Big D equals big $$$ for Big 12
Ticket revenues at AAC, Reunion far outpace Kansas City's haul
09:39 AM CST on Thursday, March 9, 2006
In the turnstile battle at the annual Big 12 Conference basketball championships, Kansas City may edge out Dallas for men's fans. But when keeping score by dollars, there is no comparison. Dallas easily beats Kansas City as a host site, sometimes by $1 million or more. Dallas will host the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Championship starting today at American Airlines Center. Reunion Arena is hosting the Big 12 women through Saturday. Since the league's inception in 1996, the best years for ticket revenue were 2003 ($5.74 million) and 2004 ($5.64 million), according to financial results provided to The Dallas Morning News by the Big 12. Through Sunday Photos: DMN All-Big 12 men's team Big D means big bucks for Big 12 Return trip to Dallas isn't guaranteed
Thursday's previews (.pdf)
Bracket (.pdf) Those are the only previous times the tournaments were in Dallas. Kansas City hosted the other years. This year, the league "conservatively" estimates that the championships will produce $5.4 million in ticket revenue, which it keeps. Other revenue, such as parking and concessions, goes to the host. Tournament TV rights are packaged with regular-season rights. Kansas City's best years for ticket sales were 2005 with $4.77 million and 2002 with $4.19 million. The low point was $3.53 million in 1999. "Clearly, it's one of our most important events of the year," Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg said. Next year, for the first time, the championships will be in Oklahoma City. Beyond that, no site is set. Both Dallas and Kansas City, which is building a new downtown arena, are aggressively courting future tournaments because they generate roughly $20 million to $25 million in economic impact for each city. "Dallas absolutely will be competitive in that mix," said Tara Green, director of sports marketing for the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau. Kansas City is touting its $276 million Sprint Center, scheduled to open next year, and a long history with college basketball. For more than a quarter-century, it was the only host of postseason championships for the Big 12 and the Big 8. Businesses came to depend on the boost caused by KC's mini-March Madness. When the tournament first came to Dallas in 2003, Kansas City's riverboat casino industry reported its first-ever monthly, year-over-year decline in revenue, according to The Kansas City Star . Mr. Weiberg acknowledges that rotating sites may not maximize league revenue, but he says some members are willing to accept less money to move the championships around. "I think it will be a tough sell for a single site," he said. One reason Dallas generates more revenue, Mr. Weiberg said, is a greater number of premium seats at AAC, where the men play. The highest priced ticket this year is $330 for six sessions, or $55 a session. For the men's tournament, the attendance high (109,608) occurred last year in Kansas City. The top women's tournament turnout (35,212) was in 2003 in Dallas. And for combined tournaments, the highest attendance (140,122) was in 2004 in Dallas, according to league record books. The Big 12's basketball championships are part of what has become a huge sports enterprise. Based in Dallas, the league forecasts that its total revenue for this fiscal year (ending June 30) will be $112.3 million. That would be about $2 million less than 2005 and represent the first year-over-year decline in the conference's 10-year history. Mr. Weiberg said the league's 2005 results benefited from a bonus payment related to a TV contract, and from getting two football teams into lucrative Bowl Championship Series games. National champion Texas is the only Big 12 team that played in a BCS game last season. "That's really found money that you don't anticipate," assistant Big 12 commissioner Bob Burda said of the $4.5 million a conference receives for the second berth. The Big 12 has one automatic berth, which will pay about $17 million next year. The Big 12's success in generating money parallels its athletic success. It has the reigning national champion in football, baseball (Texas), women's basketball (Baylor) and women's outdoor track (Texas). Its teams have played in five of eight BCS national title games, more than any other conference. It is always well represented in the NCAA men's basketball tournament. And it has increased its annual revenue by more than 80 percent since its first year of existence, league financial records show. Only the Southeastern Conference and Big Ten consistently generate more money. "We'd always like to do better," Mr. Weiberg said. "But I think we've exceeded expectations since the start of the conference." Going forward, the goal is to continue to grow, he said. "We want to do everything we can to optimize revenue without sacrificing other principles that are important to us." This year, the Big 12's revenue comes mainly from television ($50 million forecast), bowl games ($25.9 million), the NCAA men's basketball tournament ($24.5 million) and conference championships ($11.1 million, primarily basketball and football). The league then channels that money to its member schools. In fiscal 2005, the Big 12 distributed about 96 percent of the $114.1 million it received, according to the league's Form 990, an annual return filed by tax-exempt organizations. The balance was devoted to general league expenses, including Mr. Weiberg's $500,000 salary and $170,000 benefit package, and a small surplus. Most of the distributions went as cash grants and allocations, which ranged from $9.46 million for Oklahoma, which played in the BCS title game that year, to $6.06 million for Baylor, which did not play in a bowl. In part, the distributions depend on postseason participation and success. This fiscal year, Texas is expected to receive about what OU did in 2005, Mr. Burda said. E-mail gjacobson@dallasnews.com 
American Airlines Center
• Tech-K State
• Colorado-Baylor
• OSU-Iowa State
• Missouri-Nebraska
