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Spartans Athletic Director Bill Beekman joins Russ White for an update on all things MSU Athletics on this edition of the MSU Today podcast.
Show Notes
“It has been a very active year for us,” Beekman tells White. “With the challenges of the pandemic we've been facing, it really is quite extraordinary. Our team has done a really special job. I would be remiss to not acknowledge the work of our athletic trainers as the sort of frontline workers in athletics. They have administered literally thousands and thousands of COVID tests, and they've provided athletic training support to over 700 athletes whose schedules were really compressed. With the exception of football, most were compressed into a very, very narrow window with all of our sports being in competition between January and now of 2021.
“We are very happy and lucky that we were able to get every team into competition, with the exception of women's gymnastics. Every other team had the ability to compete despite cancellations and postponements. I'm very excited that so far we have two Big Ten Championship teams; our women's cross country team, and most recently our women's golf team with a great win.
“I just can't thank our team enough. They've been so adaptable and nimble in trying to get things into the right place so that our student athletes could have every opportunity to compete. Much of our budget is tied to football. When we didn't have spectators in the stands for football and we were forced to reduce our number of games from a 12-game schedule to a nine-game schedule and then several of our games ended up being canceled due to pandemic related issues, that really affected our revenue stream. Our revenue decreased by about $80 million this year. We lost over half of our revenue and had to adapt very, very quickly.
“In the Athletic Department, we don't receive any revenue from the university in terms of tuition dollars or state appropriation. All of the money that is spent in Athletics is generated through Athletics. Much of that comes from television and ticket revenue, including seat premiums and the premium seating areas. When you buy a t-shirt with an MSU logo on it, the licensing component part of that comes to Athletics. When you see advertisements in the football program or hear them on the radio or see them on the video boards in the stadium, that revenue comes into Athletics for the rights fees paid for those commercials that you see. All of that comes in to fund the department.
“There are only about 25 schools in the entire country that can make that claim, that they are 100 percent sort of floating on their own bottom. To me, given my history largely on the academic side of the university house, I think it's very important that tuition and the appropriation go to academic purposes and our academic mission to keep that part of our university as strong as it possibly can be.
“We are very happy and lucky that we were able to get every team into competition, with the exception of women's gymnastics. Every other team had the ability to compete despite cancellations and postponements. I'm very excited that so far we have two Big Ten Championship teams; our women's cross country team, and most recently our women's golf team with a great win.
“I just can't thank our team enough. They've been so adaptable and nimble in trying to get things into the right place so that our student athletes could have every opportunity to compete. Much of our budget is tied to football. When we didn't have spectators in the stands for football and we were forced to reduce our number of games from a 12-game schedule to a nine-game schedule and then several of our games ended up being canceled due to pandemic related issues, that really affected our revenue stream. Our revenue decreased by about $80 million this year. We lost over half of our revenue and had to adapt very, very quickly.
“In the Athletic Department, we don't receive any revenue from the university in terms of tuition dollars or state appropriation. All of the money that is spent in Athletics is generated through Athletics. Much of that comes from television and ticket revenue, including seat premiums and the premium seating areas. When you buy a t-shirt with an MSU logo on it, the licensing component part of that comes to Athletics. When you see advertisements in the football program or hear them on the radio or see them on the video boards in the stadium, that revenue comes into Athletics for the rights fees paid for those commercials that you see. All of that comes in to fund the department.
“There are only about 25 schools in the entire country that can make that claim, that they are 100 percent sort of floating on their own bottom. To me, given my history largely on the academic side of the university house, I think it's very important that tuition and the appropriation go to academic purposes and our academic mission to keep that part of our university as strong as it possibly can be.
“We do fund ourselves. Hopefully the horrible years don’t come very often. I've told some folks that this is probably the worst financial year in the history of college athletics. But we will persist and find our way through it and have a Spartans Will attitude. We'll make it, but it certainly has not been without its challenges.”
What’s your current thinking on attendance for football in the fall?
“I think that we had a good experiment last week with the spring game. We offered tickets to 6,000 people. It was a little drizzly, so I think we lost a little bit of attendance due to the weather. We’re making progress on the vaccine front. Over the course of the summer, we’ll be watching Major League Baseball, NASCAR, and others to see how it goes as they slowly bring back more fans.
“I'm hopeful that as we get into the fall, we'll have robust crowds in Spartan Stadium. Whether that's 100 or 75 or 50 percent capacity remains to be determined. I remain hopeful that we'll have a good solid crowd with the band and the cheerleaders and the kick step into the stadium and some really, really good football.”
Beekman says donors to Spartan Athletics play a key role.
“When you look at most of our athletic facilities, those are all donor funded projects. Our donors are critical in that they allow us to try and take our programs to the next level. Some of our programs have absolute state-of-the-art facilities as a result.
“Mat Ishbia's gift of $32 million is spread across a number of activities. I'll mention two. One is improving our football facilities and helping them remain state-of-the-art. The other is tied to what Mat appropriately calls a Spartan For Life Fund. That fund really is tied to working with our student athletes while they're here on campus. Mat's very passionate about career services and the student athlete support process. We're very excited to get that program up and running this summer.
“As we continue with ticket renewals for the fall football season, I would just ask for people's patience. We're following the latest guidelines that come out of the CDC in Atlanta along with our state guidelines. We work hand in glove with the Ingham County Health Department. They've been extraordinary partners in this effort, giving us guidance on things like the spring game and other activities that we've had on campus. We'll continue to work very closely with them making sure that we're making every possible effort for our extraordinary Spartan Nation family to be able to see our young people in action this fall.
“And if you get a chance, I encourage you to get out and see a baseball game or a soccer game or a softball game. Some of our sports that maybe are not covered as widely in the newspaper or on television, but where the student athletes are competing every bit as hard.”
MSU Today airs Sunday mornings at 9:00 on 105.1 FM and AM 870 and streams at wkar.org. Find “MSU Today with Russ White” on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.
Creators & Guests
What is MSU Today with Russ White?
MSU Today is a lively look at Michigan State University-related people, places, events and attitudes put into focus by Russ White. The show airs Saturdays at 5 P.M. and Sundays at 5 A.M. on 102.3 FM and AM 870 WKAR, and 8 P.M. on AM 760 WJR.
Russ White 0:00
This is MSU today, here's Russ white. Well, let's turn the MSU today host microphone around and ask Michigan State University Vice President and Director of intercollegiate athletics, Bill Beekman to slide over to the guest microphone, as we get an update on all things, Spartan athletics with the spring semester winding down, and we're heading into the summer. So, Bill, welcome to your own show.
Unknown Speaker 0:28
Well, thanks so much, Russ. It's always you know, it's always great to chat with you, whether it's on air or in person. And it has been a very, very active year for us with, with the the challenges of the pandemic we've been facing, it's, you know, it really is quite a quite extraordinary, our team has done a really special job. And, and I would be remiss to not acknowledge the work of our athletic trainers, as the sort of frontline workers in athletics. They have administered literally 1000s and 1000s of COVID tests. And they've provided athletic training support to over 700 athletes whose schedules were really compressed with the exception of football, we're compressed into a very, very narrow window with with all of our sports playing, being in competition between January and and now of 2021. So it's been a really extraordinary year, we are very happy and lucky that we were able to get every team into competition. And well with with the exception of of women's gymnastics, who was able to practice but not compete, due to due to COVID. And quarantines hitting their team. And with the the amount of time they had to quarantine unfortunately, we couldn't get women's gymnastics into competition this year. But every other team had the ability to compete, despite cancellations postponements, and I'm very excited that so far, we have two big 10 championship teams, our women's cross country team, and most recently, our women's golf team with a great win. And a bit of a you know, a wire to wire lead it leading the event and and just really, really extraordinary.
Russ White 2:28
Well, Bill and you've started to do it already, but just reflect a bit on bringing the department through the pandemic which has been more than a year now we're obviously not through it, but we're hoping we're we can see the light at the end of the tunnel well as vaccinations increase and, and whatnot, but reflect a bit and, and your hopefulness in some kind of a new normal, hopefully by the fall.
Unknown Speaker 2:52
Well, it has been an extraordinary year. And we you know, I remember sort of packing some things up in my office, as the university closed down and thinking to myself, well, what am I going to need for three or four weeks, and, and how, how wrong I was in so many others. And so, you know, we really spent most of the summer with me meeting every day, literally every day a via zoom call with the big 10 athletic directors, thinking through how we could get this season to come to pass. And we developed testing protocols that ran through the big 10 conference. As I say we've administered literally 1000s and 1000s of tests to our student athletes, our coaches and all of our support staff are our tab just to provide some context our our bill for for testing COVID testing for this academic year will run about $4.5 million for all of these, the staff and the supplies and everything that went into COVID testing for this year, about $4.5 million. And, and I just can't thank our team enough, they've been so adaptable and nimble in trying to to get things into the right place, so that our student athletes could have every opportunity to compete. And, you know, as I've said before, so much of our budget is tied to football. So when we didn't have spectators in the stands for football, and we we were forced to reduce our number of games from a 12 game schedule to a nine game schedule. And then several of our games ended up being canceled due to pandemic related issues. Hopefully not not on our end, but nevertheless, then that really affected our revenue stream. And our revenue decreased by about $80 million this year. So So we really we lost over half of our revenue, and had to adapt very, very quickly. So we limited Yeah, as I said to our coaches, don't think of staying within your budget this year. Think of it as just not spending anything this year unless it's absolutely critically necessary. And they've been extraordinary in doing that. Our our team in in all of our other support units, whether it's athletic training, strength and conditioning, nutrition, academic services, or our administrative units here in 1855 place have all done really an exceptional job of staying as close to the as close to zero spending as humanly possible. And that's allowed us to save over $15 million this year. So in in one year, we were able to trim $50 million out of our budget, and still provide, in most cases, not a complete normal experience for our student athletes, but still had the opportunity to provide competitive opportunities for our for our athletes, to continue to play the sports that they love. So I just can't say enough about the extraordinary team we have here in athletics, and how we are really each and every person has, has, has pulled their weight and worked double time, Russ, just to give you one example, and thinking about ways that we could cut costs for football season, you know, we hire external folks outside of the department to do things like help us pull the tarp up before the game, or to serve as ushers or elevator operators or Guest Services personnel. And this year, we took volunteers from amongst our staff to try and save money. And so we had 15 people at eight o'clock in the morning before every football game out pulling the tarp up off the field. And that's a strenuous, about an hour long process to get that done. But each and every time we did that we saved a little money. And as I said to the team, you know, every dollar we save as $1 less that we have to lay somebody off or or have a personnel cut or any of those other things we try and avoid. So the team really pulled itself together and did extraordinary work.
Russ White 7:26
And I think it's worth noting, Bill, as far as your budget goes in athletics, you don't draw from tuition, you don't get state support. I think it's important for people to know that it's not like tuition gets raised to help you with budget issues.
Unknown Speaker 7:40
No, that's exactly right. the athletic department doesn't get any, we don't receive any revenue from the university in terms of tuition dollars, or the state appropriation. All of the money that is spent in athletics is generated through athletics. And much of that comes from television revenue, from ticket revenue, including seat premiums and, and the premium seating areas. When you buy a T shirt with an MSU logo on it, the licensing component of that part of that comes to athletics, or when you see advertisements in the in the football program or on the radio or in the video boards in the stadium, that that revenue comes into athletics for the rights fees paid for that, that, that cover those commercials that you see. So all of that comes into fund the department. And I think it's real, Russ, it's really very, very important. There are only about 25 schools in the entire country that can make that claim that they are 100% sort of floating on their own bottom. And to me, given my history, largely on the academic side of the university house. You know, I think it's very important that that tuition and the appropriation go to academic purposes and our academic mission to keep that part of our university as strong as it possibly can be. So, you know, we do we do fund ourselves and and so when we have these horrible years and hopefully they don't come very often I I've told some folks that you know, I think this is probably the the worst financial year in the history of college athletics. But, but we will, we will persist and find our way through it and have a Spartans will attitudes So, so well, we'll make it but it's it certainly has not been without its challenges,
Russ White 9:36
and Bill catching up with Spartans athletic director bill Beekman. I'm MSU. Today coach Tucker talked about the positive buzz in the locker room coming out of spring football, obviously the Fall is so far off as the pandemic you know, ebbs and flows. But what is your thinking now about attendance for for football in the fall and just, again, what makes you hopeful about the fall?
Unknown Speaker 10:02
Yeah, I think that, you know, we had a good experiment on last week with the spring game. And we offered tickets to 6000 people, it was a little drizzly. So I think we lost a little bit of a attendance due to the weather. But you know, over the course of the summer, I think as more and more people have access to vaccines, I think we're now at a point where roughly 40% of American adults have had at least one dose of the vaccine, at least according to the the news scroll that I that I saw over the weekend. And so I we're clearly making progress on that front. And what we'll be watching are those those major activities that occur over the summer. So when you look at Major League Baseball, you know, the tiger started out with a relatively a reduced opening day capacity. The Texas Rangers started out with a full stadium. And and seeing how as those those, those stadiums and the evolution of how things go this summer, and whether they can safely have 5075 80% capacity. You know, we'll look at NASCAR and IndyCar races and other kinds of events around the country to draw large, large groups of people, outdoor concerts, those kinds of things. And hopefully, what we'll see over the course of the summer, is a trend in the right direction as people get vaccinated. And, and and people are more comfortable coming to those events, and they become that much safer because of the vaccine. So I'm hopeful that as we get into the fall, we'll have robust crowds in Spartan Stadium, whether that's 100% capacity 75% 50%, I think still remains to be determined, but I remain hopeful that we'll have a good solid crowd with the band and the cheerleaders and the kick step into the stadium. And, and some really, really good football,
Russ White 12:07
and Bill. Regardless of the budget situation, I'd like to give you the opportunity to talk about how important the donors are to the program. And really, the whole university was a big news item when Matt sbm made his gift a couple of months ago, but just talk about the importance of the donors to Spartan athletics.
Unknown Speaker 12:28
Well, yay, as we as we said, we don't get money through either tuition or state appropriation. So one of the ways that we have to grow the program is really through the support of our donors. And when you look at most of our athletic facilities, for example, those are all donor funded projects. We're working to complete the addition to Marina, we just recently completed a renovations to our football offices. And we're you to drive around campus now and went a little a little south of campus down Harrison road, you'd see a really neat project fully donor funded, that is our short game facility for a golf adjacent to forest acres West. That's about a $900,000 project, every penny of that will be supported through through donor funding. So our donors are critical in that they allow us to try and take our programs to the next level. And, you know, and in some of our programs have absolutely state of the art facilities as a result, the last center, or the last family golf center is is an extraordinary facility. Thanks to to Rick and Suzanne lash and their family. And the the short game facility that's adjacent will be every bit as good. And you know, and so donors like that are just they're really the lifeblood of what we do. And in certainly, Matt Ashby, his gift of $32 million spread across a number of activities. I'll mention two. One is, is improving our football facilities and helping them remain state of the art. And then the other is tied to what what Matt, I think very, very appropriately called a Spartan for life fund. And that fund really is tied to working with our student athletes while they're here on campus. And part of its Career Services. But in a way, it's much, much more than that. It's really tied to, you know, as, as Todd Edwards would say, bringing students in when they're freshmen, helping understand what their goals and priorities are, what major might best suit them so that when you get to be a senior and you're looking for that job, it isn't a cliff you're trying to climb. It's just another step, another stair step in the progression of your four years here. on campus, and it becomes natural to get that job and an area of interest to you, for those many student athletes who won't go on to have a professional career. So Matt's very passionate about about career services and, and that, that student athletes support process. And so we're very, very excited to get that program up and running this summer. The program that our students that come in the fall will see will be very different than what they'd seen in the past. directly tied to the generosity of Manish be as gift
Russ White 15:34
I remember to build meant making it clear in the press conference that he wanted to make sure his gift touched just about every Spartan student athlete there is so that's that's great to hear. And as we wrap up, Bill, just summarize what you'd kind of like Spartan nation to keep in mind is as the spring semester closes, as we head into the summer, looking forward again, like we said to a great fall.
Unknown Speaker 15:59
Well, we, as we continue with ticket renewals, for example, for the for the fall football season, I would just ask for for people's patience. You know, we've been, we're following the the latest guidelines that come out of the the CDC in Atlanta, along with our state guidelines, where we work hand in glove with, with Ingham County and am County Health Department and they've been extraordinary partners in this effort, giving us guidance on things like the spring game and other activities that we've had on campus. And so we'll continue to work very closely with them, making, making sure that we're making every possible opportunity available for our extraordinary Spartan nation family, to be able to see our young people in action, this fall, and I'm very hopeful that it will walk into Spartan stadium and, you know, it's maybe as athletic director, I shouldn't say this, but, but one of the pieces of each season that just brings a tear to my eye actually doesn't have anything to do with with our actual teams competing on the field. But when that band comes out of the stadium, and plays that same cadence of music that they've played, every year since I've been alive, since I remember going to the stadium as a 678 year old kid, when we used to have something called band day and, and seeing the bands come out and that that same kick step in the formation and the songs and the playing the fight song just just makes me shiver and, and I hope that we can provide that experience to a good 75,000 people in the fall and, and also get folks out to, to to basketball, volleyball, ice hockey, very, very excited about the future for all of those sports. And, and I'd say rusted. If you've got a chance, I'd encourage you to get out and and see a baseball game or a soccer game, a softball game, some of our sports that maybe are not covered as widely in the newspaper or on television, but where the student athletes are competing every bit as hard. And I'll just close with this one example. Our wrestling program in its completing its fourth year under Roger Chandler's leadership, and they've they've not had the best facilities and not to have have had they haven't had the the wealthiest, richest assets to work with. But Roger has developed a team of extraordinary young men into a top 20 program. And, and I I will admit that I I hadn't been to too many wrestling matches before becoming athletic director. But oh, it's great fun, and we've got some just really, really special young men that that will compete nationally, and it's a real all American prospects. So it's a it's great fun, and I'd encourage folks to get out and watch.
Russ White 19:10
You're here. Well, Bill, thanks for all you're doing to guide Spartan athletics through these turbulent times and for updating us on all those activities today. Well, Russ, thank
Unknown Speaker 19:20
you for taking over the the role of the Inquisitor and it's always fun to talk regardless of which the diamond
Russ White 19:30
that Spartans athletic director, Bill beakman, much more online at MSU spartans.com. And I'm Russ white, this is MSU today
Transcribed by https://otter.ai