Latest from AD Kevin Seal

[Singeril]

Shocker Athletics Friends & Family, Over the last two years, we’ve connected with numerous Shocker Athletics supporters who passionately and loyally support our young people and programs. At the same time, several have expressed concern over the direction of intercollegiate athletics and how that will impact the Shockers. Issues such as cost of attendance, the transfer portal, Alston Educational funds, Name/Image/Likeness (NIL), and the pending House settlement create an unprecedented era of change in intercollegiate athletics.

While the changes are significant, I am confident that Wichita State will continue to compete for American Athletic Conference championships and NCAA postseason play in all our sports. Because we do not compete in football, we are uniquely positioned to resource our programs at a more advanced level than our competitive peers, regionally and nationally.

We have a unique opportunity to accelerate the growth of Shocker Athletics, even in the face of these challenging circumstances. The addition of women’s bowling to our department is just the beginning, and we are off to a great start. As we adapt to the evolving landscape of intercollegiate athletics, we will continue to prioritize strengthening our existing sports programs to ensure they remain competitive at the highest level.

To compete at the level of our collective expectations, Shocker Athletics, Wichita State University, and our community must develop $7 million in new recurring annual funding. Much of this expense is a result of the pending House settlement (House v. NCAA). The House settlement represents a proposed agreement that, if approved, would settle multiple class-action lawsuits to retroactively compensate student-athletes for lost revenue and provide a future model for sharing additional resources and revenue. Pending final approval in April 2025, there are three critical elements of the House settlement:

1. Retroactive NIL payments: Over the course of the next 10 years, the NCAA and membership conferences would pay $2.78 billion in backpay to student-athletes from 2016-present. The mechanism used to accomplish this backpay will be a reduction in NCAA funds annually remitted to member conferences and institutions. Shocker Athletics’ share of the reduction totals $650,000 annually for the next 10 years. 2. Revenue sharing: Beginning the 2025-26 academic year, it will be permissible for schools to share up to 22% of average revenue realized through specifically designated pathways (e.g., ticket sales, game guarantees, media rights, NCAA/AAC distributions, royalties, licensing, advertisements, sponsorships). Shocker Athletics’ estimated revenue share will total approximately a minimum of $2.6 million annually. 3. Elimination of scholarship limitations (roster maximums): The settlement essentially eliminates historical scholarship limitations in favor of establishing new roster limits whereby each institution is permitted to scholarship as many student-athletes as these new roster limits allow. While this model could effectively double Shocker Athletics’ scholarship expenditure, in recent months we’ve coordinated with our head coaches to determine a right-sized solution. Shocker Athletics’ estimated additional roster expense is approximately $2.5 million annually.

In addition to the mandatory retroactive NIL payments, Shocker Athletics will begin sharing revenue and establishing right-sized roster maximums in 2025. These steps are necessary to recruit and develop championship-level talent. Our administrative staff, university administration and coaches will work tirelessly to embrace new and innovative opportunities to thrive in our changing environment. Within the community, I am often asked, “How can we help?” or “How can we position our programs to compete at a higher level?” Shocker Athletics is blessed with some of the nation’s most supportive fans, alumni and donors. This support must continue to grow and reengage nationwide.

Please join us in support of Shocker Athletics in this new environment. Your season ticket purchases, donations to the scholarship organization, and gifts of time, talent and treasure are critical to our success. By attending games, purchasing season tickets, filling Charles Koch Arena, Eck Stadium, Wilkins Stadium and other venues, each and every one of you make a valued and sincerely appreciated impact on our ability to provide opportunities for our young people and compete for championships. Over the past two years, Shocker Athletics has actively pursued new revenue streams and enhanced our venues to be more fan-friendly. Shocker Athletics supplemented athletics department revenues through reduced price season tickets/concessions; elevated premium experiences, such as floor-level premium seating and hospitality in The Shocker Way Mezzanine; new lower-level seating configuration and options at Eck Stadium; hosting additional external events (The Basketball Tournament and Athletes Unlimited Softball.); and elevated philanthropic giving.

We intend to continue comprehensively evaluating our efforts and making adjustments that will allow for high-fan and -donor engagement across all of Shocker Nation while positioning us for excellence. Regardless of all the changes in our industry, as our staff walks through the halls of our Student-Athlete Center, practice facilities and team spaces, our mission remains clear: We develop a tremendous group of young people, in a formative time of their lives. Student-athletes are better prepared for the next 40 years of their lives because of their developmental experiences within our program. Changes to college athletics, such as revenue sharing and additional scholarships, offer athletic departments new opportunities to impact students and support their pursuit of education.

The experience of tomorrow’s Shockers will be forged by our collective efforts today. Their success is dependent on our ability to enhance revenue through both traditional and innovative methods. If you haven’t already, please consider purchasing season tickets in support of our five ticketed sports (women’s basketball, men’s basketball, baseball, softball and volleyball). These are significant ways you can help! As someone born and raised in Kansas, it has always been clear to me that Wichita excels at positioning itself at the forefront of change. Through ingenuity, innovation and adaptation, the spirit of Wichita consistently forges a pathway to excel through change. I believe we will do so again in this case.

Kevin Saal
Wichita State University
Director of Athletics

[1972Shocker]

To compete at the level of our collective expectations, Shocker Athletics, Wichita State University, and our community must develop $7 million in new recurring annual funding.

Seems like a very significant challenge.

We know our ticket revenue has been in decline in recent years. What do we know about the prospects for our AAC media rights?

[RoyalShock]

Saal did the best he could to put hope into that statement.

But unless there are some big donors who have been holding back, I don't see getting anywhere close to an additional $7 mil annually in the current state of everything.

[SubGod22]

Any hope for that kind of extra money revolves around having high level basketball and we haven't had that in a number of years.

[BAShocker]

Am I reading this right? Retroactive NIL payments…I mean, seriously?

Hey, I’ll take some retroactive bonus payments from my former employer too…geez.

[Singeril]

Am I reading this right? Retroactive NIL payments…I mean, seriously?

Hey, I’ll take some retroactive bonus payments from my former employer too…geez.

I'm wondering the same thing...this is what hit me the most as well. Do the players then have to retroactively return their scholarship since they are now professionals?

[WuShock Reaper]

I think the WSU Athletic Department is going to need to consider this path forward as well...

[WuDrWu]

I wonder how they will decide who gets what? The NCAA is going to lose this, so they will withhold 650K from our revenue from them each year for the next 10?

I'm not complaining, I just want to understand. The NCAA is back paying the student athletes?


Also, can we apply this thinking to say, forgiving student loans? Go back to the schools instead of people that did pay their bills or even worse didn't go to college?


I feel like in the not too distant future, people will take their toys and go home. And by people I mean supporters of college athletics, and by toys I mean their money.




Maybe I'm wrong. I not sure I want to be wrong, and I'm not sure I want to be right.


Maybe our money should be redirected to those a little more needy and a little less for us to enjoy. I don't know.


$80 for an extra ticket to the KState game. $20K for season basketball tickets. $3k for a parking pass (in a half empty lot) $3K for AA Club plus Battery Club. $5-10K in auction items. Season tickets to 3 or 4 different sports.

$5 water. Sponsor home runs. Free Throws, 3 pointers.

Oh yeah, NIL.

Every. Single. Month. Of. Every. Single. Year.


Don't get me wrong....I love this kids we get to know. I want them to succeed, and not just this season either.

[ShockBand]

[Maizerunner08]

I’m all for supporting student athletes, but at this point let’s call them what they are - employees of the university. They are paid brand ambassadors for universities who are good at playing a sport. Also, I don’t see how there is a chance in hell there is 7 mil raised annually. Does anyone know a leprechaun?

To me, this is just one big bidding for the best employees, just like any job market. We are the small mom n pop grocery store and university of Alabama is Walmart.

[ShockBand]

So if that additional funding isn't there, what is the direction we take? How many other college athletic programs will be in the same boat we might be in? It seems unless you are a college athletic program with a stable group of well-heeled donors (who also are OK with the ups and downs of athletic success), being truly competitive at the upper level of D1 athletics might be a serious challenge. It seems that maybe thanks to the NIL litigation that swung the barn door open, the small handful of the truly top level money schools will get what they want. Able to do what they want, and be damned everyone else. But if it gets down to where there are only a few dozen of those schools (at most), does the college game still hold the same interest? I know the time I spend watching college sports is way down. Even teams I have an interest in don't garner my end to end game attention anymore. I'm finding I'd rather listen to music, or watch a show or movie, or read.

I imagine the form and shape of college athletics will be quite different by the end of this decade. Maybe that prediction will be wrong. Who knows.

[shocker43]

I believe the athletes should be paid. But, there will have to be some substantial changes to the college athletics if there's any hope for it's survival. Scholarships need to be treated like contracts that are tied to students academic standing with the university. There needs to be a salary roster cap.

I don't really have an issue with no scholarship caps. There can only be so many people on the court at a time. Kids like HB shouldn't have to give up his scholarship, that he has earned and has been a good steward of the university, so another kid can have a scholarship. The NCAA forcing the schools to foot the bill because they lost a lawsuit concerning their rules and governing body is asinine to me.

[1972Shocker]

The only way I see to play in this sand box is to have the real big boys in Wichita willing to fund a $100-$150 million endowment, the investment income from which could provided these "needed" additional funds on an annual basis. That kind of money exists in Wichita. Whether or not the motivation and willingness to deploy that kind of money for this purpose is an unknown (at least its unknown to me).

[WuDrWu]

I believe the athletes should be paid. But, there will have to be some substantial changes to the college athletics if there's any hope for it's survival. Scholarships need to be treated like contracts that are tied to students academic standing with the university. There needs to be a salary roster cap.

I don't really have an issue with no scholarship caps. There can only be so many people on the court at a time. Kids like HB shouldn't have to give up his scholarship, that he has earned and has been a good steward of the university, so another kid can have a scholarship. The NCAA forcing the schools to foot the bill because they lost a lawsuit concerning their rules and governing body is asinine to me.

I believe the student athletes should be allowed to GET paid. Not BE paid. But here's where common sense departs from reality (not yours). Literally no one is paying for, let's say, track and field. Now, I love track, and I will pay attention and follow it for WSU because I like Bolt and his staff and I like the sport. But if it goes away tomorrow, I won't lose an ounce of sleep. And neither will anyone else. It's friends and family only. Always has been and always will be. It, and almost every other sport is paid for by men's basketball and football. Everything else, basically everywhere, is a money vacuum. BUT Title IX.

Fair is fair. I think we're going to find out "fair" means nothing for everyone. Let the University fund the school expenses, tuition, books, housing etc and then we'll fund the athletics part.

But I doubt the U will give up their nest egg.

[Stickboy46]

I believe the athletes should be paid. But, there will have to be some substantial changes to the college athletics if there's any hope for it's survival. Scholarships need to be treated like contracts that are tied to students academic standing with the university. There needs to be a salary roster cap.

I don't really have an issue with no scholarship caps. There can only be so many people on the court at a time. Kids like HB shouldn't have to give up his scholarship, that he has earned and has been a good steward of the university, so another kid can have a scholarship. The NCAA forcing the schools to foot the bill because they lost a lawsuit concerning their rules and governing body is asinine to me.

Right now its the pro model with out any of the model constraints that makes it work. I have no problem with paying players, but like you said, they should be contracts. There should be negotiated salary caps. There should be equal revenue sharing among member universities for core revenue. All those things are what maintain a relative balance at the pro level. Right now we don't have any of that.