Big Red Business: Nebraska's rainy day fund taking big $54 million hit

Nebraska’s athletic department expects to tap its reserve fund for about $54.3 million to balance its budget for the new 2022 fiscal year and to cover 2021, according to a summary of its new operating budget released to HuskerOnline.

About $24.3 million will be needed for the new fiscal year that started July 1. That’s on top of plans to transfer about $30 million in reserves to athletics for the just-ended 2021 fiscal year to plug the gap caused by the raging pandemic, the department said. The department is in the process of officially wrapping up the fiscal year 2021 revenue and expense totals.

The Nebraska Foundation collects and manages athletic department gifts, and transfers over funds to the department when needed. Before Covid-19 started its spread in early 2021, the reserve fund was thought to be valued at slightly more than $60 million, although the department did not verify that number.

John Jentz, the athletic department’s deputy athletic director and chief financial officer, said “athletics is confident it will achieve at least $24 million in new gift funds” to cover the current year. The key word is “new.”

The estimated $54.3 million in transfers to balance the department’s budget for the two fiscal years illustrates the dramatic financial impact of the pandemic on Nebraska athletics.

For perspective, Nebraska tapped the rainy day fund for $6.46 million in fiscal year 2019, and for $7.18 million in fiscal year 2020, according to department records.

The good news: Jentz said “excess revenues” from the new fiscal year that started July 1 “will be prioritized to rebuild reserves.”

Jentz said the excess revenues would mostly come from conservatively budgeting for ticket sales and from multi-media revenue from a newly restructured in-house media rights, broadcasting, and marketing operation that replaces Learfield IMG College.

An additional silver lining: No borrowing is anticipated to cover budget gaps from the past and current fiscal years, the department said. That’s a sharp contrast to the financial shocks that hit many athletic departments over the past year, forcing them to borrow heavily, lay off workers, and eliminate some men’s and women’s sports to stay afloat and play limited schedules with no fans.

While Nebraska instituted cost-cutting moves, none involved eliminating teams. Layoffs within the department were relatively few, and many were brought back to work late last year.

Nebraska’s athletics department has historically been considered one of the most financially stable and profitable, with football, basketball, and women’s volleyball operating in the black. Few schools can even come close to matching that track record.

To remain on firm ground, Jentz said some belt-tightening will continue.

“By budgeting revenues conservatively and asking coaches and staff to manage reduced expense budgets, athletics is well-positioned if circumstances change that dictate limited attendance, disrupted scheduling, or any of the other virus-related complications of last year,” Jentz said.

“More importantly,” he added, “if the virus does not return in full force, all signs point to full stadiums and revenue streams returning to pre-pandemic levels. This will provide a welcomed outlet for Husker fans, and ensure Nebraska can continue to provide the fantastic support services that student-athletes value so much.”

The financial details were disclosed in the athletic department’s fiscal year 2022 budget overview, which was recently approved by Chancellor Ronnie Green. The department shared the budget with HuskerOnline, along with actual budget numbers from fiscal years 2019 and 2020 to provide context.

Details from the fiscal year 2021 budget were not released since it is still a work in progress. As for Bill Moos’ $3 million retirement and buyout package, those charges will be counted for fiscal 2021 because his retirement date as athletic director was June 30, Jentz said.

The hit to the Nebraska Foundation reserves is not a total surprise. Moos said several times over the past year that any gap would be covered by the emergency account, with the final number depending partly on the amount of the Big Ten revenue-sharing package, which turned out better than expected. But this is the first time the actual size of the hit was disclosed.

The release of the athletic budget comes as Nebraska announced the hiring of a new athletic director -- Trev Alberts, the former Nebraska defensive great who has spent the last 12 years leading the Nebraska-Omaha athletic department. He signed a five-year contract, with a base salary of $800,000, according to the university.

Some of the new budget line items that Alberts will be overseeing:

Revenue:

*The department is anticipating total revenue in the current year of $138.7 million, with total expenses targeted at $138.41 million, leaving a net working margin of $291,679.

*The budget is conservatively based on generating 75 percent of typical ticket sales. But Jentz said “athletics is hopeful to be well above that mark for the year,” now that the conference has given the green light to full attendance for football and other sports this fall.

But also in play is the possibility that Memorial Stadium will not sell out for football for the first time since 1962. For now, the department is expecting ticket revenue of $29.57 million, compared with $38.9 million in fiscal 2019, and $39.85 million in 2020.

Put another way, any ticket revenue above $29.57 million would be used to rebuild the reserve fund. That could mean more than $9 million being deposited in the foundation.

*Nebraska anticipates receiving $54.047 million in revenue sharing arrangements with the Big Ten Conference and the NCAA, about on par with fiscal 2019 and 2020 when the take was $55.06 million and $51.69 million respectively.

*Marketing sponsorships are expected to bring in $23.8 million -- slightly more than from 2019 and 2020. Other enterprises will generate $9.3 million. Again, anything above $23.8 million would be earmarked for bolstering reserves.

Jentz said multimedia sponsorships were “conservatively budgeted” for the first year for the department running its own in-house media and marketing business. He also said there were still many “unknowns of the lingering impacts of the pandemic on multimedia revenue streams.”

Expenses:

*Payroll expenses are set to climb to $56.48 million, up about $5 million from fiscal 2019 and 2020. That’s largely because of staffing up for the multimedia business.

Likewise, the department expects to spend $64.66 million on the multimedia program and other operations. Those operating expenses amounted to $58.6 million and $54.26 million in the previous years for which data was provided.

Jentz said the main factor for the overall increase in operating expenses came from taking the multimedia and marketing operations in-house.

*The budget calls for more belt-tightening. Jentz said all sports and administrative areas of the department were asked to create an operating expense budget pegged to fiscal year 2019’s budget, less 10 percent.

*The department plans to spend less this fiscal year on smaller capital projects -- excluding the new training and locker room facility and track. The department pegged spending at $2.5 million. Nebraska has already said it will not replace Memorial Stadium’s field turf this year.

*The department plans to spend slightly more on athletics scholarships -- $14.76 million .

Steve Rosen writes about the business of sports for HuskerOnline. Reach Steve with questions, comments, and story ideas at srosen@huskeronline.com.