Big Red Business: Nebraska's summer camp schedule remains up in the air

No Fred Hoiberg basketball camp this summer. The same with the Big Red Softball Academy, and at least one summer soccer camp geared to identifying college talent.

The Pipeline camp for football linemen? The Setter camp for women’s volleyball? The Baseball Academy, track and field clinics, and other Nebraska sports events set for June and July that typically draw several thousand campers and coaches to Lincoln?

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Scott Frost and other coaches are taking mostly a wait and see approach for as long as they can. And it goes without saying, coaches’ priorities are on the health and welfare of the campers. It's also unknown when the NCAA will open things back up for recruiting events to take place on campus, as things are currently shutdown through May 31. Camp season begins on June 1.

“Each sport is continuing to evaluate at this point and will make decisions at the appropriate time,” said Keith Mann, an athletics department spokesman.

That also seems to be the case at other Big Ten Conference schools and at some nearby programs at Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Missouri, and Colorado.

It may take a leap of faith to expect a summer camp season. Nebraska and Kansas, for example, rank near the bottom among states seeing a decrease in new coronavirus cases, according to a WalletHub survey last week.

At the start of the outbreak, the NCAA mandated a recruiting dead period through May, forbidding person to person contact between coaches and prospects on or off campus. That prompted the cancellation of many football and other sports prospect camps at schools around the country. There are rumors that the NCAA may extend this dead period into August, wiping out all of camp season.

Camps at Nebraska and other Power Five conference schools are typically owned and operated privately by head coaches and are not officially affiliated with the athletic department. For example, Scott Frost football camps are structured as BRFS, a limited liability corporation.

It’s unknown how many players have registered to attend the 2020 Nebraska football camps, along with the other sports. But last year, more than 1,200 signed up for the 14 football events.

The economic impact from the camp business is relatively small for programs like Nebraska, though the punch may be stronger at smaller schools. Coaches and camp staff feel the loss of business the most, since part of their overall compensation is often tied to camp income.

Generally speaking, football camps alone generate less than $1 million in revenue, according to industry sources, and that’s before covering expenses for dorms, food , t-shirts, and other costs. Many schools in the Power Five conferences generate less than $300,000 in revenue for all their football camps, experts say.

At the Power Five level, revenue for football camps is not as important as it was even 15 to 20 years ago. Back then, camps were a big part of a coach's compensation package, but now they are more geared towards getting recruits on campus and keeping the price down.

It’s where relationship building occurs between players and coaches -- relationships that lead to scholarship offers for the coming year, or perhaps, three years down the road. With so much uncertainty surrounding summer recruiting, coaches are scrambling to find other ways to touch base with prospects through facetiming, texting and other chat services.

Andy Priestley knows the camp business as well as anyone in collegiate sports. He is the chief executive officer of Ryzer, an Iowa-based company that handles online camp registration and other administrative duties for about 170 college football programs, including Nebraska.

As one might expect, Priestley said, everything is up in the air. “Some programs have already canceled all summer camps,” he said. “Others are taking a wait and see approach. It’s all over the board.”

At Nebraska, for example, the football camp schedule is chock full of 14 events over about a three-plus week stretch. It starts May 31 (depending on the NCAA dead period) with team camps and ends on June 25th with a Youth Camp. One of the biggest draws was expected to be the June 20th offensive and defensive linemen Pipeline Camp co-sponsored by Nebraska and Adidas. There are again several events just for football fans that feature Nebraska coaches.

Campers shell out anywhere from $50 to $195 depending on the skills session. For teams, the price is even higher.

If these camps and others are canceled for the summer -- as many expect to see happen if the virus is still raging -- the financial ramifications on some schools and coaches “could be impactful,” Priestley said. “Many coaches, especially assistants, depend on the income generated from camps to be a part of their total compensation.”

Athletic programs have mapped out different strategies on whether to open their campuses to teenage campers from all sports.

In a spot survey of Big Ten schools, for example, Ohio State has cancelled all camps and clinics through July 6. However, the Buckeye Sports Camps website said the school “remains committed to preparing for summer camps.”

Iowa’s camps and clinics are cancelled through June 13, Minnesota’s camps are cancelled through June 14, Wisconsin cancelled all youth programs through Aug. 15, while Michigan is not taking any new camp registrations.

While Iowa went in one direction, Iowa State has publicly taken another route. The school said on its website that “all summer 2020 camps are scheduled to proceed as planned.”

At Kansas, all summer camps were cancelled through Aug. 7th, but Kansas State still appears to be planning on a camp season at least for football, according to its website. No football camps are scheduled at Colorado, while Missouri is not showing a football camp schedule for now.

With the situation being so fluid, schools are advising athletes to monitor camp websites or to email or call staff to check on the latest status report. As for refunds, most schools plan to issue the full amount, although some may charge a processing fee.

Ryzer’s website has a full list of instructions on camp refund policies. Check it out at www.ryzer.com.

The wide lens picture is much larger than just finances.

June is a key month for recruiting in a normal year, with prospects wanting to be seen and coaches trying to get out in front of talent. But as we all know, this year has been anything but normal.

Typically coaches use the camps to begin scouting of rising high school sophomores and juniors, while making final scholarship decisions on seniors. It’s a time for athletes -- and their parents -- to tour campuses, see what the community is like, and check out athletic facilities.

“Camps play an important role in the lives of student-athletes,” said Priestley. “For upper high school-aged athletes camps represent an opportunity to showcase their talents, put themselves on coaches’ radars, and compete for scholarships.”

For younger athletes, he added, the summer camp season “is arguably more important now than ever. After missing months of classroom time, summer camps are an opportunity to re-engage, build confidence, develop socially, and regain a sense of normalcy.”

Steve Rosen writes about the business of sports for HuskerOnline. Questions, comments, story ideas? Reach Steve at sbrosen1030@gmail.com.