With only a few professional teams across the commonwealth, college athletics are the biggest show in Kentucky.
And we get down to the financials behind it on this week's Access Louisville podcast. Josh Heird, athletic director for the University of Louisville, and Marc Hill, deputy athletic director for the University of Kentucky join the show as special guests, alongside Louisville Business First Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy and Managing Editor David A. Mann.
Making it even more special was the fact that we recorded the show in front of a live audience at the Baird Conference Center, located on the 29th floor of 500W Jefferson Street in Downtown Louisville. Baird is the sponsor of the Access Louisville podcast.
LBF's Stephen P. Schmidt recently wrote a big story on the financial landscape of college sports, which really served as the impetus for this show. On the program, we cover a range of topics and I've picked out a few selections below.
College athletic departments went into the red in order to create revenue sharing programs. When do they get back in the black?
Hill said UK went into the red for the first time recently, as a result of the revenue sharing program. But "we have a three-and-a-half year plan to come back get back in the black. We've been able to have some ventures on the league level in order to do that. We want to come back whole on the other side," he said.
Heird added that an athletic department has to be looked at holistically as a part of a University.
"I wish that the narrative would shift a little bit ... look, almost every athletic department is losing money. But it's a department within the university as a whole. So, what is the value of that department to the university," he asked. Adding that it's a question that the university leaders around the country are having to navigate right now.
Additional revenue sources for departments and contract lengths for college athletics
There's a lot of conversations out there on new revenue in the wake of new spending by departments.
"This industry is gonna get really creative — and has gotten really creative. And we're going to find all the opportunities we can," said Heird.
That said, the idea that millions of dollars are going to start raining down on athletics departments is in accurate, he added. For instance, some athletic departments are trying concerts in their stadiums — but that's only generating so much new revenue.
Hill added that UK doesn't want to put too much pressure on the backs of fans and supporters to generate new revenue.
Heird also touched on the controversial move this year to schedule the UK and UofL basketball game in November rather than December.
He explained that scheduling is a complicated process with a lot of different considerations — and it becomes even magnified when TV scheduling gets involved.
"I think everybody was mad just because it was different than it used to be," he said of this year's schedule. "At the end of the day, we want to play the University of Kentucky because our fans love it. I think there fans love it. I think it's good for the state."
We also chatted about the length of college player contracts — both officials explained why multi-year deals are not on the table at most negotiations. And we discussed the potential for congressional involvement in the college sports as a couple of competing pieces of legislation have made it to the desk of lawmakers.
You can hear more in the episode itself.
Access Louisville is a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First. You can follow it on popular podcast services including Apple Podcast and Spotify.