With Southern Miss officially leaving Conference USA and joining the Sun Belt this summer, the athletic department can now begin looking forward to future projects and set sights on new goals for the department.
Southern Miss Director of Athletics Jeremy McClain believes the school is heading in a consistent and upward direction financially since the department is almost fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, and can now focus on increasing the athletic budget, renovating various facilities and shaping the future plans.
“Financially, I thought we handled (the pandemic) well as a university and as an athletic department,” McClain said. “I think we came out of it in a pretty good place. The biggest challenge with the pandemic was that you had to hit the pause button because you didn’t know what the financial landscape was going to be at the end.
“I think now we are getting our legs back under us with getting the things that we want to get done.”
BUDGET GOAL
The first major goal McClain says is for the department to have the athletic budget go over $30 million, which would place USM mid-pack budget-wise within the Sun Belt. In 2020, Southern Miss held a $25.6 million budget, but McClain estimates the current budget to be around $28 million.
“Most of the (Sun Belt) budgets, with a few outliers, are in the $28-35 million range,” McClain said. “I think (conference realignment) allowed us to maintain momentum. We want to try and capture that and build on that. I’m glad to have that done and focus on the Sun Belt. We have a lot to do with all the small things that have to happen with just making the adjustments with logos, signage and uniforms and with buildings and facilities over the next several months.”
The $30 million figure looks to be obtainable given that McClain projects an almost immediate seven-figure increase in revenue as a result of joining the Sun Belt. Back in November, McClain projected Southern Miss to save $500,000 with travel costs, while new interest from fans will likely increase ticket sales.
“If I were to put a number on it between cost savings and an increase with tickets and other revenue streams, we feel like it’s a seven-figure number and I think that’s somewhat conservative,” McClain said. “We think our bottom line could be $1 million or more annually.
“We’ll save a considerable amount with travel and then play opponents that our fans can feel connected to since they are close in proximity. We felt like that when we start breaking down the numbers there are savings on the expense side and added revenue as well.”
The athletic department will also receive $30 million from the recent $150 million fundraising goal campaign, which currently sits at over $109 million. But McClain credits the ticket office for helping create a more consistent stream of revenue after setting recent highs in season tickets helping contribute to the increase of the budget.
“We sold over 9,000 season tickets for football,” McClain said. “We sold over 1,200 season tickets for basketball even though we haven’t had a lot of success. We sold 2,500 season tickets in baseball so that adds up to numbers that matter. One of the biggest steps we have taken is the realigned our development in our ticket staff and really put our sales team in a place where they can be successful.
“We are in a position where we begin to align ourselves in a way where we can maximize what we have and grow what we have. If you can do both of those, be efficient, be smart about what you do, be smart about investments, and grow your revenue then that’s a recipe for being able to make some progress.”
REED GREEN RENOVATIONS
Perhaps the biggest project that the athletic department has begun to officially embark on is renovations for Reed Green Coliseum.
Southern Miss has officially hired an architect to take on the project and has a budget of $15 million to go towards Reed Green. A large portion of the $15 million comes from the 1% tax referendum that was passed back in 2019.
“We are in the planning process, which means we are meeting regularly,” McClain said. “We are talking about what needs to be done and what can we do. What needs to happen first. All those kinds of things. A large percentage of that is from the 1% tax. We have not spent a dollar of that.
“We held back from doing anything because we wanted to build that up. We wanted to have a really good idea of what our number was going to be and do it right. I didn’t feel like putting a band-aid here and there was the best use of the money. The hard part of that is that you have to wait and be patient.”
McClain says that the department is still planning on how it will proceed with the renovations. Some of the top targets in the renovations are the building’s roof, repairing and improving several mechanical issues, renovating concessions and bathrooms, and improving the entrance from 4th Street. One of the major plans is to improve the loading dock so that the outside events can be regularly hosted inside Reed Green.
“There will be a lot of things that happen with Reed Green and a lot of things that have to be addressed just because it’s an older building,” McClain said. Things that people don’t necessarily see that we have to spend money on.
“There are a lot of things we know priority-wise and the first four or five things that we have to do. But where do you spend the money beyond that?”
The process of renovations will be broken down into two or three phases with any major construction planned to begin at the end of the next basketball season.
“My goal would be to do all the leg work we can and at the end of the season this time next year to be ready to start whatever construction is ready to take place,” McClain said. “A lot needs to be done but you also have to play basketball. We don’t have another place to take our team and function, so we have to be strategic about our function.”
LIGHTS AT SOCCER/TRACK COMPLEX
For several years, the inability to hold track meets and more importantly, soccer games, at night has been a standing issue. For the women’s soccer program, which plays its season between August and November, it would be a welcome option.
While McClain couldn’t release much information, the discussion of installing lights is now occurring. However, it is being assessed if the current soccer field should be the permanent home for the women’s program.
“What we are trying to break down is the current location of the soccer field where the soccer field needs to be,” McClain said. “I don’t want to spend half a million dollars on lights until we can answer that question. We should be able to answer that soon. I want them to have the best that we can provide. I don’t want to make that investment until we know 100% for sure if that’s where that soccer field is going to be for the next 10 years.”
FUTURE GOALS
During this upcoming summer, Southern Miss plans to release a list of 25 goals that is hoped to be accomplished by 2025.
“This summer we’ll be able to show publicly the 25 things that we want to get accomplished,” McClain said. “It’s not any magic formula but it’s an intentional way of saying to not only the public but also our staff, coaches and student-athletes ‘Here is the road map.’”
Some of the objectives are specific, such as renovations, while others are revenue goals.
“Some are broad terms that feel a little obvious,” McClain said. “There are some on there that will be defined and specific with percentages revenue increases and things like that. That’s the next big thing we have been working on hard. A component of that is our facilities. We have begun to chip away at that, but we want to do a broader breakdown of what we are trying to get to.
“We are in a better position than we have been in a longtime financially, support wise, momentum wise with the conference changes, and those kinds of things. I think the university has been able to help us more than in the past. I feel like we are heading in the direction where we can see the results.”
