will get a 30% tier 1 share in the first seven years, followed by 70% in year eight and 75% in year nine before getting the full amount. SMU foregoes all tier 1 revenues for 9 years. All three schools will immediately get full revenue shares from the ACC Network, the College Football Playoff, bowl games and NCAA men's basketball tournament units.

Wilner, who has a degree in accounting and a law degree from no where and clearly is out of his area of expertise doesn't understand what he is talking about. There is a plan in place whereby Cal will be made whole by UCLA and UC for lost tier 1 media revenue. Some of the plan has not been announced and formally voted upon.

The strangeness of all this is that this information was out there for some time (almost a year) so I don't know why Wilner's article is newsworthy:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/acc-stanford-cal-2/3308750/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_kntv_eml_shr

Then there is the added benefit that Wilner misinterprets the actual agreement. I could go on, but the take away should be you take your chances when you rely on Wilner.

Shocky1 said:

---

cnhth, shocky is honestly 1000% more financially savvy than u plus he's had direct conversations with former cfo tom lowry re: the debt load & also engaged in multiple public information requests for financial information that the department has been hiding from the public...bottom line, it's doubtful there is anybody on planet earth that understands the current existential athletic department crisis better than me other than chancellor lyons who worked for goldman sachs in new york city back in the day, got it?

ur naive idea to raise tuition 4k a year to cover sports (which would effectively end lyons term as chancellor) is about as politically realistic as oski evah getting a girlfriend, not gonna happen but ur math is all wrong...when's there financial challenges the right move is to reduce expenses aka rightsize the athletic department & not overcharging the many poor as **** students at the #1 ranked public university in the world of which a significant # of them are from low socioeconomic backgrounds that will become the 1st person in their families to earn college degrees

but with that being said & is the spirit of goodwill here's a couple of recent monster posts on this topic:
_________________________________________________________

Quote:

---

econ, one of chancellor lyon's 1st steps of action upon his coronation july 1st wuz initiating an outside audit of the athletic department, this is a behind the scenes monster look at this report

https://instagr.am/p/C93Bv-TvvtY
______________________________________________________________________________

HIGHLY CLASSIFIED super duper top secret audit report re: the Cal Athletic Department for Chancellor Richard Lyons

Executive Summary: This is a ******* financial ****show!!!!

1st recommended corrective action: Chancellor Lyons should issue an Executive Proclamation from the top of the Campanille prior to the August 31, 2024 home game at Memorial Stadium against the UC Davis Aggies that ALL students are invited/welcomed to attend all Football and Basketball games for FREE!!!

The future of the University is going to need a significant infusion of NEW season tixs buyers and future mega donors to financially survive the expected severe budget cuts from the State of California. Attending Football and Basketball games at their alma mater is a critical pipeline measure to developing the necessary school spirit to ensure future generational wealth donations particularly as the current Berkeley donor pool is dying due to poor diets/excessive drinking and old age.

With the escalating number of 1st generation Berkeley college students who come from poor as **** socioeconomic backgrounds (like Shocky's moms back in the day) and an increasing number of international students who have never attended a Football and/or Basketball game in their native countries, it is critical that the future fanbase/Builders of Berkeley be inclusively exposed to the Magic of Cal Football and Basketball during their formative college years!!

Please note that if any of these students are a curvy brunette yoga female Shocky will personally sit by them on gamedays & explain the nuances of the sports to them.


2nd recommended corrective action: Personnel changes

James Arthur Knowlton: The "Con Artist" is financially illiterate with poor judgement (Mark Fox contract extension), possesses an anti Football and Basketball bias and functions as a seasonal part time worker from Colorado Springs, he should be terminated immediately as the current Athletic Director based upon his role in the McKeever suicidal women's swimmers scandal as documented in the Dan Mogulof 2nd outside legal counsel investigation.

Jennifer Simon-O'Neil: "Jenny" is truly evil as **** with an anti Football and Basketball bias who has been a bad human being since her Bay Area prep school days, she should be terminated immediately as the #2 in Charge based upon her role in the McKeever suicidal women's swimmers scandal as documented in the Dan Mogulof 2nd outside legal counsel investigation.

Andrew McGraw: The Berkeley grad should be immediately appointed as the acting Athletic Director with the understanding this will become a permanent promotion upon successful results.

Jay John: The most savvy person in the Athletic Department should be immediately appointed as the #2 in charge.

Markeisha Everrett: Should be immediately reassigned to Berkeley Campus Parking Enforcement pending her successful completion of all mandated defensive driving classes.

Sierra Achin-Cryns: The Berkeley grad should be immediately named Chief Financial Officer with the June 1, 2024 retirement of Knowlton's handpicked CFO from the Air Force Academy Tom Lowry who shared his useless bureaucratic's boss anti Football and Basketball bias.


3rd recommended corrective action: Righting the department to a financially sustainable number of sports programs in full compliance with Title IX.

Programs to be prioritized:

1) Football (118 counters): The HIGHEST priority for all future expenditures.
2) Men's Basketball (21): Revenue growth potential with Coach Madsen.
3) Women's Basketball (14): WBNA growth is explosive, Cal's WBB program is currently poorly marketed.
4) Men's Golf (11): The $37,000,000 current endowment is the highest of all cal sports teams including football.
5) Women's Golf (6): Significant donor support
6) Women's Gymnastic (15): Championship program
7) Women's Swimming & Diving (32): Championship program
8) Men's Swimming & Diving (38): Championship program
9) Women's Volleyball (17): Required by the ACC for membership
10) Men's Tennis (11): Significant donor support
11) Men's Water Polo (34): Championship program
12) Women's Rowing (60): Huge roster "counters" is key to overall Title IX compliance.
13) Women's Softball (23): Growth sport in the United States with high school females.
14) Women's Tennis (10): Championship program
15) Women's Water Polo (24): Championship program
16) Women's Soccer (31): Growth sport in the United States with high school females.

Programs to be terminated/reclassified as Club teams:

1) Baseball (46 counters): Terminated. The original $18,000,000 fundraising to save the program has been spent and the program talent gutted by the MLB draft and transfer portal this offseason. Evans Diamonds should be "sold" to the Central Campus to burn down the massive debt liabilities incurred by Knowlton with zero probability of future revenues to repay this debt as it becomes due and repurposed for the greater good of the University.
2) Men's Gymnastics (23): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
3) Men's Rowing (69): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
4) Rugby (53): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
5) Men's Soccer (38): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
6) Men's Track and Field (58): Terminated. Edwards Field should be "sold" to the Central Campus to burn down the massive debt liabilities incurred by Knowlton with zero probability of future revenues to repay this debt as it becomes due and repurposed for the greater good of the University.
7) Women's Track and Field (57): Terminated. See above.
8) Women's Beach Volleyball (18): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
9) Women's Cross Country (16): Terminated
10) Men's Cross Country (13): Terminated
11) Women's Lacrosse (34): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
12) Women's Field Hockey (28): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.

Bottom line, failure to take ACTION at this time would be a dumb decision and result in a further **** situation.

Chancellor Lyons, do you want your legacy to be the Chancellor who lost Berkeley's ranking as the #1 ranked public university in the WORLD??

---

The Hotline obtained Cal's contract with the ACC, then ran the numbers to determine just how significant the revenue disparity will be for the Bears (and Stanford) over 12 years. And what the schools can do about it.https://t.co/OVTwu6xEao

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) August 1, 2024

MAJOR cal's monster class update: re shocky's initiative to have the big 3 (the con artist, jenny & markeisha) removed from power within the cal athletic department:

jon wilner's investigative article re: cal's estimated $200,000,000 acc revenues deficit does NOT quote either the athletic director or the associate director of communications/marketing...how BIZARRE, are they still collecting paychecks at this time?

instead the steely dan mogulof (shocky has communicated back and forth with the columbia grad re: his concerns) from the chancellor's office who initiated the 2nd law firm report/investigation into the role of jim & jenny in the mckeever suicidal women's swimmers fiasco which also included overt racism against black student athletes is the ONLY berkeley representative quoted in wilner's article (buying a subscription is highly recommended)

the article also quotes mogulof that berkeley is evaluating "the role that philanthropy can and should play" in funding athletics and that "we will keep the public and community well informed..."...does that mean Knowlton's Know Nothing Notes that are ghostwritten by markeisha will contain future updates re: financial matters???

yeah this **** is getting live
__________________________________________

Statement from Cal vice chancellor for external communications Dan Mogulof:
"While the move to the ACC has created a revenue challenge, we are fortunate that our new Chancellor, Rich Lyons, is both well versed in financial issues and fully committed to protecting Cal Athletics' excellence, and the essential role it plays in the life of the university.
"Chancellor Lyons is now in listening mode, getting up to speed on the details and the perspectives of our stakeholders, with a particular interest in the role philanthropy can and should play going forward, and an acute awareness of the stakes. We will keep the public and our community well informed as the planning and decision-making process progresses.
"Beyond the dollars and cents, there is a great deal of excitement here about officially becoming a member of the ACC on Friday. Providing our student-athletes with the ability to successfully compete at the highest levels, and, at the same time, to thrive academically, is and will remain our primary focus."
___________________________________________

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

https://instagr.am/p/C55P-dPOMtN
nerdy napkin math:

$15,000,000-fy23/24 covert loan by the athletic department from the central campus discovered by shocky's relentless public information requests

plus

$19,000,000-fy24/25 reduction in media rights revenues from pac 12 to acc

plus

$6,500,000-cal share of pac 2 settlement payment to oregon state/washington state

plus

$15,000,000-fy24/25 additional travels costs to acc competitions

equals

$55,500,000 revenue shortfall

minus

$10,000,000-fy24/25 calimony

equals

$45,500,000-revenue SHORTFALL with no financial plans/sports team cost cutting measures by knowlton, it shouldn't take an outside independent audit to recognize that the athletic department is heading towards an existential financial tsunami
____________________________________________________________________________

major cal athletic department staffing update:

cfo tom lowry has resigned effective june 1st, lowry wuz handpicked by knowlton from the air force academy...no replacement has been hired/named at this time

not so fun fact: the above nerdy napkin math does NOT include the recent acc vote for schools to make $20,000,000 direct nil payments in fy25/26 bringing the future annual financial deficit to $59,000,000 (the pac 2 settlement payment is a one time non recurring expense)



what's going on?? (in the cal athletic department is ethical & financial malpractice)#

---

cal athletic department financial debt load update:

in response to my request last week for financial information

"The current commitment from Campus to Intercollegiate Athletics for FY25 is $22.5 million."

---

Lair good. pic.twitter.com/s1o6GtSmJJ

— Rich Lyons (@richlyons) July 25, 2024

rich, 100% agreed the bear's lair is good

back in the day my tiger moms (who grew up poor as **** in san francisco upstairs to a dry cleaner & wuz a 1st generation family college grad in berkeley) took me & my sister to the lair in tahoe one summer (i made a blue & gold ashtray in the ceramics class for moms which shamed her into quitting smoking for good!)...they had a swimming contest & everybody who swam like 20 laps or something gotta trophy...so all the older kids got it done in a reasonable amount of time but a 8 year old shocky wuz still determinedly splashing away tryna get it done...the lair counselor wanted to keep the swimming events on schedule & since everyone (except me) wuz already outta the pool the camp counselor encouraged my sister to speak with me when i finished one of my laps

shocky's sister (who later competed in the iron woman triathlon in maui): hey shocky, there's some really good news, carrie says you've done enough to win the trophy so you can get out of the pool now!!

8 year old shocky: no way, i still got 8 laps to go!!!!!!!!

so 100+ people milled around laughing/eating hamburgers poolside another 15 minutes while a determined/oblivious shocky completed his QUEST & earned his trophy the right way

and so with the upcoming $2,800,000,000 landmark settlement by colleges that for 2025 will be increasing the number of future schollys in multiple sports including the football schollys being raised from 85 to 105 along with power conference schools paying football players $20,000,000+ now is the time for you to do the right thing & fire the financially illiterate knowlton & promote andrew mcgraw to athletic director with the understanding that cal athletics needs to be rightsized NOW!!!

rich, we both know u don't need an audit investigation to tell u what's going on ok?

https://instagr.am/p/C92YUOSB0XY

---

Point of order: Lowry was not "hand picked" by Knowlton "from the Air Force Academy." Google his bio. He never worked at the Air Force Academy, nor did he work with Knowlton at any of JK's previous stops. They're both veterans, but they did not serve in the same branch (TL was AF, Knowlton Army, as you know) and as far as I can tell their careers never converged prior to Lowry's stint as CFO. In fact, TL was a Cal employee (CFO of student affairs) for multiple years before moving into athletics. I'm not sure if they even knew each other beforehand--Lowry was a federal employee in DC before he came to Berkeley. Pretty easy to research this stuff.

parthogenesis said:

---

Shocky1 said:

---

cnhth, shocky is honestly 1000% more financially savvy than u plus he's had direct conversations with former cfo tom lowry re: the debt load & also engaged in multiple public information requests for financial information that the department has been hiding from the public...bottom line, it's doubtful there is anybody on planet earth that understands the current existential athletic department crisis better than me other than chancellor lyons who worked for goldman sachs in new york city back in the day, got it?

ur naive idea to raise tuition 4k a year to cover sports (which would effectively end lyons term as chancellor) is about as politically realistic as oski evah getting a girlfriend, not gonna happen but ur math is all wrong...when's there financial challenges the right move is to reduce expenses aka rightsize the athletic department & not overcharging the many poor as **** students at the #1 ranked public university in the world of which a significant # of them are from low socioeconomic backgrounds that will become the 1st person in their families to earn college degrees

but with that being said & is the spirit of goodwill here's a couple of recent monster posts on this topic:
_________________________________________________________

Quote:

---

econ, one of chancellor lyon's 1st steps of action upon his coronation july 1st wuz initiating an outside audit of the athletic department, this is a behind the scenes monster look at this report

https://instagr.am/p/C93Bv-TvvtY
______________________________________________________________________________

HIGHLY CLASSIFIED super duper top secret audit report re: the Cal Athletic Department for Chancellor Richard Lyons

Executive Summary: This is a ******* financial ****show!!!!

1st recommended corrective action: Chancellor Lyons should issue an Executive Proclamation from the top of the Campanille prior to the August 31, 2024 home game at Memorial Stadium against the UC Davis Aggies that ALL students are invited/welcomed to attend all Football and Basketball games for FREE!!!

The future of the University is going to need a significant infusion of NEW season tixs buyers and future mega donors to financially survive the expected severe budget cuts from the State of California. Attending Football and Basketball games at their alma mater is a critical pipeline measure to developing the necessary school spirit to ensure future generational wealth donations particularly as the current Berkeley donor pool is dying due to poor diets/excessive drinking and old age.

With the escalating number of 1st generation Berkeley college students who come from poor as **** socioeconomic backgrounds (like Shocky's moms back in the day) and an increasing number of international students who have never attended a Football and/or Basketball game in their native countries, it is critical that the future fanbase/Builders of Berkeley be inclusively exposed to the Magic of Cal Football and Basketball during their formative college years!!

Please note that if any of these students are a curvy brunette yoga female Shocky will personally sit by them on gamedays & explain the nuances of the sports to them.


2nd recommended corrective action: Personnel changes

James Arthur Knowlton: The "Con Artist" is financially illiterate with poor judgement (Mark Fox contract extension), possesses an anti Football and Basketball bias and functions as a seasonal part time worker from Colorado Springs, he should be terminated immediately as the current Athletic Director based upon his role in the McKeever suicidal women's swimmers scandal as documented in the Dan Mogulof 2nd outside legal counsel investigation.

Jennifer Simon-O'Neil: "Jenny" is truly evil as **** with an anti Football and Basketball bias who has been a bad human being since her Bay Area prep school days, she should be terminated immediately as the #2 in Charge based upon her role in the McKeever suicidal women's swimmers scandal as documented in the Dan Mogulof 2nd outside legal counsel investigation.

Andrew McGraw: The Berkeley grad should be immediately appointed as the acting Athletic Director with the understanding this will become a permanent promotion upon successful results.

Jay John: The most savvy person in the Athletic Department should be immediately appointed as the #2 in charge.

Markeisha Everrett: Should be immediately reassigned to Berkeley Campus Parking Enforcement pending her successful completion of all mandated defensive driving classes.

Sierra Achin-Cryns: The Berkeley grad should be immediately named Chief Financial Officer with the June 1, 2024 retirement of Knowlton's handpicked CFO from the Air Force Academy Tom Lowry who shared his useless bureaucratic's boss anti Football and Basketball bias.


3rd recommended corrective action: Righting the department to a financially sustainable number of sports programs in full compliance with Title IX.

Programs to be prioritized:

1) Football (118 counters): The HIGHEST priority for all future expenditures.
2) Men's Basketball (21): Revenue growth potential with Coach Madsen.
3) Women's Basketball (14): WBNA growth is explosive, Cal's WBB program is currently poorly marketed.
4) Men's Golf (11): The $37,000,000 current endowment is the highest of all cal sports teams including football.
5) Women's Golf (6): Significant donor support
6) Women's Gymnastic (15): Championship program
7) Women's Swimming & Diving (32): Championship program
8) Men's Swimming & Diving (38): Championship program
9) Women's Volleyball (17): Required by the ACC for membership
10) Men's Tennis (11): Significant donor support
11) Men's Water Polo (34): Championship program
12) Women's Rowing (60): Huge roster "counters" is key to overall Title IX compliance.
13) Women's Softball (23): Growth sport in the United States with high school females.
14) Women's Tennis (10): Championship program
15) Women's Water Polo (24): Championship program
16) Women's Soccer (31): Growth sport in the United States with high school females.

Programs to be terminated/reclassified as Club teams:

1) Baseball (46 counters): Terminated. The original $18,000,000 fundraising to save the program has been spent and the program talent gutted by the MLB draft and transfer portal this offseason. Evans Diamonds should be "sold" to the Central Campus to burn down the massive debt liabilities incurred by Knowlton with zero probability of future revenues to repay this debt as it becomes due and repurposed for the greater good of the University.
2) Men's Gymnastics (23): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
3) Men's Rowing (69): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
4) Rugby (53): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
5) Men's Soccer (38): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
6) Men's Track and Field (58): Terminated. Edwards Field should be "sold" to the Central Campus to burn down the massive debt liabilities incurred by Knowlton with zero probability of future revenues to repay this debt as it becomes due and repurposed for the greater good of the University.
7) Women's Track and Field (57): Terminated. See above.
8) Women's Beach Volleyball (18): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
9) Women's Cross Country (16): Terminated
10) Men's Cross Country (13): Terminated
11) Women's Lacrosse (34): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.
12) Women's Field Hockey (28): Reclassified as a club sport with no AD financial support.

Bottom line, failure to take ACTION at this time would be a dumb decision and result in a further **** situation.

Chancellor Lyons, do you want your legacy to be the Chancellor who lost Berkeley's ranking as the #1 ranked public university in the WORLD??

---

The Hotline obtained Cal's contract with the ACC, then ran the numbers to determine just how significant the revenue disparity will be for the Bears (and Stanford) over 12 years. And what the schools can do about it.https://t.co/OVTwu6xEao

— Jon Wilner (@wilnerhotline) August 1, 2024

MAJOR cal's monster class update: re shocky's initiative to have the big 3 (the con artist, jenny & markeisha) removed from power within the cal athletic department:

jon wilner's investigative article re: cal's estimated $200,000,000 acc revenues deficit does NOT quote either the athletic director or the associate director of communications/marketing...how BIZARRE, are they still collecting paychecks at this time?

instead the steely dan mogulof (shocky has communicated back and forth with the columbia grad re: his concerns) from the chancellor's office who initiated the 2nd law firm report/investigation into the role of jim & jenny in the mckeever suicidal women's swimmers fiasco which also included overt racism against black student athletes is the ONLY berkeley representative quoted in wilner's article (buying a subscription is highly recommended)

the article also quotes mogulof that berkeley is evaluating "the role that philanthropy can and should play" in funding athletics and that "we will keep the public and community well informed..."...does that mean Knowlton's Know Nothing Notes that are ghostwritten by markeisha will contain future updates re: financial matters???

yeah this **** is getting live
__________________________________________

Statement from Cal vice chancellor for external communications Dan Mogulof:
"While the move to the ACC has created a revenue challenge, we are fortunate that our new Chancellor, Rich Lyons, is both well versed in financial issues and fully committed to protecting Cal Athletics' excellence, and the essential role it plays in the life of the university.
"Chancellor Lyons is now in listening mode, getting up to speed on the details and the perspectives of our stakeholders, with a particular interest in the role philanthropy can and should play going forward, and an acute awareness of the stakes. We will keep the public and our community well informed as the planning and decision-making process progresses.
"Beyond the dollars and cents, there is a great deal of excitement here about officially becoming a member of the ACC on Friday. Providing our student-athletes with the ability to successfully compete at the highest levels, and, at the same time, to thrive academically, is and will remain our primary focus."
___________________________________________

Quote:

---

Quote:

---

https://instagr.am/p/C55P-dPOMtN
nerdy napkin math:

$15,000,000-fy23/24 covert loan by the athletic department from the central campus discovered by shocky's relentless public information requests

plus

$19,000,000-fy24/25 reduction in media rights revenues from pac 12 to acc

plus

$6,500,000-cal share of pac 2 settlement payment to oregon state/washington state

plus

$15,000,000-fy24/25 additional travels costs to acc competitions

equals

$55,500,000 revenue shortfall

minus

$10,000,000-fy24/25 calimony

equals

$45,500,000-revenue SHORTFALL with no financial plans/sports team cost cutting measures by knowlton, it shouldn't take an outside independent audit to recognize that the athletic department is heading towards an existential financial tsunami
____________________________________________________________________________

major cal athletic department staffing update:

cfo tom lowry has resigned effective june 1st, lowry wuz handpicked by knowlton from the air force academy...no replacement has been hired/named at this time

not so fun fact: the above nerdy napkin math does NOT include the recent acc vote for schools to make $20,000,000 direct nil payments in fy25/26 bringing the future annual financial deficit to $59,000,000 (the pac 2 settlement payment is a one time non recurring expense)



what's going on?? (in the cal athletic department is ethical & financial malpractice)#

---

cal athletic department financial debt load update:

in response to my request last week for financial information

"The current commitment from Campus to Intercollegiate Athletics for FY25 is $22.5 million."

---

Lair good. pic.twitter.com/s1o6GtSmJJ

— Rich Lyons (@richlyons) July 25, 2024

rich, 100% agreed the bear's lair is good

back in the day my tiger moms (who grew up poor as **** in san francisco upstairs to a dry cleaner & wuz a 1st generation family college grad in berkeley) took me & my sister to the lair in tahoe one summer (i made a blue & gold ashtray in the ceramics class for moms which shamed her into quitting smoking for good!)...they had a swimming contest & everybody who swam like 20 laps or something gotta trophy...so all the older kids got it done in a reasonable amount of time but a 8 year old shocky wuz still determinedly splashing away tryna get it done...the lair counselor wanted to keep the swimming events on schedule & since everyone (except me) wuz already outta the pool the camp counselor encouraged my sister to speak with me when i finished one of my laps

shocky's sister (who later competed in the iron woman triathlon in maui): hey shocky, there's some really good news, carrie says you've done enough to win the trophy so you can get out of the pool now!!

8 year old shocky: no way, i still got 8 laps to go!!!!!!!!

so 100+ people milled around laughing/eating hamburgers poolside another 15 minutes while a determined/oblivious shocky completed his QUEST & earned his trophy the right way

and so with the upcoming $2,800,000,000 landmark settlement by colleges that for 2025 will be increasing the number of future schollys in multiple sports including the football schollys being raised from 85 to 105 along with power conference schools paying football players $20,000,000+ now is the time for you to do the right thing & fire the financially illiterate knowlton & promote andrew mcgraw to athletic director with the understanding that cal athletics needs to be rightsized NOW!!!

rich, we both know u don't need an audit investigation to tell u what's going on ok?

https://instagr.am/p/C92YUOSB0XY

---

Point of order: Lowry was not "hand picked" by Knowlton "from the Air Force Academy." Google his bio. He never worked at the Air Force Academy, nor did he work with Knowlton at any of JK's previous stops. They're both veterans, but they did not serve in the same branch (TL was AF, Knowlton Army, as you know) and as far as I can tell their careers never converged prior to Lowry's stint as CFO. In fact, TL was a Cal employee (CFO of student affairs) for multiple years before moving into athletics. I'm not sure if they even knew each other beforehand--Lowry was a federal employee in DC before he came to Berkeley. Pretty easy to research this stuff.

---

But this doesn't fit Shocky's posts. How can that be? Asking for a friend.

parthogenesis, my apologies & i stand fully corrected (and the above post edited for accuracy)

as you may (or may not) know, during my 1st zoom call with tom lowry (beth tafolla-voetsch wuz also on the call) in discussing my questions/concerns re: the cal athletic department financials tom tole me he wuz lockstep in alignment with knowlton re: a broad based athletic department & that "we're not just going to give football everything"...based on his comments re: his military background, i incorrectly made the assumption that lowry & knowlton worked together at the air force academy

parthogenesis, can u share here on this board ur thoughts re: the athletic department's current financial situation & any steps u feel are critical for the future?

hope tom is enjoying his fishing in his retirement

again, my apologies for misrepresenting lowry's background

Everybody should get 3 days in the penalty box every time the monster thread is quoted. Most of us scrolled past it the first time and don't need to see it again.

wifeisafurd said:

---

sycasey said:

---

sosheezy said:

---

My biggest concern was Wilner's analysis/interpretation that we are giving back 2/3 of the ACC Network revenue too, in additional to the base media revenue. I had heard/read/understood/wishcasted that Cal was keeping full shares of ACC Network revenue as well as postseason distributions, and that just the base ESPN revenue was subject to the 2/3 give back.

---

I also thought that was the case. The reporting was that it was 2/3 of the Tier 1 revenue. Maybe the contract also includes ACC Network (which is Tier 2)?

---

Cal and Stanford will get a 30% tier 1 share in the first seven years, followed by 70% in year eight and 75% in year nine before getting the full amount. SMU foregoes all tier 1 revenues for 9 years. All three schools will immediately get full revenue shares from the ACC Network, the College Football Playoff, bowl games and NCAA men's basketball tournament units.

Wilner, who has a degree in accounting and a law degree from no where and clearly is out of his area of expertise doesn't understand what he is talking about. There is a plan in place whereby Cal will be made whole by UCLA and UC for lost tier 1 media revenue. Some of the plan has not been announced and formally voted upon.

The strangeness of all this is that this information was out there for some time (almost a year) so I don't know why Wilner's article is newsworthy:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/acc-stanford-cal-2/3308750/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_kntv_eml_shr

Then there is the added benefit that Wilner misinterprets the actual agreement. I could go on, but the take away should be you take your chances when you rely on Wilner.

---

An obvious key point for the short term. But it seems to me that longer term the revenues are going to need to increase and expenses reduced. Program/staff cutting seems inevitable on the expense side.

Investment in the revenue sports to improve performance and make them attractive to TV and the new world order of college athletics also seems likely. Relying on just the HC to drive performance in the revenue sports has not worked and likely won't going forward. Real investment in these sports is a requirement. Cal needs to make the cut for the likely realignment coming. That realignment seems more likely to be 2026 than 2036.

Attendance has to improve. Winning is the big driver but marketing must be improved. The point about free tickets to students is good advice IMO. They can be future stakeholders but must be cultivated. And of course more students improve the gameday experience and can be very helpful in creating a hostile environemnt for opponents improving the home teams chances for victory. There are other things they can do and need to be explored.

Cal cannot just do things as they have always done. They must change. Or end up as OSU and WSU. It is a difficult time for Cal athletics to be sure, but not a final nail in the coffin. Unless of course they fail to change. The short term solutions provided by Calimony and UC give them a shot. I hope they make the most of it.

WIAF writes (and lots of Shock as well)

"That is not say Cal doesn't still isn't in trouble, but that Cal is in the same trouble as many other schools. The biggest delta is the $20 million plus in revenues will need to be used to fund school NIL payments every year. The answer tor most schools, will be to cut non-revenue sports that run deficits."



I guess the problem that I have with this is that it doesn't feel like this gets you to 20M. Maybe to 5 to 7 but with a ton of blood left on the field and a huge time suck dealing with vocal (and well positioned) givers that care about particular sports or other political considerations that are really hard nuts to crack. (happy to elaborate).

IMHO (as someone who just wrote a 24K+ check I am feeling the pain but it is the right thing to do) - the students need to be asked to pony up like they do at most other non p4 UCs to see if _THEY_ value this. And if they don't then we have to seriously ask about the university running a long standing structural deficit to carry out an activity that is for the benefit of the hobbyist alumni.

Here is information about the:

UCSD student fee.(https://summersession.ucsd.edu/tuition/tuition.html#Current-UC-San-Diego-Students--). $167 a quarter= 501 a year)

UCSB ($102.09 - called "facilities fee" (https://registrar.sa.ucsb.edu/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2023-2024cbf-fix.pdf?sfvrsn=4d7ea946_2)

UCI (https://www.reg.uci.edu/fees/2023-2024/undergrad_23.html) Campus Sprit Fees.

Someone else with more time can add in Davis and UCR and see if they can find anything from UCLA (who I don't believe imposes a fee).

Now it would be a lift but if Cal were able to pass an undergrad referendum equal to the UCSD number - 17.5 million in new money.

Now the likely result is that the referendum flames out tremendously. But I have come to the conclusion that this is OK> The University should be about the students. And if they don't value Bear athletic success to invest at the same level as the Tritons then maybe we should stop trying to get the dead corpse off the table.

While I am sure that Seb is going to chime in that this is made up - (https://www.si.com/college/oregon/news/oregon-ducks-ohio-state-buckeyes-nil-budgets-revealed-unfair-advantage-nebraska-college-football-big-ten) the programs that are committed to wining have NIL annual budgets at 23 million. That amount of fundraising boggles the mind. And yet that is what it _currently_ takes to compete with the big boys. It also boggles the mind why we can't have a rational discussion about alternative paths forward without retreating into sad arguments about stadium debts or being "relevant".

PS. (Shameless plug). For those that want an alternative place to support students for whom you probably can continue to "cheer" consider supporting SEED (https://seedscholars.berkeley.edu/program). I am frankly going to say that those kids are closer to the actual mission of the university and deserve just as much support (or more) than guys that can throw a mean down field block,.

How are we not in a worse financial position than any other Power 4 school?

socaltownie said:

---

WIAF writes (and lots of Shock as well)

"That is not say Cal doesn't still isn't in trouble, but that Cal is in the same trouble as many other schools. The biggest delta is the $20 million plus in revenues will need to be used to fund school NIL payments every year. The answer tor most schools, will be to cut non-revenue sports that run deficits."



I guess the problem that I have with this is that it doesn't feel like this gets you to 20M. Maybe to 5 to 7 but with a ton of blood left on the field and a huge time suck dealing with vocal (and well positioned) givers that care about particular sports or other political considerations that are really hard nuts to crack. (happy to elaborate).

IMHO (as someone who just wrote a 24K+ check I am feeling the pain but it is the right thing to do) - the students need to be asked to pony up like they do at most other non p4 UCs to see if _THEY_ value this. And if they don't then we have to seriously ask about the university running a long standing structural deficit to carry out an activity that is for the benefit of the hobbyist alumni.

Here is information about the:

UCSD student fee.(https://summersession.ucsd.edu/tuition/tuition.html#Current-UC-San-Diego-Students--). $167 a quarter= 501 a year)

UCSB ($102.09 - called "facilities fee" (https://registrar.sa.ucsb.edu/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2023-2024cbf-fix.pdf?sfvrsn=4d7ea946_2)

UCI (https://www.reg.uci.edu/fees/2023-2024/undergrad_23.html) Campus Sprit Fees.

Someone else with more time can add in Davis and UCR and see if they can find anything from UCLA (who I don't believe imposes a fee).

Now it would be a lift but if Cal were able to pass an undergrad referendum equal to the UCSD number - 17.5 million in new money.

Now the likely result is that the referendum flames out tremendously. But I have come to the conclusion that this is OK> The University should be about the students. And if they don't value Bear athletic success to invest at the same level as the Tritons then maybe we should stop trying to get the dead corpse off the table.

While I am sure that Seb is going to chime in that this is made up - (https://www.si.com/college/oregon/news/oregon-ducks-ohio-state-buckeyes-nil-budgets-revealed-unfair-advantage-nebraska-college-football-big-ten) the programs that are committed to wining have NIL annual budgets at 23 million. That amount of fundraising boggles the mind. And yet that is what it _currently_ takes to compete with the big boys. It also boggles the mind why we can't have a rational discussion about alternative paths forward without retreating into sad arguments about stadium debts or being "relevant".

PS. (Shameless plug). For those that want an alternative place to support students for whom you probably can continue to "cheer" consider supporting SEED (https://seedscholars.berkeley.edu/program). I am frankly going to say that those kids are closer to the actual mission of the university and deserve just as much support (or more) than guys that can throw a mean down field block,.

---

Asking students from low income families and taking financial aid to subsidize a scholarship for men's rowing or women's gymnastics is a complete non-starter. If I'm on financial aid, I'd be pissed that I had to pay for someone else's education. The kids are already in enough debt when they leave school, let's not increase that burden.

golden sloth said:

---

socaltownie said:

---

WIAF writes (and lots of Shock as well)

"That is not say Cal doesn't still isn't in trouble, but that Cal is in the same trouble as many other schools. The biggest delta is the $20 million plus in revenues will need to be used to fund school NIL payments every year. The answer tor most schools, will be to cut non-revenue sports that run deficits."



I guess the problem that I have with this is that it doesn't feel like this gets you to 20M. Maybe to 5 to 7 but with a ton of blood left on the field and a huge time suck dealing with vocal (and well positioned) givers that care about particular sports or other political considerations that are really hard nuts to crack. (happy to elaborate).

IMHO (as someone who just wrote a 24K+ check I am feeling the pain but it is the right thing to do) - the students need to be asked to pony up like they do at most other non p4 UCs to see if _THEY_ value this. And if they don't then we have to seriously ask about the university running a long standing structural deficit to carry out an activity that is for the benefit of the hobbyist alumni.

Here is information about the:

UCSD student fee.(https://summersession.ucsd.edu/tuition/tuition.html#Current-UC-San-Diego-Students--). $167 a quarter= 501 a year)

UCSB ($102.09 - called "facilities fee" (https://registrar.sa.ucsb.edu/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2023-2024cbf-fix.pdf?sfvrsn=4d7ea946_2)

UCI (https://www.reg.uci.edu/fees/2023-2024/undergrad_23.html) Campus Sprit Fees.

Someone else with more time can add in Davis and UCR and see if they can find anything from UCLA (who I don't believe imposes a fee).

Now it would be a lift but if Cal were able to pass an undergrad referendum equal to the UCSD number - 17.5 million in new money.

Now the likely result is that the referendum flames out tremendously. But I have come to the conclusion that this is OK> The University should be about the students. And if they don't value Bear athletic success to invest at the same level as the Tritons then maybe we should stop trying to get the dead corpse off the table.

While I am sure that Seb is going to chime in that this is made up - (https://www.si.com/college/oregon/news/oregon-ducks-ohio-state-buckeyes-nil-budgets-revealed-unfair-advantage-nebraska-college-football-big-ten) the programs that are committed to wining have NIL annual budgets at 23 million. That amount of fundraising boggles the mind. And yet that is what it _currently_ takes to compete with the big boys. It also boggles the mind why we can't have a rational discussion about alternative paths forward without retreating into sad arguments about stadium debts or being "relevant".

PS. (Shameless plug). For those that want an alternative place to support students for whom you probably can continue to "cheer" consider supporting SEED (https://seedscholars.berkeley.edu/program). I am frankly going to say that those kids are closer to the actual mission of the university and deserve just as much support (or more) than guys that can throw a mean down field block,.

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Asking students from low income families and taking financial aid to subsidize a scholarship for men's rowing or women's gymnastics is a complete non-starter. If I'm on financial aid, I'd be pissed that I had to pay for someone else's education. The kids are already in enough debt when they leave school, let's not increase that burden.

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The non-revenue sports should go to an Ivy League model: Need-based scholarships, or scholarships funded by donors, only. $5 million contracts for abusive women's swimming coaches is hopefully a thing of the past.

Revenue sports should be outsourced to an alumni-controlled not-for profit with professional management and marketing. If players are eventually employees, they would be employed by the alumni-run organization, not the university.

As the AD would only be in charge of the non-revenue sports and facilities, they could be paid a reasonable academic administrator salary instead of $1.3 million with tons of lavish perks…

golden sloth said:

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socaltownie said:

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WIAF writes (and lots of Shock as well)

"That is not say Cal doesn't still isn't in trouble, but that Cal is in the same trouble as many other schools. The biggest delta is the $20 million plus in revenues will need to be used to fund school NIL payments every year. The answer tor most schools, will be to cut non-revenue sports that run deficits."



I guess the problem that I have with this is that it doesn't feel like this gets you to 20M. Maybe to 5 to 7 but with a ton of blood left on the field and a huge time suck dealing with vocal (and well positioned) givers that care about particular sports or other political considerations that are really hard nuts to crack. (happy to elaborate).

IMHO (as someone who just wrote a 24K+ check I am feeling the pain but it is the right thing to do) - the students need to be asked to pony up like they do at most other non p4 UCs to see if _THEY_ value this. And if they don't then we have to seriously ask about the university running a long standing structural deficit to carry out an activity that is for the benefit of the hobbyist alumni.

Here is information about the:

UCSD student fee.(https://summersession.ucsd.edu/tuition/tuition.html#Current-UC-San-Diego-Students--). $167 a quarter= 501 a year)

UCSB ($102.09 - called "facilities fee" (https://registrar.sa.ucsb.edu/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2023-2024cbf-fix.pdf?sfvrsn=4d7ea946_2)

UCI (https://www.reg.uci.edu/fees/2023-2024/undergrad_23.html) Campus Sprit Fees.

Someone else with more time can add in Davis and UCR and see if they can find anything from UCLA (who I don't believe imposes a fee).

Now it would be a lift but if Cal were able to pass an undergrad referendum equal to the UCSD number - 17.5 million in new money.

Now the likely result is that the referendum flames out tremendously. But I have come to the conclusion that this is OK> The University should be about the students. And if they don't value Bear athletic success to invest at the same level as the Tritons then maybe we should stop trying to get the dead corpse off the table.

While I am sure that Seb is going to chime in that this is made up - (https://www.si.com/college/oregon/news/oregon-ducks-ohio-state-buckeyes-nil-budgets-revealed-unfair-advantage-nebraska-college-football-big-ten) the programs that are committed to wining have NIL annual budgets at 23 million. That amount of fundraising boggles the mind. And yet that is what it _currently_ takes to compete with the big boys. It also boggles the mind why we can't have a rational discussion about alternative paths forward without retreating into sad arguments about stadium debts or being "relevant".

PS. (Shameless plug). For those that want an alternative place to support students for whom you probably can continue to "cheer" consider supporting SEED (https://seedscholars.berkeley.edu/program). I am frankly going to say that those kids are closer to the actual mission of the university and deserve just as much support (or more) than guys that can throw a mean down field block,.

---

Asking students from low income families and taking financial aid to subsidize a scholarship for men's rowing or women's gymnastics is a complete non-starter. If I'm on financial aid, I'd be pissed that I had to pay for someone else's education. The kids are already in enough debt when they leave school, let's not increase that burden.

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I get that. But your counterparts at UCI, UCSD and Davis _are_ doing that.

Cal athletes winning Olympic medals seems like a good time to ask people if they'd like to help subsidize athletics.

Been a while since I've been on here. But, may I ask why everyone is downplaying and dismissing Wilners analysis? He has the relevant information to make the conclusions he does. Certainly we will be helped by the UCLA $10 mil payment but there is a shortfall. Surely we have to be formulating a back up plan for 2026-2029 when the ACC is likely to change again.

philly, in ur absence wuz kinda hoping you wuz taking an online contracts class to help u better comprehend the acc gor which expires in 2037

calumnus said:

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How are we not in a worse financial position than any other Power 4 school?

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You're in a worse short term contract situation than any power 4 school other than SMU. But with the UCLA subsidy, the Athletic department will only be about $10 million short of the ACC schools next year. The Wilner article estimates ACC media distributions through 2036. If UCLA will continue to pay Cal subsidy through 2036 that's $120 million over the same period. That would leave what a $5-6 million shortage per year over the lifetime of the deal per Wilner calculations(which I am not going to try to check by the way)? I'm sure that department will be able to manage that. And the alternative was not being a power 4 school at all.

Shocky1 said:

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philly, in ur absence wuz kinda hoping you wuz taking an online contracts class to help u better comprehend the acc gor which expires in 2037

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trying to do get around to doing that correspondance course via the Carribbean. But it doesn't take a Rhodes Scholar to know that GoR ain't gonna be worth d*ck after 2029. But if you want to talk about what our media share might be in 2036, or what percentage of CFP dollars we'll be getting in 2035 when Vandy makes it to the playoffs, um, yeah....I guess we can talk about that.

philly, hope that carribean correspondence course stops in ibiza!....right now ima taking online classes from north new south hampshire university but they want another 45 dollahs for the mounted credit certification diploma in 21st century tax evasion which kinda seems like a rip off or something

but agreed that wilner's numbers re: the cal athletic department annual operating costs deficit suggest absolute abysmal financial mismanagement by the con artist who don't gotta plan for anything outside of his primary biz of flipping homes in colorado springs...the truth is that cal won't have a football program in 2029 or 2036 if there's no money left and/or they fail to win on the football field, the future of the acc is not gonna be the toppling domino for the bears if that comes to fruition

blackyce, ur math is beyond breaking bad inaccurate but that's ok...much more importantly on the exciting upcoming auburn roadtrip me & slim wadie got tee times at coore & crenshaw's new wicker point on lake martin, shoal creek & the country club of birmingham west, do u got any opinions of them courses?...also how is sam jackson balling out this fall & where is he on the tigers wr depth chart??

I dunno man. For all the money I've spent, saying my degree is geared towards accounting in Florida, Sweden and the Caymen Islands. I don't think they're telling me the truth.

Here's some questions that perhaps you, wiaf or calumnus can answer:

Does Lyons have a good strategic parntership with Knowlton? If not, will he seek to replace him?

Its only been a little over a months since Lyons officially took over. I wonder how the Athletic Dept. budget looks to his eyes.

6956bear said:

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wifeisafurd said:

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sycasey said:

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sosheezy said:

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My biggest concern was Wilner's analysis/interpretation that we are giving back 2/3 of the ACC Network revenue too, in additional to the base media revenue. I had heard/read/understood/wishcasted that Cal was keeping full shares of ACC Network revenue as well as postseason distributions, and that just the base ESPN revenue was subject to the 2/3 give back.

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I also thought that was the case. The reporting was that it was 2/3 of the Tier 1 revenue. Maybe the contract also includes ACC Network (which is Tier 2)?

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Cal and Stanford will get a 30% tier 1 share in the first seven years, followed by 70% in year eight and 75% in year nine before getting the full amount. SMU foregoes all tier 1 revenues for 9 years. All three schools will immediately get full revenue shares from the ACC Network, the College Football Playoff, bowl games and NCAA men's basketball tournament units.

Wilner, who has a degree in accounting and a law degree from no where and clearly is out of his area of expertise doesn't understand what he is talking about. There is a plan in place whereby Cal will be made whole by UCLA and UC for lost tier 1 media revenue. Some of the plan has not been announced and formally voted upon.

The strangeness of all this is that this information was out there for some time (almost a year) so I don't know why Wilner's article is newsworthy:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/acc-stanford-cal-2/3308750/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_kntv_eml_shr

Then there is the added benefit that Wilner misinterprets the actual agreement. I could go on, but the take away should be you take your chances when you rely on Wilner.

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An obvious key point for the short term. But it seems to me that longer term the revenues are going to need to increase and expenses reduced. Program/staff cutting seems inevitable on the expense side.

Investment in the revenue sports to improve performance and make them attractive to TV and the new world order of college athletics also seems likely. Relying on just the HC to drive performance in the revenue sports has not worked and likely won't going forward. Real investment in these sports is a requirement. Cal needs to make the cut for the likely realignment coming. That realignment seems more likely to be 2026 than 2036.

Attendance has to improve. Winning is the big driver but marketing must be improved. The point about free tickets to students is good advice IMO. They can be future stakeholders but must be cultivated. And of course more students improve the gameday experience and can be very helpful in creating a hostile environemnt for opponents improving the home teams chances for victory. There are other things they can do and need to be explored.

Cal cannot just do things as they have always done. They must change. Or end up as OSU and WSU. It is a difficult time for Cal athletics to be sure, but not a final nail in the coffin. Unless of course they fail to change. The short term solutions provided by Calimony and UC give them a shot. I hope they make the most of it.

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Given that Cal has to come-up with $20 million plus in NIL paid by Cal to be competitive in the post House settlement world, I just don't see the numbers working without eliminating a fair number of the non-revenue sports, AD department cuts and other measures. And that includes donors coming-up with NIL, and the collective being an additive to House settlement NIL. This is what happens when you don't make hard decisions so that football was properly funded in the first place to make Cal sufficiently attractive for the B1G.. The situation is bad enough without dumping on the cost of conference realignment, which hopefully is being accounted for in other ways.

wifeisafurd said:

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6956bear said:

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wifeisafurd said:

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sycasey said:

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sosheezy said:

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My biggest concern was Wilner's analysis/interpretation that we are giving back 2/3 of the ACC Network revenue too, in additional to the base media revenue. I had heard/read/understood/wishcasted that Cal was keeping full shares of ACC Network revenue as well as postseason distributions, and that just the base ESPN revenue was subject to the 2/3 give back.

---

I also thought that was the case. The reporting was that it was 2/3 of the Tier 1 revenue. Maybe the contract also includes ACC Network (which is Tier 2)?

---

Cal and Stanford will get a 30% tier 1 share in the first seven years, followed by 70% in year eight and 75% in year nine before getting the full amount. SMU foregoes all tier 1 revenues for 9 years. All three schools will immediately get full revenue shares from the ACC Network, the College Football Playoff, bowl games and NCAA men's basketball tournament units.

Wilner, who has a degree in accounting and a law degree from no where and clearly is out of his area of expertise doesn't understand what he is talking about. There is a plan in place whereby Cal will be made whole by UCLA and UC for lost tier 1 media revenue. Some of the plan has not been announced and formally voted upon.

The strangeness of all this is that this information was out there for some time (almost a year) so I don't know why Wilner's article is newsworthy:
https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/acc-stanford-cal-2/3308750/?_osource=db_npd_nbc_kntv_eml_shr

Then there is the added benefit that Wilner misinterprets the actual agreement. I could go on, but the take away should be you take your chances when you rely on Wilner.

---

An obvious key point for the short term. But it seems to me that longer term the revenues are going to need to increase and expenses reduced. Program/staff cutting seems inevitable on the expense side.

Investment in the revenue sports to improve performance and make them attractive to TV and the new world order of college athletics also seems likely. Relying on just the HC to drive performance in the revenue sports has not worked and likely won't going forward. Real investment in these sports is a requirement. Cal needs to make the cut for the likely realignment coming. That realignment seems more likely to be 2026 than 2036.

Attendance has to improve. Winning is the big driver but marketing must be improved. The point about free tickets to students is good advice IMO. They can be future stakeholders but must be cultivated. And of course more students improve the gameday experience and can be very helpful in creating a hostile environemnt for opponents improving the home teams chances for victory. There are other things they can do and need to be explored.

Cal cannot just do things as they have always done. They must change. Or end up as OSU and WSU. It is a difficult time for Cal athletics to be sure, but not a final nail in the coffin. Unless of course they fail to change. The short term solutions provided by Calimony and UC give them a shot. I hope they make the most of it.

---

Given that Cal has to come-up with $20 million plus in NIL paid by Cal to be competitive in the post House settlement world, I just don't see the numbers working without eliminating a fair number of non-revenue sports, AD department cuts and other measures. And that includes donor coming up with NIL, and the collective being an additive to House settlement NIL. This is what happens when you don't make hard decisions so that football was properly funded in the first place to make Cal sufficiently attractive for the B1G.. The situation is bad enough without dumping on the cost of conference realignment.

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Yup.

philly1121 said:

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I dunno man. For all the money I've spent, saying my degree is geared towards accounting in Florida, Sweden and the Caymen Islands. I don't think they're telling me the truth.

Here's some questions that perhaps you, wiaf or calumnus can answer:

Does Lyons have a good strategic parntership with Knowlton? If not, will he seek to replace him?

Its only been a little over a months since Lyons officially took over. I wonder how the Athletic Dept. budget looks to his eyes.

---

Lyons is the CEO of a very large and very elite university with an annual budget that exceeds 3 billion dollars. He is smart enough to know that athletics is just one of a large number of pieces of this massive university, and that the AD has to run athletics capably with only minimal attention from the chancellor, or be replaced by someone who will.