Imagine you are developing a Budget for the new year for your University. Using the ticketing

information provided in the case study below:

o Determine the final total gross ticket revenue that you would include in the proposed

budget.

o Of this budget, how much revenue would be from season ticket sales?

$1$ From G$.$ Fried, T$.$ DeSchriver, and M$.$ Mondello, Sport Finance Instructor Guide, $4$th ed$.($Champaign$,$ IL: Human Kinetics,

$2020).$

Point Breakdown $100$ Points Total

$$ Proper Grammar $/$ Length $20$ points

$$ Answer the above questions with critical thinking $80$ points

$$ Total $100$ points

All papers must be typed and double$-$spaced with $1$ inch margins on all sides. Please use $12-$point font.

CASE STUDY BEGINS ON PAGE $3$

Case Study:

$2$ From G$.$ Fried, T$.$ DeSchriver, and M$.$ Mondello, Sport Finance Instructor Guide, $4$th ed$.($Champaign$,$ IL: Human Kinetics,

$2020).$

For this case, you are the director of athletics at the University of Nowhere $($UN$).$ The UN Greyhounds

are located in Nowheresville, Pennsylvania, and compete at the NCAA Division I level. The football team

plays in a $20,000-$seat stadium that was built in $1950.$ UN is a public institution with $15,000$

undergraduate students and $3,000$ graduate students for a total enrollment of $18,000.$ Nowheresville is

a relatively small city with a population of $50,000$ located about $50$ miles northwest of Philadelphia. The

UN Greyhound football team is very popular, primarily due to a history of on$-$field success. In the last $20$

years, it has qualified for the playoffs six times and advanced to the championship game three times. It

won the national championship in $2009$ and $2017,$ and currently has five players in the NFL$,$ including

one of league$$s top running backs. Due to this success, the football team has an average attendance of

$18,500$ and a season ticket holder base of $10,250.$ The athletic program offers $18$ sports overall$10$

women$$s and $8$ men$$s$$but the football team is the largest revenue generator for the athletic

department. It competes in the Colonial Athletic Association along with schools like James Madison,

Towson University, and the University of Delaware.

The athletic department has an overall operating budget of $$30$ million per year. On the revenue side,

the athletic department generates $$15$ million itself with their primary sources of revenue being fund$-$

raising, ticket sales, concessions, parking, merchandise, game guarantees, and the rental of facilities. It

also receives $$1$ million per year from conference and NCAA distributions. The remainder of the $$30$

million in expenses is covered through institutional support $($$$12\mathrm{.}5$ millions$)$ and student fees $($$$1\mathrm{.}5$

million$).$ Table $1$ provides data on the department revenue sources as a percentage of the overall

department revenues. As the director of athletics, you have been informed that the future funding from

institutional support may decrease greatly in the future. This decrease in funding is largely due to a

cutback in state legislature appropriations to the state$$s university system. Thus, all university

departments, including the athletic department, are being told that financial support directly from the

institution will decrease substantially over the next five years. Therefore, you must find new ways to

generate revenue to make up for the loss of funding from the university.

One area that you are taking a hard look at is the ability to maximize revenue from football games. Up to

this point, there has been no minimum donation for the $10,250$ football season tickets that are sold. At

many large universities, a season ticket holder is required to make a minimum donation in addition to

paying for the price of a ticket to have access to season tickets and preferred parking. This strategy

allows athletic departments to generate revenue from contests beyond the price of the ticket. Usually,

the size of the donation will also be a dictator of seat location with the largest donors receiving the best

seats. Currently, UN season ticket holders are not required to pay a minimum donation. This has

resulted in some season ticketholders who have never made a donation to the athletic department

having prime seats on the $50-$yard line. Meanwhile, there are season ticket holders who are donating as

much as $$25,000$ per year who have seats at the $20-$yard line. This has led to frustration amongst some

of the largest donors along with an inability to maximize revenue from the football games. It is expected

that if the best seats are tied to a donation that the athletic department would have the ability to

generate more revenue. Tables $2$ and $3$ provide historical data on season ticket sales, attendance, ticket

revenue, and donations. It is evident that there was an increase in interest, attendance, and revenue as

$3$ From G$.$ Fried, T$.$ DeSchriver, and M$.$ Mondello, Sport Finance Instructor Guide, $4$th ed$.($Champaign$,$ IL: Human Kinetics,

$2020).$

a result of the on$-$field success in $2017$ when the team w