And this is having a huge impact on athletics and will continue to do, loss of students will equal loss of athletic department revenue thru less student fees and fewer fans.
In 2016 the ISU athletic revenue was about $26.5M, in 2021 it was $30.2M, an increase of 14%
Appreciate the look into this Nashville. I'll tell you this though. Our increase sure didn't come via increased ticket sales. It has the be the university subsidy.
I believe the FBS/FCS conversation could become a moot point within the next few years. The power 3 or 4 football conferences remaining will take all their $$$ and tell the ncaa to pound salt. That will leave the ncaa with what's leftover and they will move to bolster ncaa D1 football. I could see them even dropping the number of scholarships to help some schools reduce costs. Things are going to look a lot different in a few years.
I watched a little NIU basketball last night and after watching them lose to a D2 school at home in front of 600 fans and then seeing their athletic budget is about $10M less than ISU, I have to wonder if they are FBS long term and enrollment issues are a key factor here.
