Chris Murray

cmurray@rgj.com

A large-scope study of the Nevada and UNLV athletic departments commissioned by the Nevada Board of Regents in March has been completed and its overall findings aren’t a major surprise: If the departments want to be more consistently competitive in the Mountain West, it must increase revenue.

The 121-page study, which will be presented to the Regents on Nov. 28, was completed over the last seven months by College Sports Solutions (CSS), which was tasked with solving three questions.

1. Are Nevada and UNLV competitive in the MW and what are relevant factors of competitiveness?

2. Where do the schools rank relative to other MW members in relevant factors of competitiveness?

3. What investments would be required in order to increase their competitiveness in the MW?

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The study, which will cost up to $198,000 ($180,000 for the report; up to $18,000 for travel expenses), also looked into how Nevada and UNLV compared to schools in the Pac-12 and Big 12, which are both part of the money-rich Power 5 conferences. UNLV recently applied for entry in the Big 12 but did not make the first cut (the Big 12 ultimately chose not to expand). Money, or lack thereof, was a key theme of the study.

“Financial resource limitations have resulted in generally lower athletic budgets at UNLV and Nevada than MWC peers,” the report reads. “This is especially true at Nevada where athletic spending across several areas is consistently among the lowest in the MWC. … While the amount of athletic revenue and expense does not always correlate directly to competitive success, it can be a critical factor in maintaining quality coaches and recruiting top student-athletes.”

That study echoed the findings of an investigation into the Wolf Pack’s financial situation completed by the Reno Gazette-Journal in December. The CSS study provided four recommendations moving forward.

* Hiring and retention of quality coaches: When coaches demonstrate competitive success, it’s essential an investment is made to retain them to sustain long-term success and show institutional commitment.

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* Student-athlete experience: Focus on implementing a first-class student-athlete experience by building high-quality internal facilities, which oftentimes is more important than the primary competition venue.

* Revenue production: Focus on ways to enhance revenue bases, maximizing current revenue streams and identifying potential new revenue streams while continuing to rely on substantive university financial support. Moving budgets to a level at or above the MWC median should be a financial goal.

* Strategic planning: In the next five years, Nevada and UNLV must formulate and implement strategic plans to show institutional and athletic growth if there is interest in pursuing membership in a Power 5 conference.

The study reports Nevada had the lowest overall athletic budget in the MW ($27.01 million, compared to the league average of $36.88 million) and spent the second-fewest dollars on coaching salaries and bonuses ($10.16 million, compared to the league average of $13.32 million). The Wolf Pack also received the fewest university funds, third-fewest student fees and got the fewest overall subsidy revenue among MW schools.

The Wolf Pack also lags in ticket revenue, placing ninth out of 11 MW teams, although it did rank sixth in donations despite having the second-smallest number of development officers. It ranked seventh in generated revenue.

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“On average, over 45% of the revenue base of Mountain West athletic departments comes from subsidies provided by the university, either in the form of student fees or some other direct or indirect university support,” the report reads. “Both Nevada and UNLV have institutional subsidy levels that are below the conference average. Depending on institutional philosophy, there may be rationale for greater institutional support as part of an overall plan to spur competitiveness.”

In the two revenue sports – football and men’s basketball – Nevada also was behind the curve.

The average football budget in the MW is $10.04 million. The Wolf Pack spends a MW-low $7.02 million. In basketball, the MW average budget is $3.49 million. Nevada spends $2.51 million, the second-lowest figure in the MW. UNLV ranked sixth in football and third in basketball budget out of 11 MW schools.

Among MW teams in individual sport budgets, Nevada is last out of seven schools in baseball; eighth out of 11 in women’s basketball; sixth out of 10 in men’s golf; last out of nine in women’s golf; sixth out of 10 in women’s soccer; seventh out of nine in softball; seventh out of nine in women’s swimming and diving; sixth out of seven in men’s tennis; ninth out of 10 in women’s tennis; ninth our of 10 in volleyball.

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“The lack of financial resources was a frequently mentioned theme in interviews at both Nevada and UNLV,” the report reads. “The data clearly shows that Nevada lags behind its conference peers. With the exception of women’s soccer and a slight difference in women’s basketball, UNLV has higher expenditure levels than Nevada across Mountain West Conference sports where data is available.”

One area where the Wolf Pack exceeds the MW average is scholarships handed out. It ranks first in the MW in baseball, men’s basketball, men’s golf, men’s tennis and softball and is second in women’s track, women’s swimming and women’s basketball. The only sports where Nevada is below the median scholarships used is football, women’s golf and volleyball. Overall, Nevada spends the sixth-most money on scholarships in the MW.

The study found Nevada and UNLV’s key facilities, with planned improvements, are comparable to those at other MW schools. The report said both schools have some deficiencies but that generally is the case at several MW institutions. The study also founds there is a large gap between Nevada and UNLV and schools in the Pac-12 and Big-12 and there would need to be vast improvement academically and athletically for possible entry in those conferences.

Academically, Nevada ranked tied for fifth out of 11 MW schools in Graduation Success Rate and was middle of the pack in Academic Progress Report scores.

The three-person CSS team visited Nevada’s campus from June 15-17 and interviewed 22 people, including UNR president Marc Johnson, athletic director Doug Knuth, two donors (Mark Noble, Joe Bradley), four coaches (Brian Polian, Lee Nelson, Fred Harvey, Erin Otagaki) and three student-athletes (Austin Corbett, Madison Morell, Tara Park). Twenty-eight UNLV members were interviewed on its visit.

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The key takeaways from those interviews included:

* The Wolf Pack is still adjusting to new competitive environment in the MW.

* Budgets are small and resource limitations have kept competitive aspirations at a modest level.

* It’s important to have teams that compete hard and overachieve but it is equally important that these teams perform well academically and operate with integrity.

* Quality coaching hires have sometimes offset lack of funding.

* The overall campus has seen impressive facility growth but athletics improvements are more modest.

• The donor base is relatively small and, so far, the Reno market has not provided substantial opportunity for growth in athletics ancillary revenues.

* There are signs that the local economy is improving and diversifying which could provide an opportunity for revenue growth for athletics.

* A relatively small salary base makes it difficult to keep key personnel but high quality of life attributes of Reno/Tahoe area are a positive.

* Women’s sports programs could make competitive gains with a greater resource investment.

* Additional university financial commitment to athletics to spur competitive success seen as unlikely.

The Nevada Board of Regents athletics committee will go over the study during its Nov. 28 meeting for "review and possible approval."