Latest from AD Kevin Seal

[WuShock16]

Let’s say that it’s deemed not feasible to continue Athletics at its current path. What would be most palatable?

D1 at lower-level conference. I’m not sure that the Valley is the answer for that only because it has moved eastward. Missouri State won’t be part of it after this school year, so other than the Iowa schools, everything else is on the other side of the Show Me State. Do you go for The Summit? It is all Midwest other than Denver. I know, I know. Our days of national relevance would be over, but we might already be there, so…

D2. If the power schools separate, is there really a difference between the Omahas/Denvers/Dakota schools and the Hays/Emporia/Washburn types? Expenses would go way down, but the revenue would as well, so…

Eliminate Athletics all together. On one hand, this would absolutely suck. But on the other hand, I’m not sure it would be much worse than slipping down to a lower-level. I think as long as college athletics is a thing, there will have to be some market for schools like WSU, so I don't think we’ll get to this nuclear option. I don’t know. This all sucks, so…

[Aargh]

If that $650,000 a year for all D1 schools is challenged in court, there is no way it can stand up. 364 D1 schools paying $650,000 a year for 10 years is $2.4 billion. That's almost the entire amount of the settlement and it is incredibly Socialist.

It doesn't take into consideration the reasonable amounts players could have earned through NLI over the past 10 years. Football players in the power conferences would have had the huge bulk of those after-the-fact NLI assessments. Without football, WSU should have a much smaller % of NLI obligations. There are 22 starters in football and 5 in basketball. That alone should put WSU's after-the-fact obligation at less than 1/4 of what programs with football should pay.

The media rights from sports should have a direct correlation to NLI opportunities for the athletes. Football is by far the highest media revenue producer, so football should have a proportionally higher % of NLI obligations, per player, than basketball.

The current proposal has all the non-power conference schools subsidizing the power conference schools. When you rob Peter to pay Paul, it doesn't matter which one of them started with more wealth. Either way it's a Socialist solution.

[Onegreatracer]

I have no interest in WSU trying to compete at any level that isn’t the highest possible, and I hope our admin feels the same and finds a way to get it done. Once you step away from doing that, it is a damn near impossible climb back up.

[rjl]

If that $650,000 a year for all D1 schools is challenged in court, there is no way it can stand up. 364 D1 schools paying $650,000 a year for 10 years is $2.4 billion. that' almost the entire amount of the settlement and it is incredibly Socialist.

It dpesn't take into consideration the reasonable amounts players could have earned through NLI over the past 10 years. Football players in the power conferences would have had the huge bulk of those after-the-fact NLI assessments. Without football, WSU should have a mucj\h smaller % of NLI obligations. There are 22 starters in football and 5 in basketball. That alone should put WSU's after-the-fact obligation at less than 1/4 of what programs with fpootball should pay.

The media rights from sports should have a direct correlation to NLI opportunities for the athletes. Football is by far the highest media revenue producer, so football should have a proportionally higher % of NLI obligations, per player, than basketball.

The current proposal has all the non-power conference schools subsidizing the power conference schools. When you rob Peter to pay Paul, it doesn't matter which one of them started with more wealth. Either way it's a Socialist solution.

This is a settlement of a class action. Once the settlement is reached, it's subject to court approval. So long as both the NCAA and the representative plaintiff agree, the Court will most likely approve the settlement.

$650k is what WSU's calculated annual payment is. Schools with D1 football programs probably have to pay substantially more on an annual basis.

[Stickboy46]

If that $650,000 a year for all D1 schools is challenged in court, there is no way it can stand up. 364 D1 schools paying $650,000 a year for 10 years is $2.4 billion. That's almost the entire amount of the settlement and it is incredibly Socialist.

It doesn't take into consideration the reasonable amounts players could have earned through NLI over the past 10 years. Football players in the power conferences would have had the huge bulk of those after-the-fact NLI assessments. Without football, WSU should have a much smaller % of NLI obligations. There are 22 starters in football and 5 in basketball. That alone should put WSU's after-the-fact obligation at less than 1/4 of what programs with football should pay.

The media rights from sports should have a direct correlation to NLI opportunities for the athletes. Football is by far the highest media revenue producer, so football should have a proportionally higher % of NLI obligations, per player, than basketball.

The current proposal has all the non-power conference schools subsidizing the power conference schools. When you rob Peter to pay Paul, it doesn't matter which one of them started with more wealth. Either way it's a Socialist solution.

Bolded part has always bothered me since it was announced. The lawyers are "representing" the whole NCAA but in reality most of them have ties to the P5 schools. The majority of the payout is paid by non-p5 schools when the majority of the value that was gained by what was considered "wrongdoing" in this case was gained by the P5 schools.

[shoxlax]

Lol, I meant the message from Saal, not from some place else. That was the most despondent pep talk I’ve ever seen.

The good news I guess is there probably 300 schools as bad or much worse than up.

[pogo]

I have no interest in WSU trying to compete at any level that isn’t the highest possible, and I hope our admin feels the same and finds a way to get it done. Once you step away from doing that, it is a damn near impossible climb back up.

I agree with this 100%. I appreciate the letter as much as it was intended to be a wake up call to all of the supporters of WSU. Unlike our previous AD ADKS has fired the first shot to wake the supporters to what seems to be a dire situation and not a death knell for athletics at WSU. It would be wonderful if as some have intimated that some of the well heeled supporters should pony up and form an endowment to cover these new expenses now and into the future. I'm sure that most if not all of those folks have been contacted and they are thinking over the possibilities as to how they may be involved. Much like the notice of the newest version of the Wheat Shocker collective was announced with a goal of 1,000 giving to the collective on a monthly/annual basis. This is a nice start but to be truly successful I feel any effort to accumulate say 150 million as was suggested earlier in this discussion it needs to come from three pillars of support.
1. Wichita State University Undoubtedly the University contributes a great deal in support of Athletics at WSU but they need to do more and not just by raising a fee to support Athletics on an already high rate of tuition. Perhaps a no fee for for tuition allowed for all scholarship athletes this would relieve the Athletic office from this financial burden.
2. Alumni/Supporters We already do a decent job of supporting albeit not as good as we have in the hey day of basketball and baseball but still pretty good owing to the recent lack of success on the court and or the field. We can't let our pessimism of the recent past obscure our hopes for the future of WSU athletics. Buy a ticket to an event or check into joining the NIL collective. I certainly don't expect a few large donors to pay my way in support of WSU. It would be nice to have them in the fold though.
3. The city of Wichita The city council should some how find a way to band together and find a means to give MORE in the way of financial support for a nationally recognized educational and research facility that brings notice and MONEY from around the globe to Wichita. Just the student population that spends money each day in Wichita for food and shelter is valued. I sent a proposal to a city commissioner that I know about my idea of adding to the hotel tax that would impact only those staying in Wichita and could perhaps be extended to include all of Sedgwick County. I received a very speedy reply the following day thanking me and noted I had made some interesting points. That was 10 months ago and as some posters are fond of saying "crickets"

As some one pointed out earlier about an endowment set up to finance the expected expenses is really the best option since it would ensure a secure financial future rather than the annual "Save the Wings" fund raisers and we all know how that ended. I'm sure there are others here that have better ideas on how to achieve the fiscal goals so these are just a few of my own.

It took someone like Dr. Bardo with his vision of an Innovative Campus and support from others to become a reality. I think that the three entities listed above working together to raise the necessary funds that a different kind of vision can be achieved. Go Shocks

[Kung Wu]

College sports has been the major stepping stone for nearly all athletes to make it pro. But the amateurs that think they are already pro while in college want to get paid. If the college system crashes, it will be because amateur athletes want and have been awarded something they don't deserve. And the future for all athletes will go from an amazing, paid-for college experience to pretty boring, unattended semi-pro leagues across all sports. The 97% that don't make it into the pros will have nothing to fall back on either, and will end up probably going to college anyway, except now they will be paying dearly for it and amassing mounds of federal student loan debt.

[ShockBand]

I agree with this 100%. I appreciate the letter as much as it was intended to be a wake up call to all of the supporters of WSU. Unlike our previous AD ADKS has fired the first shot to wake the supporters to what seems to be a dire situation and not a death knell for athletics at WSU. It would be wonderful if as some have intimated that some of the well heeled supporters should pony up and form an endowment to cover these new expenses now and into the future. I'm sure that most if not all of those folks have been contacted and they are thinking over the possibilities as to how they may be involved. Much like the notice of the newest version of the Wheat Shocker collective was announced with a goal of 1,000 giving to the collective on a monthly/annual basis. This is a nice start but to be truly successful I feel any effort to accumulate say 150 million as was suggested earlier in this discussion it needs to come from three pillars of support.
1. Wichita State University Undoubtedly the University contributes a great deal in support of Athletics at WSU but they need to do more and not just by raising a fee to support Athletics on an already high rate of tuition. Perhaps a no fee for for tuition allowed for all scholarship athletes this would relieve the Athletic office from this financial burden.
2. Alumni/Supporters We already do a decent job of supporting albeit not as good as we have in the hey day of basketball and baseball but still pretty good owing to the recent lack of success on the court and or the field. We can't let our pessimism of the recent past obscure our hopes for the future of WSU athletics. Buy a ticket to an event or check into joining the NIL collective. I certainly don't expect a few large donors to pay my way in support of WSU. It would be nice to have them in the fold though.
3. The city of Wichita The city council should some how find a way to band together and find a means to give MORE in the way of financial support for a nationally recognized educational and research facility that brings notice and MONEY from around the globe to Wichita. Just the student population that spends money each day in Wichita for food and shelter is valued. I sent a proposal to a city commissioner that I know about my idea of adding to the hotel tax that would impact only those staying in Wichita and could perhaps be extended to include all of Sedgwick County. I received a very speedy reply the following day thanking me and noted I had made some interesting points. That was 10 months ago and as some posters are fond of saying "crickets"

As some one pointed out earlier about an endowment set up to finance the expected expenses is really the best option since it would ensure a secure financial future rather than the annual "Save the Wings" fund raisers and we all know how that ended. I'm sure there are others here that have better ideas on how to achieve the fiscal goals so these are just a few of my own.

It took someone like Dr. Bardo with his vision of an Innovative Campus and support from others to become a reality. I think that the three entities listed above working together to raise the necessary funds that a different kind of vision can be achieved. Go Shocks

There is already a 1.5 mill levy on Sedgwick County residents for WSU. It appears that it generates about 11 million in revenue, with the bulk of the funds used towards student support and capital improvements, one of which appears to be the University Stadium project. Would there be the political will to push for an additional 0.5 or 1.0 mills specifically to support athletics?

https://www.sedgwickcounty.org/media/67000/wichita-state-university.pdf

[yerpastor]

If I'm AD Saal, I'm on the phone right now with the Koch family and/or FVV and trying to garner as much support as possible. They have the money I'd imagine. Why not reach out to them, and others in similar situations?

[Dan]

It is frustrating and not sustainable, not just at WSU, but at a lot of schools across the country. I have a feeling we're about 2 years from the dominos starting to fall. There's only so many multi-millionaire/billionaire alumni willing to continually fork over money for zero return, just to pay college athletes. It's one thing if your donations go towards new facilities, etc., but to pay college athletes is something a lot of smart, successful business people can't get behind.

I don't think it's a matter of the Big 5 breaking away and forming their own conference. They are just going to continue hand picking teams until there is a Big 2 and watch the others whither away.

As for rules for keeping a certain number of sports in order to participate in the NCAA, this has to be a joke now, right? The rules have substantially changed. Surely someone will challenge this in court and the NCAA will lose once again. At some point, the NCAA will have to change the rules of membership or it will just totally dissolve.

[WuDrWu]

.................................................T he 97% that don't make it into the pros will have nothing to fall back on either, and will end up probably going to college anyway, except now they will be paying dearly for it and amassing mounds of federal student loan debt.

So what you're saying is either way, we'll pay for it.

[WuShock Reaper]

Lol, I meant the message from Saal, not from some place else. That was the most despondent pep talk I’ve ever seen.

The good news I guess is there probably 300 schools as bad or much worse than up.

[Kung Wu]

So what you're saying is either way, we'll pay for it.