Other Tech squads count on success of football

A breakup of Big East football could alter the Hokies' financial outlook for all sports.

By MARK BERMAN
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   For Virginia Tech, the ACC threat to Big East football has ramifications beyond the gridiron.

    Football is the big money-maker at Tech, reaping millions in revenue thanks in part to its Big East ties. That money not only helps improve the football program but also trickles down to help fund other teams and capital projects.

    "Football turns the wheel for all of us," Tech golf coach Jay Hardwick said.

    Football brought in $14.9 million in the 2001-02 school year, including $4.6 million in Big East money. Football provided the largest chunk of the $26.9 million in athletic revenue, enabling the athletic department to finish in the black. Football brought in even more money the previous two school years.

    That income is a big reason Tech doesn't want Miami, Boston College and Syracuse to harm the Big East by changing leagues.

    "We have 21 intercollegiate sports. We have been successful in earning revenues in football which help us to finance the other sports," Tech President Charles Steger said.

        'The good and the bad'

    In 1990-91, the last school year before Big East football debuted, the athletic department generated $8.3 million in revenue, including $3.3 million from football. Bowl bids and TV games were hard to come by when Tech was a football independent.

    "Football, that's our money sport," said Chuck Hartman, who has been the baseball coach since 1979. "Our football program's successful; that means more money's available and budgets aren't pinched and you're able to do a few more things.

    "Football's doing bad, we start pinching pennies. I've been through that, too. I've been through the good and the bad. ... We had less money to recruit. Meal money wasn't as much for the young men. Equipment in general wasn't up to par. Football has made a big difference in our program."

    Being in the Big East has certainly enhanced the football team's cash flow. In the 2001 season, Tech reaped the standard $2 million payment that each of the eight football schools received from the league, $1.4 million from being the Big East's representative in the Gator Bowl, and $1.2 million from playing in televised games made possible by the Big East's football TV contract.

    Tech's Big East football money varies each year based on how good a bowl the Hokies make. The league's Bowl Championship Series berth enabled Tech to reap $4 million from playing in the Sugar Bowl in January 2000, part of the $7.2 million in Big East money Tech pocketed during Michael Vick's big season. The league could lose its BCS berth if Miami leaves for the ACC, though, and the value of its TV contract would no doubt plummet.

    Women's basketball coach Bonnie Henrickson, who was a Tech assistant in the late 1980s, remembers the pre-Big East days. There were places the staff couldn't recruit because of the cost of traveling there. She also remembers when all the road trips were by bus, causing a "considerable amount of missed class time."

    When athletic director Jim Weaver committed last year to spending more money on Henrickson's program, he said he was depending on football revenue for it because Tech doesn't get to dip into the Big East basketball revenue-sharing pot until the 2005-06 season. Weaver agreed to spend a total of $78,000 more each year to increase Henrickson's recruiting budget and operational expenses, her assistant coaches' pay and her travel budget. The money enabled the women's team to take two charter flights last season.

    Tech will soon be spending even more on basketball travel. Beginning next season, Tech will put aside $200,000 to be shared by the men's and women's basketball programs for charter flights.

    "Chartering, I think that's critical, especially in men's and women's basketball," Henrickson said. "There's another opponent beside who you're playing - it's fatigue. You're practicing at 6 in the morning because you're having to travel [without charters], or ... you're getting into a hotel at 10 or 11 o'clock at night.

    "I respect and appreciate as much as anybody in the country in women's basketball how much football helps us. The more successful they can be and the more people we can put in the stands, the more bowl games they have - I am all for whatever they need to make their program better. I understand the economy of athletics, that it will help us. We have opportunities to do things at a better level financially because of football."

    Tech has also been spending more to beef up its men's soccer program, thanks to the increased ticket revenue that came from Lane Stadium's south end-zone expansion.

    No wonder Hardwick said the biggest fans at Tech football games are the coaches of the school's other teams. The national exposure coach Frank Beamer's football team gives the school helps all the coaches when they recruit, and the money it generates fuels their programs.

    "When Frank's team does well, everybody benefits," said Hardwick, who has been the golf coach for 20 years. "Football makes all the money, but it doesn't get all the money. The athletic director makes sure everyone gets a piece of the pie. It gives everyone the chance to do something extra with the travel budget, the recruiting budget - build your program."

    The football money also takes pressure off other teams. When Weaver fired men's basketball coach Bobby Hussey in 1999, he said dwindling men's basketball attendance was a factor. That was before Tech began selling out its football games, though. Weaver said this year that football sellouts are why he is no longer as concerned with the men's basketball program's low attendance and red ink.

    Every home football game in 1999, 2000 and 2001 was a sellout.

        Building boom

    Money for athletic capital projects comes not only from Hokie Club donations but also from athletic department surpluses caused by excess football revenue.

    In recent years, Tech used $1.2 million of surplus money to help pay for additional seats in Lane Stadium's north end zone, $1 million to help pay for the stadium's new field, and $107,000 to help pay for the new football practice field.

    Others also benefit from the surplus. Tech used $355,000 to help foot the bill for the new soccer and lacrosse field.

    Tech students and parents should also be grateful to football. Steger said having plenty of football revenue keeps Tech from needing to raise the student athletic fee of $232 per student, which hasn't gone up in five years. Student athletic fees totaling $5.8 million were the second-biggest source of Tech athletic income last year. The University of Virginia is raising its $278 athletic fee by $50 next year.

    Steger said the financial self-reliance of the athletic department benefits Tech at a time of belt-tightening for the academic side of the university.

    "During the last budget reduction cycle, the athletic department has made and will make for several years significant contributions in helping us deal with the budget reduction and keep our dollars into the classroom," Steger said.

    No one wants the penny-pinching days to return.

    "It's been pretty nice lately," Hartman said. "We've been well-taken care of. I'm sure soccer and volleyball and everyone else's budgets have gone up just as ours have. You're able to operate a little bit better, to say the least."

Kilgore adds name to lawsuit
Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore's decision puts him squarely on the side of Virginia Tech in the legal battle.

FROM WIRE AND STAFF REPORTS

Attorney General Jerry Kilgore has added his name to the lawsuit filed last week by Virginia Tech and four other Big East schools.
In a move that could increase the political pressure on ACC member Virginia, Kilgore signed on to motions filed by the plaintiffs Thursday in Connecticut Superior Court in Hartford.

Virginia Tech and four other schools filed suit against the ACC, Miami and Boston College last week, seeking damages and an injunction to stop the two schools from leaving the Big East. The third ACC target, Syracuse, was not sued.

The plaintiffs' main lawyers are a New York firm and Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. Kilgore decided to add his name as "of counsel," the same secondary status that the West Virginia attorney general and the colleges' respective legal counsels have.

Kilgore's decision puts him squarely on the side of Tech in the legal battle.

"The attorney general remains fully supportive of Virginia Tech's rights to protect its own interest," said Kilgore's spokesman, Tim Murtaugh.

Gov. Mark Warner had already been involved in the debate, lobbying last month to make Tech one of the ACC additions and calling this week for mediation between the leagues.

ACC presidents held conference calls Tuesday and Wednesday, but no vote was taken to invite the three schools. Seven votes are needed. ACC Commissioner John Swofford reportedly needs to win over UVa, Duke or North Carolina to get the seventh vote.

In Thursday's legal action, Blumenthal filed an application for expedited discovery. Blumenthal wants to get his hands on pertinent documents within two weeks and to begin deposing people in early July.

"Time clearly is of the essence. It is the plaintiffs' understanding and expectation that within hours or days, defendants will announce that Miami, Boston College and Syracuse will attempt to defect from the Big East," the application states.

Blumenthal wants any communications among the ACC, Miami, BC and Syracuse dating back to 1997 related to expansion and, among other things, how it would affect the Bowl Championship Series and how it would affect ACC and Big East schools financially. He also wants any communications they had with TV networks about realignment.

Blumenthal is requesting he be allowed to depose 13 people, including Swofford; the athletic directors and presidents of Miami, Syracuse, BC and Florida State; Georgia Tech AD Dave Braine; and TV executive-turned-consultant Neal Pilson.

In another development, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush backed Miami's bid to leave the Big East and criticized the lawsuit.

"We have too many lawsuits in our society," Bush said. "I think a university should be able to associate with any set of universities they want."

 

Motion seeks to accelerate suit
Momentum turning against ACC expansion
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published June 13, 2003

A motion filed Thursday afternoon in a Hartford, Conn., Superior Court seeks to accelerate the litigation process of a lawsuit filed last week by five Big East Conference schools and begin depositions on July 1 with Miami president Donna Shalala.

"Time is clearly of the essence," the motion reads. "It is the plaintiffs' understanding and expectation that within hours or days, (the) defendants will announce that Miami, Boston College and Syracuse will attempt to defect from the Big East and join the ACC. (Accelerated) discovery therefore is crucial for preparation of the extremely time-sensitive motion for injunctive relief that will likely be necessitated by (the) defendants' expected announcement."

The ACC's nine presidents have had two discussions via conference call this week, ending each without taking a vote on expansion. There is strong indication that commissioner John Swofford presently does not have the seven votes needed to expand with Duke, North Carolina and Virginia in the "no" camp. Swofford, however, remains optimistic he can sway either Duke or UNC.

Virginia president John Casteen finds himself in a ticklish situation. On May 13, he was one of seven presidents who voted in favor of expanding - a vote, sources say, that was cast with the clear understanding that Virginia Tech would not be in the mix. Duke and North Carolina voted no, and had Casteen joined them, expansion of any kind would have been defeated.

Three days later, granted political cover by Duke and UNC, Casteen was the only president to vote against pursuing Miami, Boston College and Syracuse. The reason was clear: Under pressure from Gov. Mark Warner and various state politicians, Casteen felt compelled to support Virginia Tech.

Until recently, that didn't seem to be a concern for the pro-expansion camp. But in the past week, Duke president Nan Keohane and North Carolina chancellor James Moeser have expressed reservations. At the moment, there appear to be only six solid yes votes.

Sen. Marty Williams of Newport News said Casteen is feeling heat from both Virginia Tech and Virginia alums within the state legislature.

"I think people are letting him know this is very important to the whole commonwealth," Williams said. "I think there's a lot of pressure on him."

Though expansion talk is far from dead, those opposed to the idea sense momentum in their favor. On Tuesday, the Duke University faculty released a statement calling for the ACC to wait up to a year before taking a vote.

"We urge the presidents/chancellors of all ACC universities to postpone the final expansion decision until each university's faculty has been consulted according to their own faculty governance procedures, and their concerns have been adequately addressed," the statement read.

Thursday's motion was filed by attorney generals Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Darrell McGraw of West Virginia along with Jerry Cain and Kay Heidbreder, independent counsel appointed by Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore. Kilgore's name also appears on the motion.

According to Kilgore spokesman Tim Murtaugh, the attorney general "is in full support of what Virginia Tech is doing."

Shalala is the first of 14 names listed for deposition. Others included presidents William Leahy of Boston College, Kenneth Shaw of Syracuse and T.K. Wetherell of Florida State along with five athletic directors: Paul Dee of Miami, Gene DeFilippo of BC, Dave Hart of Florida State, Dave Braine of Georgia Tech and Jake Crouthamel of Syracuse. Also on the list is Swofford.

Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and West Virginia filed suit Friday against the ACC as well as current Big East members Miami and Boston College, who are being pursued for expansion. The defendants are accused of conspiring to destroy the Big East, costing the plaintiffs "hundreds of millions of dollars."

Florida Gov. Bush supports expansion
BY AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
afeatherston@heraldsun.com
Jun 13, 2003 : 12:56 am ET

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Thursday he backs Miami’s bid to join the ACC and agrees with Florida’s attorney general that states should not go to court to block the league’s expansion effort.

But even as he spoke, Connecticut state attorney general Richard Blumenthal was in a Stamford, Conn., courtroom to file a motion for expedited discovery in the lawsuit brought by the University of Connecticut and four other Big East schools against the University of Miami, Boston College and the ACC.

"We have too many lawsuits in our society," Bush said. "I think a university should be able to associate with any set of universities they want.

"If [Miami President Donna] Shalala needs the support of the governor of her home state to support her decisions, I would wholeheartedly do it."

Florida attorney general Charlie Crist, who attended ACC schools Wake Forest and Florida State, believes expansion would be good for the league.

"We ought to leave it up to the league, and hopefully they can come up with a resolution for what’s appropriate to the University of Miami and Syracuse and Boston College," Crist said. "It would be good for athletics. It’d be good for FSU. It’d be a great thing."

The ACC’s nine presidents conducted conference calls Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss expansion. Neither meeting produced a final vote on expansion. ACC commissioner John Swofford said no vote will be taken on expansion until at least early next week.

Blumenthal told the court that the ACC’s timetable was behind his motion.

"Our legal cause remains clearly urgent and immediate," he said in a statement released by his office. "Time is of the essence. The ACC’s vote could happen any day now — prompting defection by Miami, BC and Syracuse, destroying the Big East and threatening irreparable injury to the remaining Big East schools."

Blumenthal’s statement said that his office has pursued voluntary cooperation.

"In two separate letters, we gave the defendants a chance to voluntarily cooperate with our discovery request," he said. "They have provided no acceptable response. Our hope was that we could avoid court motions through voluntary cooperation, but the urgency of action and the defiance and intransigence of the defendants compels us to seek expedited discovery."

If granted, his motion would compel the defendants to produce documents and give depositions much sooner than normally would occur during the course of a lawsuit. The motion asks for the production of a variety of documents regarding:

-- The ACC’s consideration of expanding, or plans to expand, its conference membership to other schools.

-- Plans by the defecting schools to leave the Big East.

-- Efforts by any of the defecting schools, the ACC and/or any ACC member school to persuade or induce other Big East schools to depart the Big East.

-- Any direct or indirect communications between or among the ACC, any of its member schools, the defecting schools, or any television or broadcast network regarding any potential impact of any conference realignment on the ACC and/or the Big East.

One more more name was added to the lawsuit Thursday, when Virginia attorney general Jerry Kilgore signed on in an effort to protect Virginia Tech.

"The attorney general remains fully supportive of Virginia Tech’s rights to protect its own interest," said Kilgore’s spokesman, Tim Murtaugh. "Virginia Tech really needs to be affiliated with a viable athletic conference."

In other expansion news, Florida State athletics director Dave Hart issued a strong denial of a report in the Charlotte Observer that FSU threatened to leave the ACC if the league refused to pursue expansion.

"The story in the Charlotte Observer inaccurately suggests that in late 2001, FSU President Sandy D’Alemberte challenged ACC Commissioner John Swofford about the risk of losing FSU should the ACC not expand," Hart said in his statement. "That is not accurate. At approximately the time line suggested in the Observer story, I expressed to the commissioner the fact that I was very concerned about the possibility of the ACC being left behind if serious expansion discussions were not held.

"Our president was never involved in that discussion, and I certainly would not characterize my statement as a threat, nor do I believe it was taken as a threat by the ACC."

Swofford, speaking to WCHL radio Thursday afternoon also denied the reported threat from D’Alemberte.

"He, in fact, never said that to me and, to my knowledge, never indicated that to anyone," Swofford said. "I think he was offended that that was attributed to him. Certainly he never said it to me."

Moeser, Fox to brief groups
Chancellors at UNC, N.C. State will meet with faculty today to discuss ACC expansion as Big East litigation efforts grow
By BARRY SVRLUGA, Staff Writer

North Carolina chancellor James Moeser and N.C. State chancellor Marye Anne Fox will brief faculty groups on their respective campuses today on potential expansion of the ACC.
Moeser called a meeting for this morning with Carolina's Faculty Athletic Council and the executive committee of the Faculty Senate.

Fox called a meeting with her corresponding groups for this afternoon.

Among the possible topics for the meetings could be the legal proceedings against the conference, which moved forward Thursday when lawyers for five Big East schools sought depositions from many key players involved in the expansion plans.

A vote by the ACC's Council of Presidents on whether to officially invite Miami, Boston College and Syracuse to join could come as early as Monday or Tuesday, though those involved continued to insist Thursday that there is no definite timetable.

Seven of the nine school leaders must vote yes to approve expansion.

Duke, North Carolina and Virginia are the three schools balking at expansion, with UNC taking the hardest line against the move. Moeser's stance -- outlined in e-mails to his colleagues at the other schools -- pleases at least some of the faculty he will address today.

"I think that he has put his finger on a couple of very important issues that need to be discussed before expansion goes forward -- if at all," said Lissa Broome, a law professor at UNC. "The most significant issue to me is the impact that any expansion would have on the academic experience of our student-athletes, and that seems to be the chancellor's concern. We don't really know what the details would be, and until we understand the details, we can't decide."

Meanwhile, lawyers representing the five remaining football-playing schools from the Big East -- Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Virginia Tech and West Virginia -- officially filed an application for "expedited discovery" in their suit against the ACC, Miami and Boston College. The application would require the ACC, its schools, Miami and BC to quickly supply depositions and documents pertaining to expansion plans.

The Big East wants depositions taken July 1-9 from ACC commissioner John Swofford, Miami president Donna Shalala, Miami athletics director Paul Dee, Miami chancellor and former president Edward Foote, BC president William Leahy and BC athletics director Gene DeFillipo.

The application, filed in Superior Court in Hartford, Conn., said, "Time clearly is of the essence." The Big East schools not involved in expansion have the "understanding and expectation that within hours or days, [the ACC] will announce that Miami, Boston College and Syracuse will attempt to defect from the Big East and join the ACC," the application said.

The Big East suit, filed last Friday in Superior Court in Hartford, seeks millions of dollars and an injunction to prevent the schools from leaving the conference.

ACC officials would not comment on the suit or on the application to move quickly. The Big East schools say the ACC and its schools have largely ignored the suit.

"In two separate letters, we gave the defendants a chance to voluntarily cooperate with our discovery request," Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal said in a statement. "They have provided no acceptable response."

On Thursday, Virginia's attorney general, Jerry Kilgore, added his name to the Big East's lawsuit. The move increased the already significant political pressure on UVa president John T. Casteen III, whose vote could be the difference between whether or not expansion moves forward.

Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has pleaded with Casteen to vote against expansion unless it included rival Virginia Tech, the other major public institution in the state.

Casteen did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday. While Moeser and Duke president Nan Keohane have each sent e-mails to their colleagues outlining their concerns about expansion, Casteen has remained silent.

"I think everybody agrees he's got a very difficult decision," said Mitch Van Yahres, Charlottesville's representative in Virginia's House of Delegates. "He's caught between a rock and a hard place. It's a no-win situation, and I think people sympathize with him."

In Florida, Gov. Jeb Bush told The Associated Press on Thursday that he backs Miami's potential move to the ACC.

"I think a university should be able to associate with any set of universities they want," Bush said.

Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist echoed Bush's sentiments.

"We ought to leave it up to the league and hopefully they can come up with a resolution for what's appropriate to the University of Miami, and Syracuse and Boston College," Crist told the AP. "It would be good for athletics. It'd be good for [Florida State]. It'd be a great thing."

With a vote on the matter at least several days away, some faculty members at Triangle schools think there might yet be the opportunity to get more information in order to fully understand expansion's potential impact.

"There have been a number of twists and turns this week," said Dr. Nancy Allen, who chairs the Academic Council at Duke, where faculty has opposed expansion. "It's hard to know what will happen. I'm hopeful the process can be slowed so that [a deeper discussion] could take place."