UND's football ticket revenues showing benefit of Missouri Valley Football Conference move

Aug. 19—GRAND FORKS — The start of the Missouri Valley Football Conference era for UND athletics required some patience.

After the school announced a move away from the Big Sky Conference in 2017, UND football played two years in limbo as officially an independent.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic halted the start of the MVFC era a little more. In all, it was 448 days from the end of the 2019 season to the MVFC opener in the spring season of 2021.

Even then, with pandemic concerns putting limits on attendance, only 3,176 fans saw the Fighting Hawks play a MVFC game for the first time with a 44-21 win over No. 24 Southern Illinois at the Alerus Center on Feb. 20, 2021.

Because the 2020 season was shortened and pushed to 2021 and attendance was limited by the pandemic, the true financial picture of the conference move for UND is just starting to become clear. The Herald obtained, through an open records request, UND's football travel expenses and ticket sales revenue dating back a decade.

When UND announced a move from the Big Sky to the Missouri Valley, current UND athletic director Bill Chaves was athletic director at Big Sky member Eastern Washington.

"It's interesting I was on the other side of the table," Chaves said. "Everyone knew at that point, if there was an opportunity to get in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, that made a whole lot of sense. I don't think (the move) has disappointed at all. Getting back with our regional rivals and historic rivals made a whole lot of sense. I think we're at the cusp again of really enjoying the fruits of that decision because our fan base ... it's important to them. Regardless of the season you're having, if you can bring in the other Dakotas (schools) on an annual basis, it makes a tremendous difference. To be back after a generation of not playing the Dakotas is exciting for the fan base."

Between UND athletics' fiscal year 2013 and 2017, football ticket sales revenue didn't exceed $500,000 ranging from the low (2015 at $410,486) to the high (2014 at $486,735).

Those figures started to grow between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, as UND produced football ticket sales revenues of $621,823, $647,998 and $667,654.

Fiscal year 2021, which would reflect the pandemic season of 2020-21, saw an expected dip for football ticket sales revenue at $232,688. UND had four home games in the 2020-21 season and attendance was capped at 4,000.

In fiscal year 2022, perhaps the first true data point for the move to the Missouri Valley Football Conference, UND saw a jump of season ticket sales revenue to $859,547. That's an increase of more than $190,000 from pre-pandemic and pre-MVFC levels.

"You can attribute that jump to the Missouri Valley Football Conference because you had a home game with North Dakota State," said Chad Karthauser, UND athletics' chief financial officer.

The 2022 fiscal year data reflects the 2021 season, a year in which the Hawks hosted North Dakota State for the first time in the Division I era. Nearly 13,000 fans attended the 16-10 NDSU win in the Alerus Center — the most fans for a game in the Alerus since the building opened in 2001.

How much does a Bison game in the Alerus skew the numbers for the season ticket sales revenue? Although UND hasn't finalized its financial data for the annual NCAA report from the 2022 season, the school released to the Herald unaudited data for fiscal year 2023.

In the 2022 season, when UND played in Fargo and didn't host the Bison, UND saw fiscal year 2023 ticket sales revenue of $822,480 — a slight decrease from a year in which the Bison are in Grand Forks.

With UND hosting NDSU in Grand Forks in 2023, the school is seeing a boost in season tickets sold compared to 2022.

For the upcoming 2023 season, UND has sold 5,266 seats and has 1,382 season ticket holders.

That's up from last year and comparable with 2021. For example:

* 2022: 4,891 seats and 1,276 season ticket holders.

* 2021: 5,393 seats and 1,446 season ticket holders.

* 2019: 4,899 seats and 1,388 season ticket holders.

In addition to increasing ticket sales, a move away from the Big Sky and its sprawling geographical footprint was expected to be a major saver on travel costs. In Grand Forks, UND football wasn't located within driving distance of a single member in the Big Sky.

UND officials say it's difficult to gauge the school's travel savings for the Missouri Valley Football Conference move, since the general cost to travel has risen dramatically in the past year.

UND spent $678,560 on football travel expenses in fiscal year 2022, which was up from $235,688 from the pandemic-impacted data in 2021 and up from $541,016 from 2020.

UND spent an all-time high of $736,962 in 2019.

UND doesn't have official data for the 2023 fiscal year that would reflect the 2022 season, but it's expected to be an increase. In 2022, UND football had four flight trips and one bus trip (North Dakota State), whereas in 2023 UND will have three flight trips and two bus trips (South Dakota, South Dakota State).

"I will say with the increase in fuel costs in the last year, not just flights but buses or anything else ... the cost of travel has increased dramatically," Karthauser said.

Although travel savings may be difficult to quantify and compare, UND officials say there's also a benefit for student-athlete well-being to playing in a Midwest-based league.

UND has learned its lesson from the challenges of playing football games in the Pacific time zone late at night.

When UND now schedules non-conference games with schools on the West Coast, kickoff times are part of the conversation.

"(Northern Arizona) was a decent kick time last year and that worked out OK, but we've had conversations in that regard and schools understand what we're saying," Chaves said. "We'd entertain a home-and-home with someone in Pacific time, but it has to be timed correctly at their place."

For UND football coach Bubba Schweigert, the move from the Big Sky to the Missouri Valley was noticeable on the recruiting trail.

"For the most part, our guys will be from the Midwest," Schweigert said. "Families want to go to games. Before, we'd get down to the end (in recruiting) and it would come down to the location of our games and they weren't in the region. That's no longer an issue."

Schweigert also said the move to the Missouri Valley has stoked a new energy in alumni and donors.

"There's no question that when we play our traditional rivals, those are the games they want to talk about," Schweigert said. "When you have institutions 70 miles apart, people want to see that game. With South Dakota State, now the way they've risen in the FCS, people want to see that game and are talking about driving down there this year. Regional opponents make a difference for the fan base."