SOUTHEAST HOPES TO MAKE MORE FOOTBALL MONEY

Southeast Missouri State University is interested in more than the score when it comes to its struggling football program. The university also is interested in the bottom line.

Don Kaverman, Southeast's athletics director, wants to put the football program on sounder financial footing.

"Football, to me, has to generate more revenue than it does," Kaverman said.

Southeast's football program finished the 1998 fiscal year with a deficit of $328,755. The program finished only slightly better financially in fiscal 1999, registering a $294,209 deficit, the school's annual audit reports show.

Southeast has three major ticket-paying sports: Football, men's basketball and women's basketball.

Of the three, only the football program showed a deficit on the books in fiscal 1999. Men's basketball registered a profit of more than $340,000 while women's basketball generated a slight profit of $16,259.

But none of Southeast's sports actually made money. The university pumped nearly $3.3 million into the athletics program last fiscal year. That included $550,548 for football, $360,131 for men's basketball and $274,026 for women's basketball. Nearly $834,000 was spent to subsidy Southeast's other sports.

Kaverman doesn't expect football to show a financial profit, regardless of the accounting formula. College football programs operate at a deficit nationwide.

In a 1995 study published by the National Collegiate Athletic Association, 61 out of 72 Division I-AA schools responding to the survey said their football programs operated at a deficit. The average deficit was $632,000.

Kaverman doesn't hide behind such statistics. He still believes the football program can do better financially than it has in recent years.

"We are not drawing enough paying customers," Kaverman said.

Houck Stadium can seat 10,000 people. But most times, the stadium is far from filled.

This year, Southeast's six home football games combined drew only 10,306 paying fans. The figure doesn't include Southeast students who receive free admission to the games. Students pay a fee that generated more than $166,000 in fiscal 1999 for the school's athletics programs.

Kaverman and other officials at Southeast acknowledge that a winning record makes a difference when it comes to drawing fans.

Southeast's football program has been a losing one on the field. The Southeast Indians suffered through back-to-back 3-8 seasons in 1998 and 1999. Coach John Mumford resigned last month, finishing with a 10-year record of 40 wins and 70 losses.

The university hopes that the hiring of a new coach and improvements to aging Houck Stadium will help put fans in the stands. The university's Board of Regents has approved spending $744,000 to replace the natural grass with synthetic turf, part of the school's overall plan to upgrade the stadium.

Ticket sales for Southeast athletic events generated $713,394 in fiscal 1999. Ticket sales were up 12 percent from fiscal 1998 to fiscal 1999, mainly due to basketball, school officials said.

The men's basketball team went 14-13 in 1998 and 20-9 in fiscal 1999. The university had three more home games last season, adding to ticket sales.

Reserved ticket sales for basketball were up $29,522 from 1998 to 1999. In 1998, women's basketball wasn't credited with any significant portion of the ticket sales. In fiscal 1999, the women's basketball program was credited with 17 percent of sales.

Kaverman said the university can do better when it comes to generating revenue for football and basketball.

Basketball revenue, he said, should increase if the basketball program continues to be successful.

Money from the NCAA is a factor too. Colleges and universities share in the money paid to the NCAA for television rights to broadcast the men's NCAA Division I men's basketball championship and other championship events.

CBS Sports and the NCAA recently signed a new 11-year, $6 billion agreement. Kaverman said that will result in more money for member institutions, including Southeast.

Southeast showed an accounting deficit for radio and TV rights in fiscal 1999, a reflection of the fact that the school received less money from the NCAA than expected because of litigation over royalties.

Radio and TV rights for football and men's basketball generated more than $31,000 for Southeast in the past fiscal year, with most of that money distributed through the NCAA.

With the university's subsidy included, Southeast's athletics programs showed $5.2 million in revenue last fiscal year and a bottom-line balance of $79,067.

But Kaverman believes Southeast can do better. There's no reason, he said, why both football and basketball can't generate more revenue and better market the school.

School officials say there's more to athletics than money. A solid athletics program pays off in terms of positive publicity for the university, they point out.

Bill Duffy, vice president for finance, said athletics is a selling point for a school. "The reality is you are in the paper every day."

Said Kaverman, "There is no question a successful athletic program generates more positive attention than any single thing at the university."