The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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20 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2016 done a great job in managing bud- gets. We've had tremendous success driving additional revenue, partic- ularly in the last football season in bringing Coach Harbaugh through that transition. "Our fans responded, and our do- nors responded. It's been tremen- dous support. All of that leaves me to be very positive about the financial outlook of the department." The new AD has pledged to not let the outgo exceed the income while doing what is necessary to keep Michigan competitive across the board. His view of the budget involves responsible caretaking, now and in the future. "We want some surplus, because we have deferred maintenance on things we need to do," Manuel ex- plained. "We have minor improve- ments we need, in terms of facilities. We have investments we want to make in programmatic activities for our student-athletes. "So while there will be times when we have surpluses, based on con- trolling expenses and additional rev- enue, it is all going to be folded back into the good of the department and what we need for our student-ath- letes, our coaches, our staff and our sports programs. "Being a unit of the university that does not take university funds or state dollars, we have to invest back in ourselves. I'm not aiming for large surpluses just to have large sur- pluses. I'm aiming for us to have sur- pluses so that we can reinvest back into the department." FACILITIES ARE GROWING Certainly, most of the major facili- ties work has been accomplished on the U-M athletic campus for now. Michigan Stadium received more than a $225-million upgrade, Crisler Center saw more than $100 million in renovations and Yost Ice Arena un- derwent a transformation of its own. In the past decade, U-M also built new facilities for wrestling, ten- nis, women's gymnastics and field hockey, put millions into revamping its softball and baseball stadiums, and executed extensive work else- where in its athletic domain. Now, the focus is on the Athletics South Competition and Performance Project, the major work seen by those traveling up State Street in the sum- mer of 2016. The work won't be fully completed until late in 2017, but the 280,000 square feet of facilities con- struction — costing an estimated $168 million — has become more and more noticeable. "It's tremendous," Manuel said. "It really adds a lot of excitement, particularly to those teams, those stu- dent-athletes and coaches that will be in those buildings once they're complete and opened. I think of them and how it helps us to invest in our programs, short- and long-term." Workers are establishing new in- door and outdoor tracks, providing space for 2,000 and 500 fans, respec- tively; a lacrosse stadium able to seat 2,000 onlookers; a rowing center featuring a massive training tank; and a Performance and Team Center, which will have some common ar- eas, but also sport-specialized accom- modations for the individual varsity programs. The Team Center will feature strength and conditioning areas, ath- letic medicine facilities, locker rooms, meeting areas and other space for the multiple squads there. In addi- tion, some 200 parking spots are be- ing created around the south campus improvements. "There is a lot of excitement in see- ing those buildings come out of the ground," Manuel assured. MICHIGAN ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT 2016-17 OPERATING BUDGET REVENUES Spectator admissions $49,089,000 Conference distributions 34,586,000 Preferred seating and other gifts 35,655,000 Corporate sponsorship 17,692,000 Facility revenues 6,035,000 Licensing royalties 8,427,000 Other 10,337,000 Total operating revenues 161,821,000 EXPENSES Salaries, wages & benefits 61,949,000 Financial aid to students 24,107,000 Team and game expense 28,245,000 Other operating and admin. exp. 12,994,000 Transfer to University 3,575,000 Facilities expenses 9,612,000 Deferred maintenance fund transfer 5,000,000 Debt service transfer to plant fund 15,539,000 Total operating expenses 161,021,000 Operating surplus 800,000 The golf team's new clubhouse off Stadium Boulevard is one of many ongoing construction projects that will benefit U-M athletics. RENDERING COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETIC MEDIA RELATIONS 2015 Attendance Revenue FOOTBALL $35,612,000 Other $783,000 Hockey $1,587,000 Men's Basketball $3,921,000