Marquette Emphasizing Player Development, Schedule Quality

Last year's pre-season scrimmage against the University of Virginia was a smashing success, with indications that the competitive action against a legitimate program did more to advance the Warriors' progress than a mindless exhibition game. Of course, exhibition games also pay some bills at MU. According to the athletic department, Marquette generates roughly $180,000 in gross revenue from exhibition games. Sacrificing that guaranteed gate in favor of a closed scrimmage is not an insignificant consideration for an institution that relies on men's basketball to do more than just cover its own costs.

Or maybe it was.

Last week, MU announced the program would take matters a step further and eschew another home exhibition game in favor of two closed, pre-season scrimmages next season. According to a report from Todd Rosiak, MU will scrimmage against both Kansas State and the Kevin O'Neill coached USC Trojans in the fall.

In choosing a pair of closed scrimmages over two exhibition games, Marquette is walking away from roughly $360,000 in gross revenue. Still, Mike Broeker, Marquette's Deputy Director of Athletics, said the decision was simple. "The value of two additional high major experiences in a controlled setting can't be quantified," said Broeker.

Forgoing the guaranteed gate from exhibitions is just one example of Marquette's favorable basketball economics. In fact, based on what we know about next season's schedule, the program is poised to have fewer home games than usual. The number may be as few as 16, rather than the 17 to 19 games MU typically hosts. The result will be a higher-quality home slate for the Warriors, which will ease the long-standing downside for Marquette season ticket holders, namely, too many RPI-killing 'buy' games.

What changed? The increased revenue driven by the men's basketball program now affords the university flexibility it previously did not have. Unlike previous eras, program revenue is not overly dependent on home gate receipts. The move to the Big East, and the program's success in the league and beyond, has significantly changed the financial equation. "Increased revenue via conference distribution, NCAA play, television appearances, licensing and merchandising and sponsorships makes it (scheduling flexibility) possible," said Broeker.

For example, next season Marquette has already secured nationally televised games against LSU, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Vanderbilt. The program is also working on a neutral-site game against another BCS program. These games, and the associated television revenue they create, augment the anticipated conference payouts, NCAA tournament payouts and other sources of revenue.

The decision to pursue quality over quantity with the schedule is possible because the program creates a remarkable revenue stream for the university. According to a report in Forbes earlier this year, the men's basketball program generated more than $13 million in revenue in 2009-2010. Even when off-set with $8,185,030 in expenses, the university earned a basketball-related profit of $5,692,445 during the previous academic/athletic year. Most (all?) of this goes to help support additional athletics programs.

Ultimately, the large and sustainable revenue streams generated by the men's basketball program are being reinvested in the team. The decisions to emphasize quality over quantity will assist the program's early and in-season development, and will also improve the strength of schedule -- a primary determinant in receiving and advantageous NCAA tournament bid.

News and Notes on Marquette Hoops

UPDATED

Marquette Madness is just three days away and the intensity for the program is building. Here are a few updates for your Tuesday morning.

The Marquette Tribune takes an in-depth look at the university's financial commitment to the men's basketball program. The article is laden with facts and figures -- and be sure to click on the informative graphics which provide useful detail about the expenses associated with Division I athletics. A corollary to this article is our blog on the topic from earlier this year, which are reflective of my comments in today's Tribune piece.

In other news, Andy Katz did a story on Marquette. It's all about how Marquette is tabbed in the fourth tier but the team continues to overachieve. Mark it down now... MU finishes 5th-7th in the BE, makes the tournament, and loses their first game (probably on a last second shot, dammit).

Marquette has unveiled episode 7 of their Marquette Revealed series. This one looks at Boot Camp and it's the best one yet.

On the recruiting front, star shooting guard D'Angelo Harrison will announce his decision on Thursday per ZagsBlog. The timing is curious from a Marquette perspective -- Harrison was (is?) scheduled to visit for the Madness festivities this weekend.

Moving on to another 2011 target, reports indicate that highly coveted shooting guard Nick Faust has eliminated Marquette and will decide between Villanova, Maryland and FSU later this month.

Regardless of the decisions Faust and Harrison make, the primary need for the program in 2011 remains acquiring talented size across a number of positions, not necessarily more guards. Buzz appears to be on track to meet that need that to this point.

As far as we know 6'8" Texan Jarion Henry is still considering MU, along with 6'8" combo forward Mike Shaw and 6'9" post man Trey McDonald, among others. Earlier reports had all three of these guys at Madness later this week, along with a few underclassmen. While not scheduled to be at Madness, MU is recruiting 6'7" wing Rodney Hood as well. Hood visited MU earlier this month.

In the category of "that.....was....awesome" former MU coach and class act Hank Raymonds visited the Warriors last night.

Rivals shows the love for Jimmy F. Butler, slotting him in as the nation's 27th best player. I'm sure he'll get a plaque for that.