In Binghamton, what is the cost for March Madness?

http://www.examiner.com/x-3926-Business-of-Sports-Examiner~y2009m3d15-In-Binghamton-what-is-the-cost-for-March-Madness In Binghamton, what is the cost for "March Madness"

March 15, 1:00 PM
Here is hoping that Dr. Lois B. DeFleur and George Pataki are enjoying Binghamton University's first trip to March Madness, the NCAA Men’s College Basketball Tournament, more than say Bryan Steinhauer. Hopefully both Dr. DeFleur, the President of Binghamton University, Pataki, the New York Governor between 1995 and 2007, along with members from both houses of the New York State Legislature who approved Binghamton's step up to Division I men's basketball and allowed some $33.1 million in funds to go into the construction of an new athletic facility, to house the program, will keep Steinhauer in their thoughts.

But why should they? He wasn't a major contributor to Binghamton's success this year. In fact he wasn't even in school this year.

You see Steinhauer will forever be the symbol of what happens when a school chooses to house a big time sports program. The cost is more than just money. In Steinhauer's case, he was left in a coma after one of Binghamton basketball recruit, Miladin Kovacevic got into a bar brawl with Steinhauer in the early hours of May 4, 2008. Kovacevic, who is 6-9 and weighs 260 pounds, got into a fight with Steinhauer who was 5-9 and about 100 pounds lighter. Kovacevic beat Steinhauer into a coma. The only reason Kovacevic, who came from Serbia, was at Binghamton was his ability to play basketball.

Steinhauer finally emerged from a coma but doesn't remember the incident. Meanwhile Kovacevic fled to Serbia after being arrested with the help of the Siberian consulate. United States officials have demanded that Siberian officials return him to New York where he would face a trial, but Serbia claims they cannot do that because Serbia's constitution does not allow for extradition to the United States.

After the beating, Dr. DeFleur and New York Governor David Patterson along with members of the legislature should have suspended the program and looked into what the school got itself into by reaching for the big time. Instead it was business as usual. Prepare for the 2008-09 season and win the America East Conference under Coach Kevin Broadus.

Dr. DeFleur acted like so many other college and university presidents and chancellors. She overlooked the criminal incident like her peers at the University of Nebraska and other big time schools. The thinking seems to be something like this when it comes to the presidents and chancellors. Maybe in due time people will forget that some college athletes act like thugs and are arrested but somehow continue playing sports. Kovacevic lost his scholarship according to school officials before the Steinhauer incident, possibly because he was injured in 2007-08. Coaches can take scholarships away as easily as handing them out.

Binghamton University along with Buffalo, Stony Brook and Albany are the crown jewels of the New York State University system. All have gone Division 1 in many sports. Buffalo and Stony Brook are football schools, Binghamton and Albany are basketball schools. There was no need to go big time in Binghamton, yet in April 2003 when Binghamton was recruiting students, one of the school's selling points at an assembly aimed at parents who were helping their child in the school selection process was the commitment to basketball and that one day Binghamton would beat perennial powerhouse Syracuse in a match up. That is how important basketball became to Dr. DeFleur.

Basketball has become too much of a burden for a school that is rated one of the best academic state colleges or universities in the United States.

Of course it could be argued that Binghamton, a Northeastern rust belt city, has been in a recession after losing IBM and other companies for more than a decade and a half along with a lot of upstate New York municipalities and needed something to attract students other than classes and a few seedy downtown bars and a basketball team competing on a Division 1 level could do just that. Also, with a D-1 school, alumni and boosters would pump more money into the school's sports programs.

But America East schools don't play big time basketball like the Big East, the ACC, the Pac-10 and other conferences. America East schools lose money on sports and America East games are not must see TV even when the few that do get on TV are shown.

That of course leads to the question. Why is Binghamton going full throttle on building a basketball program? Another question. At what price does a school sell its soul?

A few weeks ago, the New York Times wrote a less than flattering article on the whole culture of the Binghamton University basketball program which included the Kovacevic incident and other incidents including a story about Malik Alvin was charged with assault and theft at a local Wal-Mart. Alvin was charged with stealing condoms, an item very much available on campus free of charge. The charges were dropped. In January, Dwayne Jackson was suspended for violating team rules and Devon McBride quit the team for his “loss of interest” in the game. McBride in that article also claimed that his teammates, most of whom were under the legal drinking age of 21 were consuming alcohol and smoked pot, which is illegal.

The mess at Binghamton University is what Dr. DeFleur, a former college basketball player, has on her watch. The mess is what former Governor Pataki has on his watch. Of course, the Binghamton University president has gone on the offensive and told the New York Times that "All of our basketball players are eligible and are making progress toward graduation." Dr, DeFleur also added that "Since we’ve been Division I, all of the players that have stayed in the program have graduated.”

It would be refreshing if in the coverage of March Madness if the National Collegiate Athletic Association's television and broadband partner CBS or its radio partner Westwood One would devote some time to real journalism on the presentation but don't expect that. CBS is paying the NCAA billions and while the network can dictate the times games tip off, they, despite paying all of that money to the NCAA, dare not criticize or even suggest that college sports is plagued with problems like graduation rates, arrests, allegations that professors have been coerced into giving "student-athletes" better grades and a host of other issues including "student-athletes" rights and the fact that coaches make money off endorsements on the players backs. But all CBS Chairman Sumner Redstone, CBS President Leslie Moonves, CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus and other network officials want are good ratings on TV and record numbers of visitors to the streaming videos of the games. There will be fluff pieces on CBS network news programs promoting March Madness, but don't expect any pieces on Kovacevic and the United States Department of State and New York Senator Charles Schumer's attempts to get the Serbian basketball player back to face assault charges. That would get in the way of entertainment and what the big time playing football and basketball schools want.

Fantasyland.


evanjweiner@yahoo.com

http://www.examiner.com/x-3926-Business-of-Sports-Examiner~y2009m3d7-2011-NFL-Lockout-Here-is-another-clue-for-you-all

2011 NFL Lockout: Here is another clue for you all

March 7, 7:25 PM · Add a Comment
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It is March and generally an NFL owner starts thinking about all the money that will be coming their way in the next few months from the sale of luxury boxes, club seats, in-stadium signage, naming rights, marketing partnerships and in the case of Tom Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints, a $23.5 million check from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Louisiana lawmakers thanks to a 2001 $186.5 million bailout that former Governor Mike Foster gave him as a thank you for keeping his football team in New Orleans through 2010. But this particular March is very different than those in the recent past as the owners begin preparing for the annual spring meetings which will be held in Southern California later this month. NFL owners have started digging in for what very well could turn out to be a protracted battle with their players over a new collective bargaining agreement with the 2011 season very much in jeopardy.

One clue for you all is the national over-the-air radio deal or the lack of a national over-the-air radio deal. The National Football League's association with Westwood One, an entity that has been firing people in waves since the fall because of financial ruin, was done with the 2009 Pro Bowl. Normally, the NFL has a new radio deal in place by the end of the final year of the old contract which allows the partner to start selling advertising well in advance of the season. This time around, Westwood One did make an offer to extend the contract but the radio syndicator is in brutally bad financial shape and has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange. The NFL opted to talk to others including ESPN Radio, Sporting News Radio, Sports USA Radio and The Content Factory.

It was thought that the league would have a new deal by the middle of last week. It didn’t happen.

Length of contract and money are two primary factors behind the delay in reaching an agreement. The NFL would prefer a short term agreement, say two years, for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. The NFL's deal with the financially troubled Sirius Satellite Radio and another partnership with Sprint, which provides wireless play-by-play of games, also end in 2010. Coincidentally, the NFL's collective bargaining deal with the players as lo ends in 2010.

Another clue that the owners are ready to take a hard line stance against the players can be found in the league office and with individual teams. NFL Commissioner has taken a 20 percent pay cut and the league has let go 169 employees due to the recession. The NFL put out a statement saying "It will continue to take collective sacrifice to get through this challenging economic environment, but these and other steps by our office and clubs will enable us to be more efficient and better positioned for future growth."

New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is not laying off people who work on the business side of the team but Johnson has implemented cost cutting measures by making his employees take a two week unpaid leave in either June or July just prior to training camp. The workers are giving back two weeks pay but they will continue to have jobs and receive benefits which is better than the league employees without jobs or former workers of NFL franchises in Cleveland, Washington, Indianapolis and Carolina. The players will not be downsized because of the economy in 2009 due to the collective bargaining contract

The NFL has a salary cap which means teams have to pay at least $86.4 million in salaries and could shell out as much as $116.2 million on players. Most of the money for players salaries comes from the national TV contracts. There is no cap on coaching, scouting and managerial staffs. In 2010, the final year of the collective bargaining agreement, there is no salary cap or floor. Although there is a national TV deal socialism, the difference between high revenue and low revenue teams is the result of local radio contracts and local sponsorship dollars, signage in stadiums and the ability in the past for large market teams to charge more for tickets than their smaller market counterparts although there is revenue sharing on tickets sold. Detroit may be in for a horrible season financially with the potential of bankruptcy looming for General Motors, very high unemployment and a Canadian dollar that has fallen against the US dollar which may preclude those from the Windsor, Ontario area from crossing the tunnel and buy Lions tickets.

If the economy doesn't improve in each of the 30 NFL markets, the owners may decide to totally rein in spending in 2010 and not care about the win-loss record and then tighten their grip on salaries by locking out players starting with the 2011 free agency period. The owners can outlast the players in a strike/lockout scenario. The 1987 players strike was a disaster for the players as a number of big name players including Lawrence Taylor and Joe Montana cross picket lines to play. Eventually the National Football League Players Association caved in and returned to the field. The players and owners finally signed a new collective bargaining agreement in 1993 after a court battle.

The NFL might not have as much money in 2011 anyway as the Sunday Ticket deal with DirecTV will have ended by then. The NFL has seen escalating TV dollars for a decade and a half but that may come to an end if economic conditions continue to deteriorate for media entities.

The lack of a radio deal, the layoffs and furloughs of employees are just the tip of the iceberg. The economics of sports is probably changing hourly. Advertising dollars, marketing deals, selling club seats and luxury boxes has come rather easily for NFL teams, along with other sports leagues and teams throughout North America. As the Dow sinks, as the jobless rate continues and as banks refuse to lend money, something has to give. NFL owners told the players a year ago that they wanted changes in the collective bargaining agreement and that was before the economic meltdown. The owners and players have two years to got a new contract signed but reading the tea leaves it becomes very apparently, the owners are in no rush to sign a new deal and the lack of a national radio deal, the firings and furloughing of workers are two signs that the owners are ready to change the course and fight for a new financial system with the players.


evanjweiner@yahoo.com