Michigan AD Warde Manuel: Wolverines may consider in-stadium advertising at the Big House to raise revenue

Oct 16, 2024

Revenue sharing is coming to college athletics in the near future, and Michigan Athletic Director Warde Manuel has begun speaking on how the Wolverines will approach the landmark change.

Michigan plans to start distributing some $20 to 22 million among student-athletes annually starting in 2025, the maximum amount schools will be allowed to pay once the NCAA settlement goes into effect at the beginning of the 2025-26 academic year. But that will bring a corresponding need to raise revenue for Michigan Athletics, a department that has historically remained financially self-sustaining.

Some of the revenue-sharing costs will be offset by larger payouts from the College Football Playoff, in addition to the Big Ten's new television contract. But Michigan Athletics is facing "a delta, a negative number" once revenue sharing arrives, Manuel said on the "Conqu'ring Heroes" podcast with Jon Jansen.

"We're going to pay be paying our student-athletes more money. Our budget is going to grow," Manuel said. "It means we're going to have to look at new revenue streams. Also look at our expenses and making sure we control our expenses. And so it's going to be a combination of both additional revenue that we need to look at — because this is additional payments that we have to make to our student-athletes — as well as reduction of expenses where we can.

"The goal is to continue for our teams to perform at a championship level, and to continue to drive the success that we've had here for our history, but particularly in the last five to 10 years, it's really been phenomenal what our student-athletes and coaches and programs have accomplished."

Many details about revenue sharing still require clarification and final approval. And each school will have to determine how it chooses to allocate revenue among its athletes and programs — a decision-making process that at Michigan is still ongoing. However, a U.S. Department of Education official told ESPN in June that Title IX — a federal law which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex — will apply to revenue sharing.

And Manuel, as he first told The Michigan Insider earlier this fall, has committed to maintaining U-M's allocation of 29 varsity sports.

"We're not reducing any sport lower than where they are now by the NCAA rules. And we're not cutting any sports. So for me, the goal is that we will continue to work to support our student-athletes and our programs to win and to support them at a championship level," Manuel said.

To that extent, Manuel said Michigan will begin surveying fans about how the Athletic Department can increase revenue to offset the expenditure created by revenue-sharing. "There's a lot of things we've left on the table," Manuel said, among them advertising in the Big House.

Michigan Stadium has limited advertising; there are no corporate sponsors attached to the stadium or the field, nor are third-party companies promoted on signage inside the venue. That's something U-M may consider changing in the future, depending on fan feedback, Manuel said.

"There's no commitment to doing it — but one of the things that stands out is in our stadium, in Michigan Stadium," Manuel said. "We have prided ourselves, we've had a history of no signage, no advertising in Michigan Stadium. As our fans go to other locations, they'll see how people have utilized their stadiums to bring in revenue. Now, the good news is, we have a source that is untapped at this point in time. Not that we have plans right now to do that, but that's one of the sense of questions that we want to get our fans to say: How would you like to see us develop revenue streams that would support our student-athletes? Is it ticket price increases? Is it through corporate sponsorship? Is it through looking at other premium options that others have, those kind of things?"

Manuel highlighted the All-Star Lounge at Mortenson Plaza, a football pregame and in-game package available for purchase this season, as an example of premium experiences that support Michigan Athletics.

"We're constantly trying to look at and elevate what our fans want, what they've talked to us about, what their interests are," he said. "And that has been very successful and very well received by our fans. We're constantly trying to figure out ways to generate additional revenue to support our student-athletes, our coaches and our programs."

Michigan Athletics projected revenue of $255.7 million in 2024-25, with operating expenses totaling $253.6 million.