You know the crap the schools feed us about needing football revenue to support other sports?
Well, this is what they have in mind by that, at least in the SEC.
Johnson’s approach is being replicated across the Southeastern Conference as its members, flush with football money, begin to shower a healthy slice of the cash on basketball. This season alone, the conference welcomed several prominent coaches — not only Johnson but also Mississippi State’s Ben Howland, formerly of U.C.L.A. and Pittsburgh, and Tennessee’s Rick Barnes, formerly of Texas.
… But success will not come cheap. Alabama is paying Johnson $2.8 million per year through 2021, nearly $1 million more a year than it paid its previous coach, Anthony Grant, whose firing cost the Crimson Tide another few million. Howland’s salary is double that of his predecessor, Rick Ray. And where Auburn had paid Tony Barbee $1.5 million a year, it pays his replacement, Bruce Pearl, $2.45 million a year, in addition to a $500,000 bonus. (Pearl achieved success at Tennessee before the N.C.A.A. effectively suspended him for three years for lying in the course of an investigation into recruiting violations.)
Several SEC programs have commenced pricey upgrades to their facilities. Florida plans to spend $64.5 million on its arena. Arkansas just opened a $25 million practice center.
It is no secret where the spare change comes from: The SEC Network, the College Football Playoff and conference expansion have all raised revenues, a large majority tied to football. From 2013 to 2014 — not including individualized revenue sources like ticket sales and donations — the conference’s take increased to $436.8 million, or $31.2 million per member, from $292.8 million, or $20.9 million per member.
All for the kids, of course.
Get The Picture 
Well it IS for the kids….so they can continue to make the schools and administration money.
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And the AD and cohorts can go into the office and roll around and rub the money all over themselves.
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It’ll be interesting to see if we end up in a horse race for basketball facilities next.
The basketball annex is by all accounts top-flight; however, even with the expanded atrium at the Steg, it is definitely not the most amenity-laden facility out there. I’ve always been surprised they haven’t tried to build in a few box seating areas in the upper levels.
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Yeah…there’s this problem called ‘demand.’ But that’s a chicken/egg thing…is the demand soft because UGA has never really committed to having a top flight hoops program or is the demand soft because UGA fans don’t care if there is a top flight hoops program.
Honestly…with all deference to Stegman and Athens…one of the best things UGA could do for hoops is schedule some home games during the time between finals and conference schedule in Atlanta. Whether it’s at Philips or Gwinnett…it’s just hard to get folks to Athens on a weeknight.
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Agreed – having the Clemson game in Gwinnett versus to a near-empty arena during winter break would be a big boost.
And GaskillDawg – I was thinking more along the line of turning the upper deck seats into boxes, not moving the concrete roof up. I’ve also wondered whether the windowed area above the video board could be modified into box seats with a little bit of engineering.
Either way, the investments have been made for Stegman to always be where it is – which is a blessing and a curse.
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What do you mean by “by box seating areas in the upper levels?”
If you mean more comfortable leather seats with food and drink delivery service then we already have that seating on the floor. Courtside seats in basketball are more desirable than the same amenities at the top of the building. The folks that pay for Courtside seating also have private restrooms. I don’t think we sell out Courtside seating, so I doubt that the demand would be worth the cost of converting however many seats to “box seating areas,” which would reduce the number of sideline upper deck seats available to sell as season tickets. If we put the “box seating areas” in the upper horseshoe who would pay a premium for that view?
If you mean by “box seating areas” you mean something that required more than replacing the furniture and assigning a person to be a server then the UGA AA commissioned a feasibility study 5-6 years ago that identified the cost and return on investment of a lot of ideas.
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There are design issues with building a few box seating areas in the upper levels. Among them is the fact that the roof is a separate structure from the walls and that the two join on bellows. We really cannot go up any further.
There was discussion a few seasons ago about lowering the floor and reorienting it 90 degrees a few years ago, also. That could create more opportunity for suites on one side. However, the foundation sits on granite and lowering the floor would be a big project.
Finally, a major issue is, where would we play the men’s and women’s basketball games and hold the gymnastics meets for a year or two while the construction is ongoing?
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Good post.
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McG read that and immediately went on line to check the reserve account then call Coach Fox and told him if he wants anything to start raising the money.
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What’s wrong with the Stegosaurus we’ve got
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Every time I see that buttress, I am reminded of the story of Jake Scott drinking a few one night and driving his motorcycle over the Steg. As he put it, the hard part was not going up, it was going down
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Yep. That gate is there for a reason.
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Ran across this interview with Jake Scott (for the Dolphins) from 2012. I love that he’s wearing a Georgia shirt in the interview. DGD still.
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Uh, I guess the link would be nice.
http://www.miamidolphins.com/multimedia/videos/1-on-1-With-Jake-Scott/f9b20491-8967-41ee-97ee-7224d1f3fcea
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Did you see the Dolphins 50th Anniversary Gala on the WWL last week? My God, Bill Stanfill looks like somebody’s great-grandfather. The hooker they had escorting him had to hold him up. Spurrier got the last laugh.
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Representative William Lanier from Metter was one of the sponsors of the bill in the Georgia legislature authorizing the funding for the construction off the Georgia Coliseum (as it was originally known.) The legislature in 1962 was not going to spend that type of money for a basketball arena. The legislation was for a multi-purpose agricultural venue, and UGA got the architects to design it so it would accommodate basketball, as well as other sues such as concerts, graduation, etc. Some of us of a certain age or older remember the stables on the east side of the building that used to be there, and some of us have been to livestock auctions and horse shows there.
Neat fact about it. When it opened our own UGA basketball team and its Coach, Red Lawson, had the arena with the largest seating capacity for basketball in the SEC. Alas, Coach Lawson did not get to enjoy it for very long as he was fired shortly after it opened.
Coach Lawson did not have a million dollar buy-out. Hell, he probably did not have a 50$ buy-out. He remained on campus as a PE professor. I took basketball as a PE under him.
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Hugh Durham liked to tell the story of all-time Dawg hoops great Vern Fleming coming down from Long Island City, NY for his official visit with the dirt on the floor for the rodeo and the stables fully occupied and extremely fragrant. That one took some fast talking on Hugh’s part.
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I believe that Joel Eaves (a fellow Auburn man) had to pull the trigger on letting Coach Lawson go.
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I was on the Concert Committee of the University Union and took drunk in those cow stalls in the wee hours of many a night after shows in the Steg. The Village People was a particular low point. The stage was on a hydraulic lift that would open up the entire end of the Coliseum so that the rodeo floor could be set up with dirt and sawdust and the animals could come straight in. It was a surprisingly well engineered and innovative arena. Acoustics sucked balls though.
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Right on both points about the building. The acoustics were horrible and it was truly high tech when built. Considering all its uses through the years and the fact that it was updated at a cost far below building a new building the State and the University has gotten tremendous value from spending the money to build it.
It has lasted over half a century and it would not surprise me if UGA is using it for varsity basketball games when it hits the century mark.
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Reminds of “Lost in Space” for the ’60 generation.
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I’ll keep it just for the “60 nostalgia of it all.
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I have never thought UGA was serious about Basketball.
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Ditto.
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Joel Eaves was the head basketball coach and an assistant football coach at Auburn before he became our AD. He wanted us to be serious about BB, with his brand new, spectacular new huge Coliseum. He fired Lawson and hired the bright, top assistant for UNC, Ken Rosemond. What hurt Rosemond was Georgia’s resistance to desegregation. He could not recruit some African American HS players.
There was no wave among UGA fans to recruit African American basketball players. By contrast, after Nebraska took us to the woodshed in the 1969 Sunday Bowl I remember a lot of Georgia football fans saying, “We need some of those big [ ] players.” Football fans saw benefit from recruiting some Black football players but there was no grassroots demand for recruiting Black basketball players.
I was a student at UGA In 1972-1973 when thever first 2 scholarshipped African American basketball players played for us. We got behind the times and it took years to catch up.
After we fired Rosemond Joel Eaves made a big splash hire: Babe McCarthy. Unfortunately, before the season began McCarthy took a professional offer. We were left without a head coach and Eaves had no real options other than to promote John Guthrie. He couldn’t handcuff Guthrie’s recruiting by giving him a short contract so he gave him 5 years. After he fired Guthrie he made a hireservation even slashier: Hugh Durham.
Eaves WANTED to make UGA serious about basketball but was unable.
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I can remember when I started dating my wife (huge Tarheels basketball fan) and told her I was a Georgia fan. I can remember her wondering aloud, “I hope we don’t fight over which game we’re gonna watch if UNC and Georgia are on at the same time….. Oh yeah, nevermind, Georgia’s games are never on TV!” Ha. That’s why I love her.
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We beat the Tar Heels on the way to our only final 4 appearance.
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I like Fox, and hope he is able to continue to build the program. But you can bet if ADGM decides he is not the man he will NOT spend the money that Bama, the other Bulldogs, and Auburn did for their coaches. He will find some assistant or mid major program coach with a low salary. I do not see him using the SEC cash for the basketball program.
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Building the reserve fund > competing for Director’s cups in McGarity’s mind.
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I guess he did not learn that at UF. They are in the running pretty much every year for the Cup. Tough to get by Stanford and those $$$$. Would love to see UGA always in the running.
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