Hockey revenue numbers released

As Mitch and I acknowledged last spring in our op-ed in the Daily Sun, we understand the need for the Athletic Department to make a profit on men's hockey. It is probably one of the few sports for which Athletics comes out in the black every year, although we argued that it should seek to increase revenue elsewhere:

Some have made the argument that Cornell must charge high ticket prices for hockey because it loses money on nearly every other sport, but surely the administration should be able to turn a profit on men’s basketball (22-6 this year), men’s lacrosse (25-4 last two seasons) or wrestling (eight all-Americans in the last two years). Why charge so much at Lynah yet pass out freebies next door at Newman?

Apparently the revenue numbers for 2007 were recently released, and someone over at USCHO made this handy Google spreadsheet with the finances for every D-1 hockey program from that year.

Cornell took in $1,458,405 revenue from its men's team, for a profit of $590,871. It lists the women's team as having broken exactly even for the year, which strikes me as bizarre. I assume that the women's team actually lost money (in fact, only one school reporting a non-$0 women's profit was in the black), and that some of the costs were hidden in the men's team expenses. This means that the men's hockey team made even more profit.

Remember also that 2007 was something of a down year for hockey, as the team didn't make the ECAC Hockey final weekend in Albany. From my recollection, they also had fewer televised games during that calendar year because the team wasn't as highly rated as during the 05-06 or current seasons. These factors would both lead to decreased revenue.

If Athletics could make $600k profit on a hockey down-year, I sure as hell hope they've been making a profit on men's basketball the last couple years. Just check out this email I received today about Saturday's basketball games:

This game will likely sell out, so guarantee your seat by getting an advance ticket...Tickets will also be available at the ticket office, while supplies last. Tickets are FREE with your Big Red Sports Pass, so make sure you reserve your seat in advance!
...
The Big Red Men's Basketball team is on a 16-game Ivy winning streak and has it's sights set on an Ivy League repeat in 2009! Cheer on your Big Red in the return of Ivy League Basketball to Newman Arena!

With sold out games and the Ivy championship last year, one would assume that Athletics is turning a healthy profit on the basketball team.

But...compare the price of student tickets for basketball ($0 per game) and hockey ($13). Or townie tickets: basketball ($20 for 4 tickets, 4 hot dogs, 4 sodas) and hockey (up to $27 per game for 1 ticket).

From the Sun op-ed:

As fans of Cornell sports in general, we cannot help but notice that hockey fans are treated much worse than supporters of other top varsity sports. Admission to football, basketball and wrestling contests are free for Big Red Sports Pass holders, and fans are often showered with free t-shirts, game previews and food as they enter the stands.

It's great to see the basketball and wrestling programs doing well, but part of me wishes more of the revenue burden was placed on those sports and removed from hockey. If they charge $13 per game for hockey tickets, I'm sure they could charge a couple dollars for basketball games.