First-year University of Missouri athletic director Laird Veatch announced the Tigers are embracing the forthcoming era of revenue sharing in a statement released late last week.
As reported by the Columbia Missourian, Veatch acknowledged the $2.8 billion House v. NCAA settlement that will see payouts to former collegiate student-athletes from as far back as June 15, 2016, and the implications it will have on the future of college athletics. The settlement has a final approval hearing scheduled for April 7, 2025.
“Perhaps the most impactful aspect of the settlement is that it would allow athletics departments to share up to an estimated $20-22 million of annual revenues directly with student-athletes, starting in the 2025-26 academic year,” Veatch said in a letter obtained by the Missourian but also posted Friday on mutigers.com. “The settlement also includes the elimination of scholarship limits, allowing athletics departments to choose to fund millions of dollars in additional scholarships across sports.”
As reported by Andy Theobald of the Missourian, Veatch revealed that MU has been preparing for the reality of revenue sharing and that the university’s athletics program will take a forward-thinking approach in the ever-shifting landscape of college athletics.
“Our athletics leadership team has been spending significant time over the past several months analyzing all aspects of our operations — including our fundraising, sales and pricing structures — to proactively prepare for next year and beyond,” Veatch said.
According to Theobald, Veatch appeared in a sit-down interview with “Voice of the Tigers” Mike Kelly for “A Conversation with Mizzou AD Laird Veatch: A Will to Win” on the Mizzou Athletics YouTube channel. Veatch explained that the athletic department will reallocate expenses into high-impact items and explore opportunities that have the ability to generate revenue. Both will play a key role in modernizing MU’s fundraising and sales approach.
“The Tiger Scholarship Fund continues to operate under what we call an ‘umbrella policy,’ which dates back to the 1990s,” Veatch said in the interview. “That umbrella policy allowed our fans to make one donation and have access to tickets and parking in both men’s basketball and in football, and that’s just an outdated policy that none of our peers in the (Southeastern Conference) function under.
“So, we’re going to need to break up that policy and, through that, it will make way for our donors to not only know specifically what they’re buying and paying for, but it will also allow us the opportunity for us to increase prices, particularly in football, so that we can generate the revenues necessary to compete at the highest level.”
The “Will to Win” approach to the restructuring of Mizzou Athletics’ overall revenue generation fundraising sales infrastructure comes in light of Missouri ranking 13th in the SEC in current total revenue generation with $141 million, which is $35 million below the conference average of $176 million, and 15th in current average total football ticket/donation price, Theobald reported.
“We just announced our 12th-straight [football game] sellout,” Veatch said. “So, obviously, it’s not a demand issue, and we can’t sell more tickets to help solve that problem.”
In addition to increased football ticket prices in 2025, Veatch announced that Mizzou Athletics will implement modernized fundraising approaches that will reward philanthropic giving, Theobald reported.
“Throughout the coming weeks and months, we will be providing you with more detailed information about the strategic adjustments necessary to achieve our aspirational goals,” Veatch said in his statement. “For now, we ask that you keep an open mind to how we can embrace the next evolution of college athletics to benefit Mizzou and your beloved Tigers.
"It won't be easy. Change never is. But disruptive change in any industry creates space for brave and innovative movers to seize market-share and elevate their competitive position. Now is the time for us to collectively push harder than ever before to position Mizzou for sustained championship-level competitive success."
