Saturday in Fayetteville

I got to work on Saturday this week. The University of Arkansas needed their baseball order and it had to go, too many others scheduled Monday through Friday. They offered me overtime so I jumped at the chance. Besides, deliveries are easy. Fayetteville is just less than 2 hours from Tulsa so most of my time would be spend behind the windshield listening to a podcast. I’m more or less the back up delivery option since I run the retail store.

On Friday night the warehouse crew loaded up the van with $30,000 worth of baseballs. That’s a lot of balls but it doesn’t take up as much room as you’d think. They seem to go up in price every year and these online warehouses move thousands every day. I’m always surprised when we are able to sell large orders of baseballs. The margins are thinner than the cardboard boxes they’re packed in. Whatever profit we make, the big stores like” Baseball Express” are certainly taking less. It’s tough to compete with that.

After drifting around campus looking for the stadium I finally called the equipment manager for directions. We unloaded in about 20 minutes and he offered to show me around. The facility is new. They’ve only been using it for a few months. Even the floor had an shiny, unused feel to it. This is probably the first baseball order the dock had seen. He didn’t have a place for it yet so we stacked them in a corner. Only the student training center is new though. The field and storage facilities, along the left field dugout, have been there since the middle 90s.

This new facility is a recruiters dream. I think the equipment manager, Mark, said 28 million. The boosters covered nearly all of it. He took me to a massive weight room with a wide view of the field. The right side of the room overlooked the pitching and hitting center. Each stall is equipped with high speed cameras that record every motion. Players can then sit in the video rooms and watch their performance while a coach recommends drills and techniques. We walked through the theater size locker room to the two Olympic size hot tubs. Behind that is the exam room for trainers to work tired arms, sore calves, pulled back muscles, pinched nerves and whatever ails a 20 year old prospect hoping to get on a professional club.

Most colleges have facilities like this but the scale and the quality of the University of Arkansas is a real separator. Top high school stand outs from around the country will decide to go there based on the upscale offerings. That’s the point. The recruiting game is more competitive than what happens on the diamond. It’s expensive too. I can’t blame boosters for pushing money into their Alma Mater’s baseball or football teams. Everyone wants to root for a winner; but what does spending millions of dollars on college sports really do for you?

Is getting good seats for home games worth it? I’m conspiratorial I admit, but for at least some of the high spenders there has to be more. For a guy who gives a 10K to the program and buys season tickets, the purchase makes sense. For families that donate millions of dollars it doesn’t. If there is one thing I know about rich people it’s this, they don’t waste money. What might seem frivolous (or a generous gift) is actually a payment for something else. Tax breaks come to mind. I don’t know exactly what kind of breaks they get but money given to a (don’t laugh) educational institution comes with certain breaks.

 I know they can’t deduct their seat purchases anymore. The Trump tax plan eliminated that in 2017.

Regular donations to athletic programs are still (I think) 100% deductible. Wouldn’t you rather control where your money went than have to pay it to the federal government? The booster clubs are using the money for sports of course, but it’s also being used for non-school related things. I don’t mean to pay players either. That happens but it’s risky and nearly always backfires costing the college penalties from the NCAA and hurting their recruiting efforts long term.

Best guess, these networks of well heeled donors are just ‘good ol boy’ clubs from years past. I’m not suggesting they don’t include women but they do help each other out and are probably too involved in the decisions of the team, and school. What it really amounts to is a private club that owns a sports team with university logos and signage on the walls.

But actually it’s better than that. They don’t have the nagging problems of running a for profit club. You don’t need to buy land or pay any of the city fees like taxes and whatever other zoning costs are involved. No need to pay salaries since these are student athletes and not contractors. And probably the biggest one of all, no need to generate profit. No, this isn’t a rant about how college kids should be paid. I don’t believe that.

I’m just uncomfortable with how important sports have become in our society. I’d like to see amateur sports rise and college sports fall. It would solve the issue of athletes getting paid for their talent at least.

But I do love baseball and I can understand the appeal of season tickets behind the plate. If nothing else it’s a yearly expense that pays you back if you run a business. Entertain the clients, take the kids, use them as gifts and currency.

I enjoyed the visit. Maybe I’ll get to catch a game this season. Or better yet, I’ll get to deliver something to the football team and get a tour of those facilities while on the clock. I think I like that idea better.