We Made The Front Page of the Dallas Observer...

Cerebus · May 24, 2016

UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal Ends Troubled Reign

Quote

If Villarreal accomplished everything he'd imagined at UNT, his imagination needs work.

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Despite a swelling budget that raked in $10.7 million in student fees and $9.3 million from the school alone in 2015, UNT's athletic department racked up huge losses yearly, including a $20 million shortfall in 2015.

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Villarreal's failure to build a successful football program despite the considerable resources of the fifth largest Texas university, coupled with the men's basketball team not winning an NCAA Tournament game during his tenure at the school, ensured his department's beleaguered financial status.

NorthTexan95 · May 24, 2016

Wonder how that got that number?

VideoEagle · May 24, 2016

According to the article we should be generating the same revenue in CUSA as Tech is in the Big 12. I don't remember a $20 million loss - it could have happened but at 7am I don't remember it.

UNT90 · May 24, 2016

Good to see a publication call him on the BS narrative he tried to float out there. Talk about facilities all you want, Rick, but don't say you accomplished everything you set out to accomplish. You clearly didn't. And clearly didn't accomplish hardly anything after the students did what you couldn't, get funding approved for a new football stadium.

The last 5 years exposed a hustle, sadly.

Edited May 24, 2016 by UNT90

MeanGreenTexan · May 24, 2016

2 hours ago, Cerebus said:

UNT Athletic Director Rick Villarreal Ends Troubled Reign

$20million shortfall? How did that happen? Wouldn't that be much bigger news than some blurb in the Observer?

Cerebus · May 24, 2016

1 hour ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Wonder how that got that number?

1 minute ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

$20million shortfall? How did that happen? Wouldn't that be much bigger news than some blurb in the Observer?

No idea. The number really sprang out at me. I've contacted the author and asked for his source of this information.

oldguystudent · May 24, 2016

Man, the author of that article sounds more personally affronted than Brett Vito without a parking pass.

Edited May 24, 2016 by oldguystudent

Cerebus · May 24, 2016

Just now, oldguystudent said:

Man, the author of that article sounds more personally affronted and Brett Vito without a parking pass.

Has anyone ever seen Stephen Young and Brett Vito in the same room at the same time?

VideoEagle · May 24, 2016

5 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

Has anyone ever seen Stephen Young and Brett Vito in the same room at the same time?

Well, maybe. This is from Stephen Young's twitter page. I'm sure he knows a lot about accounting. And sports.

GreenFlag · May 24, 2016

The article also states we won 10 games in 2013 and that we are the 5th largest University in Texas. At least the tone of the article was about right.

MeanGreenTexan · May 24, 2016

17 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

Has anyone ever seen Stephen Young and Brett Vito in the same room at the same time?

You know, I've never even heard of Stephen Young before... had to google him. I just don't see the resemblance.

UNT90 · May 24, 2016

2 hours ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Wonder how that got that number?

The article says he got that number from a Texas Tribune article. Seems really off base. His fact checking is... Questionable.

VideoEagle · May 24, 2016

5 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

The article says he got that number from a Texas Tribune article. Seems really off base. His fact checking is... Questionable.

His reading comprehension is, well, questionable. A search of the Tribune online shows only one article with $20 million (or twenty). It reads REVENUES from the student fee quadrupled to $20 million from $5 million, not a loss. I hope he didn't take any accounting at COBA.

Mr Young would not be the first Observer reporter to refuse to allow actual facts to interfere with his editorial stance.

UNTcrazy727 · May 24, 2016

The Dallas Observer is mostly haughty, self-righteous garbage.

UNTFan23 · May 24, 2016

3 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

His reading comprehension is, well, questionable. A search of the Tribune online shows only one article with $20 million (or twenty). It reads REVENUES from the student fee quadrupled to $20 million from $5 million, not a loss. I hope he didn't take any accounting at COBA.

Mr Young would not be the first Observer reporter to refuse to allow actual facts to interfere with his editorial stance.

So it looks like maybe the article was modified slightly ...

" That's pretty much it. Despite a swelling budget that raked in $10.7 million in student fees and $9.3 million from the school alone in 2015, UNT's athletic department racked up huge losses yearly, including a $20 million shortfall in 2015, according to numbers compiled by the <i>Texas Tribune</i>. "

I guess he's using that amount to say the university is using the fee to cover a shortfall? I still don't see in the Tribune article where there was a shortfall of $20 million mentioned.

Cerebus · May 24, 2016

I am guess this is the article he is referencing, but he has not contacted me back yet:

TT: Students Pitch In More as Texas Colleges' Athletics Costs Climb

Quote

The UNT hike was no one-time thing. The university and its students had already been chipping in significantly in past years. And although UNT’s sports revenue has been on the rise since 2010, expenses grew even more. Records filed by UNT indicate that the athletic department has relied on subsidies from the university and student fees to fill the gap.

In the 2010 fiscal year, the department had collected $5 million in subsidies from those two sources to round out its budget. By 2015, that number had quadrupled to $20 million.

It seems to me that the $20 million dollar figure is a rolling total of ALL THE YEARS THE FEES WERE COLLECTED. The writing is a little ambiguous, I am trying to contact the writer of the Texas Tribune article.

However they also state the following:

Quote

In 2008, UNT gave its athletics department just over $14,000 to supplement its sports revenue. In 2015, it provided $9.3 million.

The $20 million dollar figure MAY BE the that payment of $9.3M coupled with the total fee collection of $10.7M they report here:

I don't see how the Observer author can claim there was a $20M loss in 2015 alone.

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ETA: I've sent off an email to Matthew Watkins, the writer of the Texas Tribune story, to clear up his numbers and his sources.

UNTLifer · May 24, 2016

The Dallas Observer. Isn't that a small step up from The Enquirer?

UNTFan23 · May 24, 2016

1 hour ago, Cerebus said:

I don't see how the Observer author can claim there was a $20M loss in 2015 alone.

I believe $20M would represent more than half the total athletic budget. Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought we were around $37M for the annual budget.

UNT90 · May 24, 2016

We played 2 whore games in 2015. If there is a $20 million loss, the Denton DA's Office needs to drop subpoenas for the bank accounts for every AD employee. Lol.

Edited May 24, 2016 by UNT90

Aldo · May 24, 2016

3 hours ago, Cerebus said:

No idea. The number really sprang out at me. I've contacted the author and asked for his source of this information.

Does the $20 million figure represent the amount we had to be subsidized for? I think we talked about it in another thread a while back.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Aldo

UNTFan23 · May 24, 2016

5 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

We played 2 whore games in 2025. If there is a $20 million loss, the Denton DA's Office needs to drop subpoenas for the bank accounts for every AD employee. Lol.

That's a pretty serious allegation to be throwing down with little to no evidence.

UNT90 · May 24, 2016

4 minutes ago, UNTFan23 said:

That's a pretty serious allegation to be throwing down with little to no evidence.

Did you not see the Lol? Jeez, man, lighten up. Everyone knows the numbers are wrong. Leave your personal hatred of me out of your posts, please.

Cerebus · May 24, 2016

Just now, UNT90 said:

Did you not see the Lol? Jeez, man, lighten up. Everyone knows the numbers are wrong. Leave your personal hatred of me out of your posts, please.

Maybe the joke didn't need to be made in the first place since RV is gone in a month anyway.

It's over:

UNT90 · May 24, 2016

6 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

Maybe the joke didn't need to be made in the first place since RV is gone in a month anyway.

It's over:

Just keep an eye out for personal attacks on anything I post from the usual suspects and I'll avoid a response. Sad that some people can't move past an issue. There is some really weird angst on this forum right now.

Cerebus · May 24, 2016

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

Just keep an eye out for personal attacks on anything I post from the usual suspects and I'll avoid a response. Sad that some people can't move past an issue. There is some really weird angst on this forum right now.

If you see a personal attack report it. Don't respond in kind. The Report Post button is at the top of every single post.

If you want to discuss it any further, PM me, don't junk up this thread.

That goes for everyone.

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ETA: Back to the thread.

Just got a copy of the NCAA report the Texas Tribune is based on. It's not pretty.

Edited May 24, 2016 by Cerebus