As football wins increase, revenue may follow
By Brad Greenberg
Oct. 30, 2003 9:00 p.m.
A spigot that could flood the Athletics Department with hundreds
of thousands of unbudgeted dollars has been turned on by the UCLA
football team’s five-game winning streak that has landed it
atop the Pac-10 Conference.
There has been a slight increase in the sale of UCLA clothes and
gear, but ticket sales and television programming have seen more
pronounced changes.
Almost 62,000 tickets were sold for last Saturday’s game
against Arizona State University. Only 45,271 tickets were sold
when the Bruins last played ASU at home in 2001, when they fell
from No. 6 in the nation into mediocrity.
The impact on television coverage has also been strong.
“Certainly the better you are doing on the field, the more
attractive you are to television,” said Associate Athletics
Director Marc Dellins, adding that increased air time can bring
greater revenue to the team.
To date, UCLA football has contracted five games to ABC Sports
and four games to Fox Sports’ national networks; the
broadcast of games against Oregon and third-ranked USC are to be
determined.
Dellins said the Athletics Department predicted it would make
about $3.7 million this year if five games were aired on ABC and 4
games on Fox Sports.
Last year, 11 of the 12 UCLA football games were carried
nationally, generating $4.496 million. If both the Oregon and USC
games are nationally televised, the Athletics Department could
receive more than half a million unbudgeted dollars.
The money is not specifically earmarked for one sport but is
dispersed throughout the Athletics Department, Dellins said.
ABC and Fox Sports have exclusive rights to Pac-10 games. For
about half of a team’s season, television carrier and game
time is not determined until 12 days before game day.
ABC, who Dellins said pays $30,000 to $40,000 more per game than
Fox Sports, has first choice over all Pac-10 games.
If UCLA and USC continue to play as they are playing now, ABC
will carry the famed rivalry game Nov. 22, said Jeremy Langer, Fox
Sports Net manager of scheduling.
Although some people speculate private donors are more generous
to the university and Athletics Department when teams win, it is
“hard to quantify” the impact it has on donations, said
UCLA spokesman Max Benavidez.
Sales of UCLA clothes in the UCLA Store and at the Rose Bowl
have been within 3 percent of last year, said Keith Schoen,
director of sales for the Associated Students of UCLA.
Schoen also noted that students may be more inclined to buy from
BearWear when the team is winning because on Mondays after a home
win, the student store has the Score Big promotion, which awards a
5 percent discount for every touchdown UCLA scores, up to 25
percent.
For the past several years, attendance at UCLA football games
has often fluctuated with the performance of the team and the
quality of the opponent. It comes as no surprise to some students
that there would be more support for a winning team.
“When you’re winning, you are naturally going to be
proud of your institution,” said Nick de Campo, a first-year
computer science and engineering student.
But in accordance with only a slight increase in year-to-date
UCLA merchandise sales, many students walking around the BearWear
section of the the UCLA Store on Wednesday said the performance of
the football team does not affect whether they buy UCLA
products.
“You either have school spirit or you don’t,”
said Elizabeth Leon, a fourth-year American literature and culture
student.
Yet attendance at UCLA games appears to have more to do with the
team’s record than it does with school spirit, as many UCLA
students are less likely to travel to the Rose Bowl to cheer for a
losing team.
Scott Mitchell, director of marketing for the Athletics
Department, said if the team continues to win, he expects more
students will buy tickets for the Oregon game.
“You are going to see these things continue to build, …
but history would indicate that you could expect more if the team
continues to win ““ starting with (Saturday’s) game
against Stanford,” Mitchell said.
