Sunk Costs
- Thread starter It'sNotAFakeID
- Start date
huskerhead59
New member
huskerhead59
New member
That's what I meant not athletic department sorry
neepster
New member
This might not be a sunk cost case, but one could certainly make it a case to calculate an ROI or NPV of continuing the current action vs. making a change. Note that I am not an MBA or finance person so one of them should probably do the real math. However:
We certainly won't be going to a bowl this year. So there's a million dollars or so the department won't be getting. You can argue that it typically costs almost $500k-$1M to send the team, cheerleaders, band, etc to the bowl anyway, so maybe that is a wash.
However, licensing revenue in 2011 (last year I could find #s for) was $16.7M. Given that the majority of Husker merchandise sold is related to the football team, if we can expect a 3-9 team to sell only 50% of a normal amount of merchandise, then that is over $8M that Riley's poorly coached team has directly cost the University. Or you can use your own estimate if you think the sales falloff won't be 50%. And then of course, even if the sellout streak continues, there is the loss of concessions revenue as less people physically show up to games, etc. That may not be material though (unless you happen to be the poor guy who owns the concessions).
Anyway, this is a disaster of a year on all levels and we can probably find all sorts of reasons, including financial to cut our losses and move on. Waiting is just going to make it even more expensive.
We certainly won't be going to a bowl this year. So there's a million dollars or so the department won't be getting. You can argue that it typically costs almost $500k-$1M to send the team, cheerleaders, band, etc to the bowl anyway, so maybe that is a wash.
However, licensing revenue in 2011 (last year I could find #s for) was $16.7M. Given that the majority of Husker merchandise sold is related to the football team, if we can expect a 3-9 team to sell only 50% of a normal amount of merchandise, then that is over $8M that Riley's poorly coached team has directly cost the University. Or you can use your own estimate if you think the sales falloff won't be 50%. And then of course, even if the sellout streak continues, there is the loss of concessions revenue as less people physically show up to games, etc. That may not be material though (unless you happen to be the poor guy who owns the concessions).
Anyway, this is a disaster of a year on all levels and we can probably find all sorts of reasons, including financial to cut our losses and move on. Waiting is just going to make it even more expensive.
Red Dead Redemption
New member
No, it is NOT a wash. It is a loss that the players, cheerleaders, band etc. miss out on the experience of playing/performing at a bowl game and the events/activities that surround it.
The purpose of the bowl games is to reward the players/team for a successful season by offering them the opportunity to participate in a post-season exhibition match (save for the BCS/playoff games). The purpose of bowl games is NOT to JUST make money for the athletic department. At least that's how it used to be.
Last edited by a moderator:
In the Deed the Glory
New member
Red Dead Redemption
New member
My bad. My son is in the band, so I guess I'm a little sensitive.
And all the snickers are gone from the leftover Halloween candy...
Last edited by a moderator:
MichiganDad3
New member
I think the only more with less MR is doing is losing more games in less time than any other Husker coach in history.
