W&M Athletics: Framing the Problem to Pursue Solutions October - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

W&M Athletics: Framing the Problem to Pursue Solutions

October 8, 2020

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• Albert Einstein

“If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask … for

• nce I know the proper question, I could solve the

problem in less than five minutes.”

Elevating to the Institutional View

• Institutional Identity
• Budget Stability
• Legal Requirements

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INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY

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Potential Institutional Athletics Identities

NCAA Division I

• Scholarship athletics
• Competitive opportunities at the

highest collegiate level

• Operational investment expected to

yield institutional benefit – drives branding, visibility, etc.

• Club offerings provide broad

participation

NCAA Division III

• Non-scholarship athletics
• Broad participation for individuals

wanting to compete

• Financial aid investment expected to

yield recruitment – drives enrollment, tuition revenue, class composition, etc.

• Club offerings in small sports

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357 institutions 44% enroll > 10,000 students 442 institutions 77% enroll < 3,000 students

W&M’s Athletics Identity

• William & Mary is a highly selective, public institution
• Our outstanding academics benefit the people of the

Commonwealth of Virginia and the nation

• NCAA Division I athletics is our niche: congruent with

W&M's vision and mission A Strategic Review: Securing the Future (2018), p. 3

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Question #1

What solutions align with W&M’s institutional identity as an NCAA Division I institution?

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BUDGET STABILITY

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Longstanding Issues

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Decision: To Excel

After a major examination of the Athletics program, William & Mary recommitted to Division I athletics, providing students the opportunity to compete at the highest levels on the field and the court, and launched an aggressive fundraising campaign.

1975 The Game Reclaimed

The year-long study affirmed William & Mary's balanced emphasis on excellence in academics and athletics. Recognizing the importance of intercollegiate athletics to the overall academic mission, the report called for increased revenue to the program through annual giving and endowment income.

A Championship Experience for Every Student-Athlete and Every Fan

This report, released months before the launch of the university-wide For the Bold campaign, highlighted the need for significant philanthropic support to provide W&M Athletics with resources commensurate with its CAA peers, allowing the program to enhance its competitive profile.

2006 2015 2018 Securing the Future

Led by athletics experts the PICTOR Group and W&M’s Strategic Review Working Group, this study established a bold vision, strong mission, and ambitious goals for W&M Athletics. It renewed W&M's commitment to the CAA and recommended aligning resources with strategic priorities to accelerate excellence.

2015: "Competitive Excellence" Report

In short, Tribe Athletics is under-resourced to compete in this environment. At the same time, the shifting landscape of intercollegiate athletics presents

• pportunities for even greater success – if we are bold enough and if the

alumni and friends of Tribe Athletics are committed to bringing such a vision to fruition (p. 1). A Championship Experience for Every Student-Athlete and Every Fan (2015)

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2018: The PICTOR Report

W&M Athletics’ current organizational structure of 23 varsity sports and its financial model are not sustainable within its current or foreseeable resources (p. 2). W&M Athletics has been uneven recently in competitive success and has a significant opportunity to improve on the lack of sustained competitive success (p. 2).

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William & Mary must make decisions on the size and scope

• f its athletics program (p. 2).

A Strategic Review: Securing the Future (2018)

Financial Resources Remain Low

Institution UG Students Number of Participants Spending Per Participant James Madison 29,895 546 $84,137 Hofstra 6,498 382 $59,940 Elon 6,277 482 $55,471 Northeastern 14,202 586 $54,065 Delaware 19,678 708 $51,641 UNCW 17,499 369 $50,427 Drexel 15,414 486 $49,336 William & Mary 6,256 640 $45,791 Charleston 9,600 499 $39,874 Towson 19,619 594 $38,588

• W&M Athletics has the second-

most student-athletes in the CAA as of 2018 – after two years of roster size management (W&M had the most in 2016 and 2017)

• Even with effective roster

management, W&M Athletics still has the third-lowest resources per student-athlete of any university in the CAA

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$4.02 $5.43 $2.57 $1.37 $15.15 $0.00 ($10.04) ($10.90) ($7.59)

Endowments Tribe Club Giving Operating NCAA University Tribe Club Reserve Scholarships Salaries Operating

$0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30

FY20 Budget (in $ millions)

$3.98 $2.58 $2.65 $0.83 $14.98 $2.87 $(9.82) $(11.03) $(7.02) Endowments Tribe Club Giving Operating NCAA University Tribe Club Reserve Scholarships Salaries Operating $0 $5 $10 $15 $20 $25 $30

FY20 Actual (in $ millions)

FY15 FY 16 FY17 FY18 FY19 FY20 Restricted Balance $7,260,880.37 $6,936,517.67 $6,711,257.14 $5,352,681.81 $5,014,880.82 $2,406,291.98 Unrestricted Balance $1,137,904.97 $677,319.41 $194,138.64 $279,993.15 $313,004.33 $7,389.83 $0 $1 $2 $3 $4 $5 $6 $7 $8 $9

Millions

Tribe Club Reserve Balance

Unrestricted Balance Restricted Balance

Question #2

How can W&M Athletics achieve budget stability, addressing the structural deficits exacerbated by COVID-19?

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Levers to Address the Structural Deficit

Available Budget Levers ü Reduce number of games ü Reduce travel (i.e., road games) ü Personnel actions (support staff) ü Fundraising initiatives ü Debt restructuring ü Sponsorship X Cut all sports’ budgets – less savings, diminished competitiveness

• Reduce sports offerings

– Temporarily suspend sports – less savings, requires suspending more sports – Discontinue sports – more savings, affects fewer sports, reclassification possible as club sports

Unavailable Budget Levers

• By state law, Athletics must be self-sustaining

– W&M cannot shift funds from other sources to subsidize Athletics

• Student fees

– W&M has among the highest student athletic fees in VA. Significant growth is not viable.

• Unrestricted private funds

– Already designated for other mission-essential needs – The pandemic increases demand for these funds everywhere

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Sport Sponsorship Reductions

As of September 29, 2020:

• 26 NCAA Division I institutions

have discontinued sports

• In total, 94 NCAA Division I

teams have been discontinued

• Big Ten, Pac-12, Ivy League

and more

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2 4 6 8 10 12

Stanfor d Brown George Washington LaSalle William & M ary Dartmouth Alask a-Anchorage UConn East Carolina Iowa Minnes ota Akr on Appalachian St. Wright St. Boise St. Cenral Michigan Fur man Wis consin-Green Bay Hampton Northern Colorado Southern Utah Winthrop Chicago St. Cincinatti Florida International Old Dominion

Sports Discontinued

Program Eliminations by Sport

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2 4 6 8 10 12

Tennis Swimming & Diving Track & Field (In. ) Baseball Golf Gym nastics Track & Field (Out.) Cross Country Fencing Rowing Soccer Squash Wre stling Ice Hockey Lacro sse Lightwe igh t Rowing Skiing Volle yba ll Water Polo Tennis Swimming & Diving Golf Squash Fencing Gym nastics Skiing Softball Volle yba ll Equestrian Field Hockey Lightwe igh t Rowing Rowing Sailing Synchronized Swimming Water Polo Sailing Men Women Coe d

Discontinued NCAA Division I Teams as of Sep 29, 2020

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• 150
• 100
• 50

50 100 150 1988-89 1989-90 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94 1994-95 1995-96 1996-97 1997-98 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18

* Provisional members are included in these numbers. Note: These data do not include schools that dropped membership in each year.

Total NCAA Div. I Sports Added and Dropped by Year

Added Dropped Net Change

W&M Sport Sponsorship Over Time

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W Golf M/W Fencing M Swimming & Diving M Lacrosse proposed for elimination

1984

W Fencing M Lacrosse eliminated

1985 1991

W Basketball M/W Swimming & Diving M Wrestling proposed for elimination

1995

M Fencing M Wrestling eliminated

2011

M/W Diving eliminated (M/W Swimming continues)

2021

M/W Gymnastics M/W Swimming M Track (In. & Out.) W Volleyball eliminated

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Field Hockey Gymnastics-M Gymnastics-W Soccer-M Swimming-M Swimming-W

• 80%
• 70%
• 60%
• 50%
• 40%
• 30%
• 20%
• 10%

0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Sport Sponsorship ∆ since 1989

• Pct. of D1 Schools Sponsoring, 2017-18

Declining NCAA D1 Sport Sponsorship, 1989-2018

(bubble size reflect number of D1 programs)

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

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Case Study: Eastern Michigan

• March 2018: citing budget deficits, EMU discontinued wrestling, men’s

swimming & diving, softball and women’s tennis

• September 2018: A preliminary injunction stopped the discontinuation of

women’s sports, finding Title IX requirements are not affected by financial hardship

• November 2018: EMU announced plans to reinstate women’s tennis
• February 2019: EMU loses in federal court, must reinstate softball as well

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Case Study: Eastern Michigan

• January 2020: EMU settles the case by paying the two plaintiffs’ (a women’s

tennis and a women’s softball player) attorney fees as well as $125,000

• each. In addition, EMU agreed to:

– Achieve proportionality by 2022-23 with no more than 1.8 percentage points difference between athletics participation by gender and EMU’s student body composition – Manage men’s and women’s team rosters to achieve substantial proportionality – Sponsor women’s tennis and add women’s lacrosse – $2 million more in total investment in women’s sports over the next three years

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Title IX Requirements

• “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from

participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal Financial assistance.”

• For college athletics, compliance includes

– Gender equity (not parity) in athletics scholarships, equipment, facilities and scheduling – Meeting a student body’s interest and abilities

• Compliance is determined by any of three prongs

– Substantial proportionality – A responsive history of adding programs for the underrepresented sex – Demonstrated accommodation of the underrepresented abilities of the underrepresented sex

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Substantial Proportionality

• “A safe harbor for those institutions that have distributed athletic
• pportunities in numbers ‘substantially proportionate’ to the gender

composition of their student bodies” (Cohen v. Brown Univ., 1993, p. 897)

• In sport reductions, a university must ensure the “safe harbor” of substantial

proportionality or incur significant legal risk (e.g., EMU)

• W&M’s student body is now ~60% women, mirroring national trends

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Question #3

Does the solution meet the legal requirements of Title IX?

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FRAMING POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

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W&M Athletics 2021 and Beyond

• In September 2020, W&M

Athletics announced sport sponsorship in 2021 that: – Aligns with NCAA Division I identity – Assures Title IX compliance – Achieves budget stability

• This comprehensive package is

required to successfully address the three questions

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Title IX Compliance Budget Stability NCAA Division I

Any Proposed Solutions to W&M Athletics in 2021 Must Also Independently Fit All Three Frames

• In order to be viable, potential

solutions for any sport must:

– Align with NCAA Division I identity – Provide necessary resources for budget stability (endowment, etc.) – Assure overall Title IX compliance for gender equity, independent of sports already sponsored by W&M Athletics in 2021

• And: ensure that W&M Athletics

achieves all three goals comprehensively, for 2021 and future years

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Title IX Compliance Budget Stability NCAA Division I

?