To be fair though......across the entire FCS the average is 69% Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees. Its not 80%, but its still high.

https://knightnewhousedata.org/fcs

When you look at the averages across the board, Davis isn't that far out of whack.

This goes to show what I was saying about football meaning something completely different in North Dakota, both to the University and the community.

Insane how Sac is in worse shape than us, yet still somehow printing money to improve the program and move up. I'm still enjoying watching the two programs go about things in completely different ways.

THE CALIFORNIA WAY!!! TAX, TAX, TAX.

Going back to my proposal to spend money to make money by expanding the Athletic Department staff to include specific "teams" to attack various areas of operations, the 9% Donors/Corporate Sponsors is 20% less than NDSU (which is laughable given the locations of the two schools). To me, those are two distinct areas for fundraising; donors (private, alumni) and corporate sponsors, and require specific personnel/teams to address those areas. Until we grow the Department, the current staff, bless their hearts, are going to wear too many hats and be stretched too thin to get that place to where it can potentially be support-wise.

Another big thing for me: Joining the MW for football gives us a HELL OF A LOT larger exposure than playing all our games on ESPN+. Imagine how many alumni could be aware of games...

Interesting data from 2024.

Click on the links and when you hit the web page click on "Where the Money Comes From"

North Dakota State
29% of Revenues from Donors/Corporate Sponsors
15% of Revenues from Ticket Sales
30% of Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees

Sacramento State
3% of Revenues from Donors/Corporate Sponsors
1% of Revenues from Ticket Sales
87% of Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees

UC Davis
9% of Revenues from Donors/Corporate Sponsors
2% of Revenues from Ticket Sales
80% of Revenues from Tax Payers/Student Fees

Have fun defending yourself against the UC. The UC is a law firm that sometimes dabbles in education.

aligned with their fiscal year. So, donations up to June 30 lock in your benefits for 2026-27 season.

The thing that makes the arse pucker up for me in paying the $17 mil to go FBS now is the forthcoming College Football Super League scenario in the next 5 to 6 years.

What if the relatively new FBS program doesn't make the cut and is relegated down?--->If that happens, what makes that situation significantly better than being in FCS?

(don't get me wrong - I want to see UC Davis as prominent a football and overall athletics program as possible. as a newbie family, we donated what we could in the Fall Quarter and will again in the Spring).

I like this post! :100:

Speaking for myself, winning an FCS national championship is not a pre-req for moving up; it is my opinion that given the current trajectory, we are heading in that direction. Even if the Ags never win that specific game, its a moonshot and having a consistently elite FCS team will make the transformation to FBS easier because it means that we have better players, financial commitments, etc. Better prepared for the rigors that schedule and competition will present.

I see no issue with NDSU moving-up. I would consider them better suited today for the move than UC Davis.

RollOn is spot-on with trying to lock in the fee number now, it will only go up if not addressed.

Bottom line is that no one is every fully ready for that transition. My "argument" is to make it as painless as possible by continuing to build up what we have until the time comes in the next 3-5 years. Have a clear path with tangible goals. Novel concept.

UCD women's golf completed the San Diego State Classic in a tie for 5th place of 12 teams with 233 strokes. That was one stroke behind Sac who finished in 4th with 232 strokes.
Causeway score is now UCD 42.5, CSUS 9.17.
Next event is gymnastics this coming Sunday in Sacramento.

as a basketball season ticket holder, these changes will have a big positive impact on the gameday experience. the current "Rec Hall' still has that big barn feeling , even after recent small improvements in the student seating and lighting to make it feel more intimate. the concession area is woefully inadequate. the open space of the upper level is a bad look. our gym is in the upper half of the big west, but that's only because there are so many bad gyms in the big west. If they can close things up, while still having upper deck seating for the rare high-attendence games, like the arena in Henderson, that would the perfect solution. That's probably a bridge too far.

who would have said two or three years ago that it would make financial sense to spend $10-$15M to pay football in the MAC?

mid 1990’s.

Rec Hall change doesn’t do a lot for non-students, or improve the gameday experience much.

As others have said here the marketing behind our athletics suck. I’d be willing to bet on any given Saturday more UCD alumni are in Berkeley than Davis someone mo eh at a game

Again, we don’t want to be, can’t be, and shouldn’t be Cal. But right now the college athletics map of Highway 50/80 goes from the Bay to Sac to Reno without even stopping for a potty break.

The biggest problem most of us who are upset about the NDSU situation is that instead of a statement that gives clarity on our path forward and benchmarks, we are simply “staying the course” of lacking progression. The idea that you have to win an FCS Championship before moving to FBS is silly. It’s literally just wanting a banner hung in the rafters.

To move to FBS, and even retain the funding necessary for FCS as it ALSO gets more expensive there needs to be excitement around the program, not just a little tease which feels like a money grab as our peers (like NDSU who moved from D2 to D1AA with us) actually won the Championships and created a sustainable product.

Fact is, asking us for more and showing us what more looks like (stadium tweets and a conference contract that one can logically read and assume says we are next up), only to let a school with much less financials, resources, and growth potential bypass us, is boring, especially when only explained by an official statement that provided ZERO in new information, and was clearly a reaction to the negative reaction of at least enough Aggie backers that Rocko realized he had to say something, but did not say enough to temper the dissatisfaction and confusion.

Did we apply?
Did we reject the opportunity to apply/join in football?
If we applied and were rejected, what was the rationality behind the contract language?

Right answers only Rocko, not a bland statement created with too many adjectives and a thesaurus with what we already knew.

Great post.

I never understood the whole “cow” thing. If anything, it should be a “all animals” thing.

We have a Winery on campus!!!!! That should tell you everything.

A small anecdote from last November. I went to the MU (haven’t been there in over 10 years). Looked around for nice swag, none. Then I asked a group of student workers where I could buy wine produced by the school, blank looks. I was super disappointed.

Agreed on all fronts with both of your last posts. While interns are great, what I am saying is to create positions with actual athletic department professionals. You're probably looking at $1-2m in salaries, benefits, etc. for 8-10 positions, but they would generate at least that after a year pretty easily, and more as it grows. What's the old saying, you have to spend money to make money.

SailorGabe, the wine side of it is really underutilized. There has to be some winery out there or mega corporation that owns a wine portfolio that would get involved. Easy marketing and promotion. Plus the craft beer side of things, plenty of breweries around. Cal Poly added an 805 area to their north end zone, we can go bigger and better.

Aggie merchandise in general sucks. All bookstores suck, and they probably have the rights in the stadium. Until that is improved, until Adidas provides better offerings, and until they produce gear that people actually want, it is going to remain sucky. The college bookstore racket is real.

A tomato fight after the game would be outstanding. A BBQ pit would be outstanding. A concert area would be a nice touch. I've actually seen a high school in SoCal with a similar set up; tailgating area with a stage and a DJ, couldn't believe it. Student bands were up there shredding, fun atmosphere but no booze. Simple adjustment for a public university.

The Aggie Walk deal is a solid tradition but they come in really early. Not sure how you dress that up and get more people participating.

We have so much potential with our academic credentials and access to unique local community businesses, we just need to tap them.

1. We are the worlds #1 Wine school. Think about how unique that is. In my opinion, we should be marketing the heck out of the that. Everyone should think "wine school" when they hear about UC Davis. When you drive on the 80 everyone should see "Welcome to UC Davis the Top Wine Growing school in the world" or "Welcome to UC Davis the gateway to Napa/Sonoma wine"...something like that. A billboard is a cheap way to advertise on a very busy highway that connects the state capital to Silicon Valley....Use it. give people sitting in traffic and opportunity to learn about Davis.

2. Get rid of the Cows campaign. Maybe this was relevant decades ago, but the cows are no longer central to the university. There is still room for cows but it shouldn't be the central thing Davis is known for. I might be alone, but I remember seeing all this stuff about cows when I first came to Davis, but honestly I never saw them again (Although, I'll tell you if we opened up a Chick-fil-a in Davis, and used their marketing alongside Davis...that could work..

3. We should have a wine corner at the stadium. There should be a "Mondavi Corner" or something that provides wine/cheese/tapas etc. Bid this out to local growers. When TV cameras pan on the stadium we want the image of couples drinking win and eating cheese in beautiful weather. You want the national perception to be "I love going to Davis games, you get to drink wine, eat cheese, watch a game"....trust me, Silicon Valley and opponent fan bases will look forward to a "weekender at Davis".

4. We need a bar b q pit at the stadium. The smell of tri-tip, burgers, etc. should be smelled for miles. There are some great meat producers like Buck Horn that could fill this space.

5. Events: We need to entice students and fans to come to not only the games but for events around the games. One of the wasted opportunities would be to create an annual Tomato Fight Festival after one of the day games. We can utilize students to pick up all the wasted tomato's that spill out on the side of the roads. Pick those up. Ask farmers if we can have the left overs that are not needed. Then create a giant enclosed area around the stadium, where kids wear goggles and people pay $5 to enter. This tomato food fight would pick up steam. In Spain, this event is wild and a ton of fun. Let's copy their idea and deploy it here.

6. Music. We need to tap into the local music scene again. When I went to Davis there were a ton of rock bands you could watch perform here (deftones, etc). So lets build them a stage and get them back to play. Now when you want to decide to go to a Davis football game it isn't just a game its an experience. Students will flock to listen to music, sit in the sun, hang out with friends, and then watch a game.

7. Open and wine and Davis athletic store for merchandise at the stadium. We need more merchandise. We need better hoodies, noise makers, etc.

8. We need to create a players walk in area. I'd propose renting out the parking spots alongside the stadium where the player walk to the stadium. For example, I pay $1K for my tailgating spot. This "tailgate row" could be reserved by fans and they can do whatever they want in their space. Bar b ques, kegs, coaches, tv's, etc. When the players come off the bus they would walk through this area. The more elaborate and fun each place gets the more it is for everyone.

I guess i could go on but you get my drift. UC Davis is such a unique place with so much potential we just need to start tapping into it.

$44M in revenue must include student fees.

Here we go! Nice job Akiltopmack99 of providing some tangibles. I think this is a great starting point. Dealing with the City might be an issue, but we can at least continue improvements on the water tower (it was nice this season but nothing too spectacular). With some of the technology I've seen on TV games and by visiting other stadiums, they can turn that tower into a disco ball, they can turn it into a football, they can basically show highlights on it. Let's juice that thing up!

Over the past months since I've joined this board, I've heard that we already have a small support staff that works hard and is responsible for everything from fundraising to game experience. I've read that everything costs money. I've read that we need to join the Mountain West yesterday and take on the SJSUs and Nevadas of the world. Well, if we are growing the program, I will assert once again that we need to grow the Department and support staff infrastructure. A few, hard working staffers is the D2/small FCS model. Let's act like where we're going. Hire a small team to spearhead nothing but the 1000 at $1000 campaign. Give them an end date, pay them right, give them an operations budget, and get it done. Create a game experience team, and all they do is sell advertising inside the stadium, run promotions, and focus on the experience. I'd hire Akiltopmack99 as part of that crew. Let Rocco and Flush and Plough handle major donors and corporate partnerships with a small team. Have a special event steam. This is no knock on the people doing the yeoman's work right now, but there are not enough of them! Expand and create positions and teams and act like an FBS program.

Final recommendation: a culinary team responsible for in-stadium vendors and concessions, maybe handle the catering for the new suites and seats, and, wait for it, THE BEER and WINE GARDEN! I'm not just talking about a small patch above the home side 30 yard line. A freaking real-deal beer and wine garden. Exhibit A, once again, is Colorado State's New Belgium Porch. I've been there, I've experienced it, and it is the best investment into the stadium that UC Davis can make.

usa today college athletics finances

This is 2023 data. Davis at #76 - $44 mil in revenues and $40 mil in expenses then.

overall UC Davis 2025-2026 budget (intercollegiate athletics is in here)

Budgeted 2025-2026 for expenses is now $48 mil.

Hopefully revenues end up linear from 2023 and keeps things net positive.

Couldn't find anything on total endowment $$.

UC Davis Aggies website mentions athletics has a total of 77 specific endowments contributing to scholarships, coaching positions and team operations.

that’s the crazy part! He’s older than the dudes that Southern Utah lines up after their missions!

I’d love to make the move to MWC but the reality is we are years behind NDSU (and the Montsn’s) to be in that position. Someone brought up their revenue of around $30M - what’s ours? We average probably 8000 paying customers to there, what, 15000. And they bring in a ton with their suites.

Another issue, I believe, is the number of sports we’re hoisting. We have 24 vs 14 at NDSU. They gives them much more ability to focus cash on football.

I also read their ATHLETIC endowment is over $110M - that’s the only endowment that matters. Dont know ours, but if it eclipsed $100M we’d have heard about it. Our Ascent program allegedly has something like $250M committed…but that’s just for facilities.

Really good point. Get bball ducks in a row before taking on another major (and costly) athletics project. In a way, I could see bball being a test case to help determine whether or not the economics of a conference upgrade are really worth it.

Exactly who will come out? The single parent in Fairfield, the farmer from Dixon, the international student in Davis who's been to two games in their life?

The Davis fan isn't the Cal fan, Fresno fan, or Ohio State fan. People here have unlimited options.

The UC Davis student-athlete model isn't designed to sell t-shirts.

What is your end goal? More TV, more $$, lower academic standards, millions for rotating coaches and players, so casual fans come to a game once a year, so we can build more facilities, cut more sports, hire more Assistant ADs who don't know our school or traditions, to hire more staff, who tell us we're not doing it like USC? The Aggie doesn't even cover every FB and BB game?

Mountain West teams 2026 :Air Force, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, San Jose State, UNLV, Wyoming, North Dakota State, Northern Illinois.

Big Sky: Cal Poly, Eastern Washington, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana, Montana State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Southern Utah
Utah Tech, Weber State

All MW schools are bigger brands than the FCS schools. As I said sports are just entertainment at the end of the day. And people want to see big brand entertainment.

In the mountain west we can schedule up to 12 FBS teams ( maybe 1 or 2 FCS teams but gotta pay them to play). So not only will we play bigger brands in the Mountain West but we can schedule other teams too. Imagine hosting San Diego State or James Madison in Davis. Or Fresno State. People would come out to watch that.

Hahaha. Not our guiding light but just an intriguing story.

Davis will move up to FBS and it will be an exciting time. What we need now is an FCS Championship. Just one.

truthfully not for SJSU but yes for New Mexico, UNLV, Nevada -Reno, Air Force, and even Hawaii (football). Plus we will likely play more Top tier OOC games rather than our yearly single FBS game.

Getting 1,000 alums to kick in $1,000 is one big step. Heck, even 800.

A simple step is student marketing, where we seem lost. How obtuse are we not being able to get the word out when we have a classic college campus?

New premium seating, boxes, event space. Win-win-win. Would love to see the cost of the new addition suspended over the current press box, to a tear down and 100% new structure from ground floor up. Could it be built in nine months?

Everyone here dreams of the day UC Davis is playing in the FBS, lining up against Notre Dame and USC. That day will come… just not yet.

Let me be clear:

We are not ready.

Before we make that leap, we need fans in the stands — sellouts, packed games, real energy. And the only way to do that is by winning. Not just occasionally, but consistently. UC Davis football has to become an event people don’t want to miss.

The administration understands this and is already building toward it. We have a great President, a strong Athletic Director, and an outstanding Head Coach. They are laying the foundation for a culture of winning while protecting the university’s reputation.

You’ll know when the time is right — trust me.

Watch this season closely. My gut says we’re about to take the next step. And imagine if we win the FCS championship next year… maybe even repeat. What’s right around the corner in 2029? New college football TV deals. Do you think conferences won’t be forming or looking to expand? Programs like ours will be on the radar.

The transition is coming.

Be patient, my friend.

“ Our product is stagnant/stale after 23 years. Not sure within FCS there is much we can do to elevate it. Dare I say…ascend?”

I don’t agree with that. During the Gould era, things were definitely stagnant. But Hawk got us going in the right direction and with Plough at the helm and Rocko’s help, the games have been fun to attend. Attendance has gone up, donations have gone up, and we actually are making a dent in NIL funding. Yes we need more big time donors. But success (at the fcs level) will build success and make us relevant for the big move. And we need the updated facility to be fbs anyway, unless we want to share Cal Expo with those other guys, lol.