Chris Murray

cmurray@rgj.com

The Nevada Board of Regents in March commissioned a study by College Sports Solutions (CSS) to investigate whether the Nevada and UNLV athletic departments are competitive in the Mountain West and what steps would be required for a potential move into Power 5 conferences like the Pac-12 and Big 12.

The study is being asked to solve 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?

“We hired CSS at the March meeting and they finalized the contract and will be out at the athletic departments of both universities and gathering up all the data on the other schools and preparing a report for us,” said Regent Jason Geddes, who represents Pershing and Washoe Counties.

The fight to fund the Wolf Pack's future

A recent Reno Gazette-Journal analysis of Nevada’s athletic budget shows the Wolf Pack’s annual budget is $27.3 million, the second lowest in the 12-team MW, ahead of only Utah State ($25.1 million). Conference foes New Mexico ($47.2 million), San Diego State ($47.0 million), Air Force ($46.6 million) and Boise State ($45.7 million) all dwarf Nevada’s budget. The conference average is $38.4 million. UNLV's budget is around $44 million, according to the 2014 NCAA Financial Reports.

Additionally, the Wolf Pack receives the least state/institutional support of the MW schools. Nevada gets $9.2 million annually from those sources (33.7 percent of its budget). The average state/university money for the other 10 full-time league members is $15.4 million (40.2 percent of their overall budget).

UNLV isn’t in quite as sticky a predicament in funding, however the Rebels said at the Board of Regent's meeting last week they are projecting a $1 million deficit this season with the figure potentially rising to $4 million.

The study commissioned by the Regents highlights eight “factors of competitiveness.” They include:

1. Institutional profile (number of students; number of facility; total institutional budget; state support)

2. Athletic census (number of male, female and total athletes; number of programs sponsored)

3. Athletics expenses (total athletic budgets; expenses per athlete; budget for male and female athletic programs; expenses for football and men’s basketball)

4. Athletic revenues (total athletic revenue; revenue per athlete and for male and female programs)

5. Administrative support (number of coaches for male and female sports; total coaches; number of employees in compliance, marketing, athletic medicine, student support services and strength and conditioning)

6. Academic performance (Academic Progress Rate and Graduation Success Rate compared to the MW average)

7. Scholarship awards (number of male, female and all athletes receiving athletic scholarships; spending per athlete on food/nutrition; noting any trends in spending for cost of attendance)

8. Athletic facilities (review and analysis of the primary athletics facilities used by the institutions)

The study, which will cull information from every MW school, is being used to get more information about the current standing for Nevada and UNLV in the MW. UNLV was a charter member of the conference, whereas Nevada joined in 2012 and generally sits at the bottom of the league in budget, number of sports sponsored and athletic facilities. In addition to receiving relatively little state money, it ranks 10th out of 12 MW schools in ticket revenue/private donations.

The study is expected to be completed by September and presented to the Regents in November.

“It will tell us how much we need or what we need to be competitive and then we need to talk about state funds, we need booster donations to go way up, potentially student fees, although that’s probably the least likely along with state funds,” Geddes said. “There’s the issue of cost of attendance and there might be something we can ask for from the state based on seeing what other Mountain West Conference programs have done with their states. This should give us a good baseline on other Mountain West Conference schools.”

An optional phase of the study would be to look at how Nevada and UNLV compare to Pac-12 and Big 12 schools and what would be required to make them competitive and attractive to those leagues, which pull in about $20 million per school per season on television contracts.

“We want to get a sense of what the financial resources are to first and foremost be competitive in the Mountain West Conference and then look at a road map if there’s going to be any additional expansion,” Geddes said.