Butler University men’s basketball team saw a big bounce in attendance this year—one of its most successful on
the court in recent history. That success included 30 plus wins and the Horizon League regular season and tournament titles.
Per-game attendance at Hinkle Fieldhouse soared from 5,516 during the 2008-09 season to 6,953 this season. The downside for
Butler is it had four fewer home games this year than the 17 played at Hinkle last season.
But revenue for the team, sports business experts said, is definitely up. Butler, a private university, does not release
financial data for its athletic teams or department.
Butler officials explained that there were fewer home games this year because the team instead played in the 76 Classic in
Anaheim, Calif., and the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. Events like those usually come with a solid payday.
Of course, there’s also increased travel expenses getting the team to those far away destinations that limit financial
gains.
Since average attendance was so much higher this year, total attendance only fell slightly from 93,776 in 2008-09 to 90,394
this season.
Financially speaking, the Butler men’s basketball program is certainly doing better than it was 15 years ago.
During the 1995-96 season, the Bulldogs drew only 43,120 ticket-buying spectators to 12 home games. During that year, when
the team compiled a 19-8 record, Butler had average attendance of 3,593 per home game.
During the 1996-97 season, Butler drew 52,012 to 12 home games, good for a 4,334 average as the team compiled a 23-10 record.
It still remains to be seen if Butler has enough to retain coach Brad Stevens. The 33-year-old coach makes a low to mid six-figure
annual salary and the school recently sweetened his deal. But it won’t be much of a barrier if bigger schools, which
routinely pay $1 million plus annual salaries for head basketball coaches, come calling this off-season.
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Welcome to The Score, your place for hard-hitting sports business news, fast-breaking updates and fuel-injected debate. Buckle up. I'm your host, Anthony Schoettle, IBJ sports reporter.
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These higher rates Co. e about only because physicians are now hospital employees. otherwise physicians couldn't charge these rates and share the windfall with the hospital. Community/rural hospitals probably not buying physicians practices and thus weren't getting the windfall anyway.
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The incentive for poor people to get themselves off public assistance and "no longer be poor" is even with help...they're STILL POOR! Being poor, even with some assistance, isn't all that pleasant. (I speak from experience) It's a stubborn myth that poor people, who are on public assistance, are sitting in the lap of luxury. You should try living on just those "freebies" that you mentioned and see how meager they actually are. By the way, I didn't mean you had to buy/own a puppy...just pet one. :)
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As near as I can tell the minority has ZERO constitutional obligation to offer a quorum to the majority. A requirement for quorum was inserted into the constitution so that tyrannical majorities could not simply shove through odious and objectionable legislation (which is exactly what they did.) By allowing a tyrannical majority to charge fines against the minority for exercising their constitutional prerogative to deny quorum the court as made a mockery of constitutional governance in the state of Indiana.
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The voters elected the Reps to make a vote not walk out on the vote. They had to the right to exercise their opinion and vote "no" to the bill. Let me ask you this if you walked out of your job for 5 straight weeks would you get paid? Would you even have a job to go back to? If any elected official walks out on the people they should be arrested for stealing tax dollars from the public. They were elected to do a job and not leave when the job gets stuff.
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I have been to several of their locations in Pennsylvania and always go in for 1 item and leave with a basket full of things. I'm very happy they decided on Indiana, now if only they would put the other store in eastside.
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Brad Stevens is a really good coach. We may lose him one year. We lost Barry, Thad and Todd and have not missed a beat. My guess is that either current assistant Mathew Graves or tOSU assistant Brandon Miller would get the nod and keep the ball rollin'.
Although the increase in attendance is noted and welcomed, Hinkle holds 9,000 plus. To borrow a Bill Benner quote..."Go to a Saturday afternoon basketball game at Hinkle Fieldhouse, when the sunlight filters through the south windows. For that matter, go to any game, any time, in Hinkle".
But will he be called upon is the real question. I am not a firm believer he would be in consideration for those positions. The problem is "The Butler Way." Butler's work your tail off, shoot the ball well, and play good defense generally only holds water in the Horizon League and keeps the team in games with stronger opponents because the games are kept close due the the half-court offense Butler runs. Fast break is never their game plan.
Todd has experienced some bumps at Iowa because he has not been able to recruit athletes because he never had to at Butler. Butler rarely misses a beat with coaching changes because it is a system that is easily filled with local Indiana talent that is over-looked by the big programs due to a lack of size and athleticism. Thad has been successful because he has been able to recruit the Evan Turner's, Mike Conley's, and Greg Oden's of the high school basketball world.
At the end of the day, Brad wanted to be a coach at Butler and left a lot of money on the table at Lilly to do so. He is going to need 3 or 4 more years like this year to prove he is ready for "the next step" to a major conference. Keep in mind, he is 33. His time could come but it is just not now because although ranked, Butler is not an elite basketball school. In my opinion, continued success is the product of a well-run system and a weak conference. Butler does not exactly have the best record against quality opponents. For example, losses to Minnesota (6th in Big 10), Clemson (6th in ACC), and Georgetown (7th in Big East) prove Butler struggles when faced with athleticism and size. Are they a good team? Yes, absolutely. I applaud their success and support them moving forward, but perspective is important. Stevens is going to have to prove himself against better competition before a Wisconsin or an Arizona come calling.
It's more of a question of when he leaves than if. Butler simply can't afford to pay a coach anywhere near what even lower salary major conference jobs pay. How many of us would really stay at a job forever when someone else is willing to pay you three or four times more a year to do the same thing somewhere else?
The bottom line is that the Butler coaching job is a minor league farm club for coaching jobs at the bigger schools. That will never change unless Butler moves to a larger venue (which they won't) and can average 15k or more a night paying higher prices for tickets than they currently do.
Today's Butler Bulldogs are nothing like the Bulldogs of 5 or 6 years ago, Butler is athletic and strong and will lock you down defensively. BU rates 16th in the country in defensive efficiency. BU is actually more similar (by the numbers) to Purdue's team in 08/09 than any Butler team this decade.
I've had an offer in my profession to improve my annual income by staggering numbers. But I turned it down. Why? I make decent money already. I have a job I enjoy. I'm surrounded by employees who I have an excellent working relationship with. I know what I'm going to every day. The job I was offered is in a different city, larger organization, too much turnover in departments I'd be responsible for. So ... it's not always about the money. Would Coach Stephens rather be paid fairly well at a top mid-major like Butler, or take his chances at a larger "BCS" school that is at the bottom of it's league in order to get bigger bucks. That's what it comes down to in my mind.
I donâ??t think it will be money that drives Brad to another school. He is - and most coaches at the college level are - extremely competitive. Iâ??ll think heâ??ll leave for a new challenge not for the million dollar contract, which will be there. Brad is a smart as they come. He not is leaving a good thing, which Butler is, for money alone. Heâ??ll find that combination of the right challenge that also rewards him accordingly.