DESTIN, Fla. – One of the most intriguing questions that has been discussed among leaders at the annual SEC Spring meetings in Destin on Tuesday centers around how to continue creating revenue in this new world of collegiate athletics.
If you haven’t noticed, there’s a massive change on the horizon that will shake the college athletics foundation to its core. While school leaders try to figure out the answers to these questions about future revenue distribution, along with trying to enhance facilities to create more revenue, some are calling it like they see it.
One of those guys is Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts, who took the job in College Station, coming from leading the Nebraska program. As he joins a new conference, there are certain hurdles that will look the same as they did in the Big Ten. Right now, college leaders are trying to find the right answers to their questions on how these new rules will impact their institutions.
For Trev Alberts, he’s making sure that his fan base, along with others around the country are prepared for the obvious when it comes to this new era of sports. But at the end of the day, there will be consequences for the actions of trying to enhance or change different aspects of the business.
“It’s always easy to come up with a solution, then something happens,” Alberts noted. “Let’s just be honest, there’s going to be unintended consequences that come from this, and unintended consequences that we haven’t even thought of today. You have to take the first step, and we’re going to learn stuff along the way.
“We’re going to have to adjust and adapt. We’re gonna have to do tough stuff, it’s going to look different. But in the end, it’s gonna be ok, we’re gonna be ok.”
While the college athletics business model will look totally different over the next few years as new strategies are implemented, there has to be a cutback on ‘dumb expenses’. In a world that is led by revenue distribution within conferences and marketing to fan bases, Texas A&M athletic director Trev Alberts understands that he and his colleagues have to be better at handling expenses.
“We’re not very good at running good businesses, and I’m raising my hand as well,” Trev Alberts noted. “We’ve just always had enough increased revenue to overcome dumb expenses. We don’t have a revenue problem in athletics, we have an expense problem.”
Right there he nailed it, citing the expense problem in college athletics. And he’s not alone in this sentiment, as this will be one of a number of questions that are raised over the next nine to twelve months.
Schools have to find new ways to raise money for this change in direction, and I can promise you ESPN is not going to renegotiate a new television contract.
Good on Trev Alberts, he’s not afraid to call it like he sees it.