OK....someone (anyone) help me out here with anything I may be missing:
Costs to take a football team to Jacksonville:
First, some estimates that are rather easy to make:
# Players on the squad (includes everyone, including redshirts, walk-ons, injured players etc) = 126
# Coaches = 10. X 2 to include spouses = 20
PSU lists 18 Athletic Trainers on staff. Certainly, they are not all for football, but even if we assume thay are ALL football trainers = 18
PSU lists 4 "Directors of XXX" for Football. Certainly they don't all need to be at the game site....but lets say they are included = 4
PSU lists a VIdeo Director and an Assistant Video Director, so lets include those guys = 2
PSU lists 4 Grad Assistants, so including them = 4
Add in Jeff Nelson - AD in charge of communications (LOL), and lets overkill and add 4 team physicians, and 5 "performance enhancement" (strength training) guys...though I am not sure they would be necessary, 3 equipment managers (and lets throw in another 4 student-intern guys to tote stuff around) = 17 more
That is HUGE overkill, and includes anyone even tangentially related to game week prep, and the total comes to 191.
OK, now lets assume ALL of these folks are there for the entire 5 night stay (which, again, is probably overkill - but lets err on the high side)
So, for those 191 folks, Travel, Lodging, & Accommodations:
Travel: Round-trip air fare is available commercially for about $200. If you are going to "charter", it should be less per head than paying commercial....but lets again err on the high side and go with $250 per head:
$250 X 191 = $47,750
Accommodations: 5 nights, $200 per room per night (a group rate for a VERY nice hotel. FWIW, the OMNI Amelia Island - a VERY nice hotel where the team is staying - has standard rates of $279 per room....but a group like this should be able to EASILY get in at under $200. If not, there are PLENTY of nice hotels in the JVille area that would love to get 200 folks in for a week at $200 per night)....let's even jack it up a bit and go with $225 per room per night
Rooms Needed:
Coaches/Spouses = 10 rooms
Players (2 per room) = 63 rooms
Support Staff (2 per room) = 22.5 rooms
Round Up to 96 rooms X 5 nights X $225 per night = $108,000
Food + Beverage: Many meals are comped by the bowl committee, along with various outings throughout the week….but let’s assume that PSU is picking up the costs for all meals. Per diem rates for meals and incidentals (according to the IRS tables for business travel) vary from $46 to $71 per day, depending on location. Cities like Los Angeles and New York have the highest rates. Most meals during a bowl week would be group events, and rates would be lower, but if we assume the HIGHEST per diem rate, the costs would be:
191 People for 5 days at $71 per day = $67,805
So, travel, accommodations, meals and incidentals for the entire football party = $223,550
And that is with going "high side" on everything.....no "trying to get out cheap" in any way.
What other costs would PSU incur:
According to the trade association, the total costs to operate a tractor trailer (including driver salary) is $1.38 per mile. Lets be on the “fat” side, and double that to a cost to PSU of $2.76 per mile. Add in 5 days of pay/accommodations for the 2 drivers (at $350 per day….$200 downtime pay, $100 accommodation, $50 per diem)
Total costs to transport gear, and pay transport drivers for entire week =
$2.76/mile X 4,000 miles + 2 X $350 X 5 = $14,540
That brings our total up to $238,090
What else needs to be added in?
Special events - things like a trip to the local amusement park, trip to the beach, an evening dinner with the two teams (think the Fiesta Bowl encounter with Miami) - are generally provided by the bowl sponsors.
I assume PSU is allowed to give the kids a little spending cash for a night on the town type stuff.....so lets throw in $200 bucks per player in spending cash (though I am not 100% sure if that is NCAA allowed). That comes to $200 X 126 = $25,200.
That brings our total up to $263,290
What else?
We know that PSU is sending the Blue Band to JVille via bus, and they have a 2 night stay (maximum....it may only be one night....but lets go with two). Again, chartering transportation is a lot cheaper than going commercial, but even commercial rates (thank you Greyhound Information) are $160 per person round trip.
I am sure charters with Fullington would be a lot less....but lets use the commercial rates to be on the "fat" side.
Band members will be accommodated 2 to a room, and I don't know the exact hotel, but I think it is safe to assume the group rate at the selected hotel will be under $100 per night.
So, for 300 band members, travel and lodging:
$160 X 300 + 150 rooms (2 per room) X $100 X 2 = $78,000
Lets assume a full per diem of $50 per head (which is likely a high estimate):
$50 X 2 X 300 = $30,000
Total for Blue Band Travel, Accommodations, and per diem = $108,000
That brings our total up to $371,290
What else am I missing?
Is there anything even tangentially required that I am overlooking?
PSU receives a expense check from the B1G of $2,000,000. Is any of that going to be deposited back into the "general fund"? If not.....where-o-where is all that money going?
Well, we do know they chartered a jet that seats 2 1/2 times as many people as the entire football related entourage.
Either they were so fiscally imprudent as to charter a plane that was 2 1/2 times bigger than what they needed, and flew the plane at 40% capacity....which would be extremely wasteful
or
There WERE another couple of hundred asses in those seats, and, of course (unless those "asses" were going to wander the streets of JVille for 5 days) a couple hundred folks to lodge and feed for 5 days.
Who could those "asses" belong to, pray tell?
And how on Earth are those 200 "asses" going to squander $1,628,710 of that $2,000,000 expense check in just five days?
They are going to have to really focus in order to spend that kind of cash.
Of course, given that we are led by an Administration that has told us (repeatedly) that they have set the world standard in TRANSPARENCY.....I am sure we will get a full accounting - before they go and ask all the alums to chip in to the pot again.
"Thank you for your generous contributions to Penn State Athletics. Remember...IT'S FOR THE KIDS!!"
$800,000 per year.....plus bonuses and monthly "redecorating" fees
$1,200,000 per year....plus bonuses and complimentary speed reading lessons in order to review that Freeh Report
Costs to take a football team to Jacksonville:
First, some estimates that are rather easy to make:
# Players on the squad (includes everyone, including redshirts, walk-ons, injured players etc) = 126
# Coaches = 10. X 2 to include spouses = 20
PSU lists 18 Athletic Trainers on staff. Certainly, they are not all for football, but even if we assume thay are ALL football trainers = 18
PSU lists 4 "Directors of XXX" for Football. Certainly they don't all need to be at the game site....but lets say they are included = 4
PSU lists a VIdeo Director and an Assistant Video Director, so lets include those guys = 2
PSU lists 4 Grad Assistants, so including them = 4
Add in Jeff Nelson - AD in charge of communications (LOL), and lets overkill and add 4 team physicians, and 5 "performance enhancement" (strength training) guys...though I am not sure they would be necessary, 3 equipment managers (and lets throw in another 4 student-intern guys to tote stuff around) = 17 more
That is HUGE overkill, and includes anyone even tangentially related to game week prep, and the total comes to 191.
OK, now lets assume ALL of these folks are there for the entire 5 night stay (which, again, is probably overkill - but lets err on the high side)
So, for those 191 folks, Travel, Lodging, & Accommodations:
Travel: Round-trip air fare is available commercially for about $200. If you are going to "charter", it should be less per head than paying commercial....but lets again err on the high side and go with $250 per head:
$250 X 191 = $47,750
Accommodations: 5 nights, $200 per room per night (a group rate for a VERY nice hotel. FWIW, the OMNI Amelia Island - a VERY nice hotel where the team is staying - has standard rates of $279 per room....but a group like this should be able to EASILY get in at under $200. If not, there are PLENTY of nice hotels in the JVille area that would love to get 200 folks in for a week at $200 per night)....let's even jack it up a bit and go with $225 per room per night
Rooms Needed:
Coaches/Spouses = 10 rooms
Players (2 per room) = 63 rooms
Support Staff (2 per room) = 22.5 rooms
Round Up to 96 rooms X 5 nights X $225 per night = $108,000
Food + Beverage: Many meals are comped by the bowl committee, along with various outings throughout the week….but let’s assume that PSU is picking up the costs for all meals. Per diem rates for meals and incidentals (according to the IRS tables for business travel) vary from $46 to $71 per day, depending on location. Cities like Los Angeles and New York have the highest rates. Most meals during a bowl week would be group events, and rates would be lower, but if we assume the HIGHEST per diem rate, the costs would be:
191 People for 5 days at $71 per day = $67,805
So, travel, accommodations, meals and incidentals for the entire football party = $223,550
And that is with going "high side" on everything.....no "trying to get out cheap" in any way.
What other costs would PSU incur:
- Transporting equipment to/from Jacksonville. Uniforms, practice gear, practice equipment, video equipment etc.
- If we assume two “tractor trailer” loads (one for "normal" road game gear, another for stuff needed to practice throughout the week, along with video equipment and what not) to transfer all of the equipment, we have
According to the trade association, the total costs to operate a tractor trailer (including driver salary) is $1.38 per mile. Lets be on the “fat” side, and double that to a cost to PSU of $2.76 per mile. Add in 5 days of pay/accommodations for the 2 drivers (at $350 per day….$200 downtime pay, $100 accommodation, $50 per diem)
Total costs to transport gear, and pay transport drivers for entire week =
$2.76/mile X 4,000 miles + 2 X $350 X 5 = $14,540
That brings our total up to $238,090
What else needs to be added in?
Special events - things like a trip to the local amusement park, trip to the beach, an evening dinner with the two teams (think the Fiesta Bowl encounter with Miami) - are generally provided by the bowl sponsors.
I assume PSU is allowed to give the kids a little spending cash for a night on the town type stuff.....so lets throw in $200 bucks per player in spending cash (though I am not 100% sure if that is NCAA allowed). That comes to $200 X 126 = $25,200.
That brings our total up to $263,290
What else?
We know that PSU is sending the Blue Band to JVille via bus, and they have a 2 night stay (maximum....it may only be one night....but lets go with two). Again, chartering transportation is a lot cheaper than going commercial, but even commercial rates (thank you Greyhound Information) are $160 per person round trip.
I am sure charters with Fullington would be a lot less....but lets use the commercial rates to be on the "fat" side.
Band members will be accommodated 2 to a room, and I don't know the exact hotel, but I think it is safe to assume the group rate at the selected hotel will be under $100 per night.
So, for 300 band members, travel and lodging:
$160 X 300 + 150 rooms (2 per room) X $100 X 2 = $78,000
Lets assume a full per diem of $50 per head (which is likely a high estimate):
$50 X 2 X 300 = $30,000
Total for Blue Band Travel, Accommodations, and per diem = $108,000
That brings our total up to $371,290
What else am I missing?
Is there anything even tangentially required that I am overlooking?
PSU receives a expense check from the B1G of $2,000,000. Is any of that going to be deposited back into the "general fund"? If not.....where-o-where is all that money going?
Well, we do know they chartered a jet that seats 2 1/2 times as many people as the entire football related entourage.
Either they were so fiscally imprudent as to charter a plane that was 2 1/2 times bigger than what they needed, and flew the plane at 40% capacity....which would be extremely wasteful
or
There WERE another couple of hundred asses in those seats, and, of course (unless those "asses" were going to wander the streets of JVille for 5 days) a couple hundred folks to lodge and feed for 5 days.
Who could those "asses" belong to, pray tell?
And how on Earth are those 200 "asses" going to squander $1,628,710 of that $2,000,000 expense check in just five days?
They are going to have to really focus in order to spend that kind of cash.
Of course, given that we are led by an Administration that has told us (repeatedly) that they have set the world standard in TRANSPARENCY.....I am sure we will get a full accounting - before they go and ask all the alums to chip in to the pot again.
"Thank you for your generous contributions to Penn State Athletics. Remember...IT'S FOR THE KIDS!!"
$800,000 per year.....plus bonuses and monthly "redecorating" fees
$1,200,000 per year....plus bonuses and complimentary speed reading lessons in order to review that Freeh Report
