Missouri State University Director of Athletics Kyle Moats said this morning new rules under consideration by the NCAA's five largest conferences could further widen the talent gap between them and midlevel conferences - including MSU in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Earlier this month, the NCAA governing board passed autonomy measures that could make power conferences in college sports more powerful, according to
ESPN. It has drawn the concern of Moats because the new rules could limit the Springfield school's chances of making it to the national stage.
With the early August ruling by the NCAA Division I Board of Directors, the top 64 schools in the richest five leagues can submit their own legislation by Oct. 1 with the intent to enact them in January. Among chief concerns is what Moats called "student welfare," or paying up to $5,000 to players beyond scholarships.
"It's getting tougher and tougher for us to get into the NCAA tournament," said Moats, who spoke this morning as the featured guest for Springfield Business Journal's monthly 12 People You Need to Know live interview series. "Given the opportunity, we can beat the Power 5."
Moats said the ruling allows the Power 5 to decide their own rules - such as potentially increasing the number of scholarships to 15 from 13 and enacting student athlete transfer policies - that are different than other conferences.
"How does that change what we're doing? How does that affect us from a competition standpoint? Those are all very important questions," Moats said. "I think the landscape of college athletics in five years from now is going to be drastically different than it is today."
Bear brandFor MSU athletics, winning is the name of the game. It's a fact of life for Moats and the $15 million program, the second-largest in the state.
Moats said wins and losses are what drive the Bear brand, for better or worse.
"You put that Bear hat on, you want it to be something that you're excited about and it means something, that we're winning, that you want to be a part of it," Moats said. "We look and see what we can do from a licensing perspective, in terms of what we can do with the retail market to get more product out there. In order to get merchandise in those stores, we have to win.
"It has to be something that those retailers think they can sell because of shelf space. If they can't sell it, they're going to put something else in there."
Moats and company are preparing for the Bears' football home opener versus North Dakota on Sept. 13. It marks the first football game at the Plaster Sports Complex after a renovation and redesign project that includes
new bleachers in the student section, updated signage and a new turf field.
Budgeted at $15 million this academic year, Missouri State athletics collects income from contracts and sponsorships, ticket sales, licensing, TV and media, and donations, which Moats said is similar to most athletics programs across the country.
"Ticket sales are no question the largest dollars we get," he said, noting philanthropic giving is another large revenue driver.
Moats concedes that tickets sales are dropping - from a recent peak of $2 million in 2007 to the $1.3 million range now - and notes the university must continue to work on bringing in the fans.
"I don't think it's one situation that has caused it. Wins and losses is certainly a part of it. The economy at that time dropped a little bit - that didn't help. Competition is always a factor. I wish I could say it's just one thing, but I think it's a combination of all those different things," Moats said. "We've got to do a better job of game atmosphere to draw people in.
"Here's what I know for sure: If we don't win, that will be the big factor."[[In-content Ad]]
