D Magazine Pretty Much Says TCU Kicks Ass

We all know that TCU football's meteoric rise over the last decade has been nothing short of storybook. The Frogs have grown into the envy of every struggling, mid-major, Little Engine That Could across the football landscape. Excerpts from D CEO recently pointed out their specific greatness, as well as their financially optimistic future...

-In five years, TCU more than doubled its athletics budget, from $21 million per annum to $52 million.

-TCU will eventually bank $17 million a year from Big 12 TV contracts, up from less than $2 million as a member of the Mountain West Conference, according to published estimates. That gives TCU a chance to actually run a surplus on sports, even as it beefs up the program.

-TCU Chancellor Victor Boschini says that he absolutely believes that sports paid off big. They created enthusiasm and pride, and elevated the campus experience—intangibles that were his primary goals. As for metrics, he says the number of applicants to TCU increased from almost 8,700 to 19,000 in the past five years, with higher SAT scores. And how about this: Cash gifts and pledges from donors grew from nearly $53 million per year to $125 million, he says.

-The TV contract alone is a home run. Bigger gate receipts will also come from bigger crowds in Fort Worth, Austin, Norman, and Lubbock. The exposure from nationally televised games allows for more brand building and merchandise sales, too.

-In the Mountain West, where TCU currently competes, the median school contribution was nearly $30,000 per athlete in 2008. In the Big 12, the median supplement was $6,700, the commission says.

-Southern Methodist University lobbied to get into the Big 12 last fall, but its football program hasn’t performed like TCU’s. In 2004, both were in about the same place. SMU actually spent $1.5 million more on athletics than its Fort Worth rival, according to filings with the U.S. Department of Education.

-Five years later, SMU had increased its budget by 59 percent, yet TCU was leaving it in the dust. In 2009, TCU outspent SMU by more than $16 million.

Game, set, match, Frogs.