Summer is a time of relative calm on the East Carolina campus as athletic director Jon Gilbert noted Wednesday.

“We don’t have as many sports teams that are here,” Gilbert said. “Football, men’s and women’s basketball. We’ve got some volleyball student athletes and soccer student athletes here, but not the entire student body population or student athlete population, and so not quite as active, but still a busy time as those teams prepare for the fall.”

The tranquility of the moment at ECU and across the college athletics landscape is in the midst of transition and likely a major financial disruption.

“NIL is at the top of my mind just because of the way our industry has changed,” Gilbert said in regard to issues facing the Pirates. “You have to be competitive in the NIL space if you want to attract the best and brightest. I think of the transfer portal, just trying to make sure we’re navigating that.

“The most recent discussion or topic in our industry is the House settlement and how all that’s going to play out. Still a lot of unknowns, but certainly at the top of my thought process. And just making sure that we’re ready to welcome back all our student athletes here in the next month as we’re right around the corner from school starting.”

The House vs. NCAA settlement determined that the NCAA and Power Five conferences denied athletes their earning potential through Name, Image and Likeness. The amount of $2.8 billion is to be paid over 10 years.

“We’re hearing a lot of things nationally, but nothing concrete,” Gilbert said. “Certainly, there’s going to be a financial piece to it, and we at ECU are going to have to participate in that financial settlement, even though our student athletes are not going to benefit personally from the settlement, but by being an NCAA member, we’re going to pay into the settlement.

“Moving forward, just waiting on some clarification on what the future looks like. I do think that we’re rapidly evolving in intercollegiate athletics, and I think once we know the particulars of the House settlement, each school is going to adjust and do what they can do from a financial perspective.”

Fox Sports reports that Group of Five schools will be responsible for 17 percent of the settlement, with estimates on that total ranging  from $255.6 million to $312.4 million.

USA Today reported that ECU had $54,964,121 in athletic revenue in 2022 from ticket sales, contributions, rights and licensing, student fees, school funds and other sources.

ECU receives about $7 million annually from the American Athletic Conference.

“Those are the three big ones,” Gilbert said. “NIL is going to continue to be a significant piece of intercollegiate athletics. The House settlement, again, it’s not determined yet. The judge has not signed off on it and they’re not anticipating it to be signed off on until right around the first of the year, but it will bring about monumental change to intercollegiate athletics. One of the topics being discussed is revenue sharing with student athletes.”

Portal issue

Gilbert would like to see athletes remain longer at institutions.

“The transfer portal, it’s a new piece that we have to live with in that you’re having student athletes that are enrolling in January and then sometimes transferring in May, having only spent a few months at an institution,” Gilbert said. “And I think that is one of the unintended consequences of how quickly we’re changing.

“I would hope that at some point that we can revisit some of those things because I do think that it’s beneficial for a student athlete to remain at an institution at least for a period of time before they transfer, and hopefully that will take place. Just to the larger piece of finances, we’re in a pretty good spot right now, but with the evolution of all these changes, it just requires more resources and we want to make sure that East Carolina is in the right spot for us to be competitive.”

Team Boneyard

Team Boneyard is the collective that administers ECU’s NIL.

“We’re very fortunate that we have Team Boneyard and we have local businessmen that are running Team Boneyard for really the benefit of ECU Athletics,” Gilbert said. “And if you look around our league, most of the teams that are on the upper tier, they’re all in on their collective somewhere north of a million dollars (per premier player), and some are significantly higher than that. And so we want to continue to be competitive in that space.”

Baseball selection committee

Gilbert received some notoriety in late May with his membership on the selection committee for the NCAA Baseball Tournament. ECU was the No. 16 seed and hosted a regional.

“I was not in the room during the discussion about East Carolina and fortunate to be a part of that committee,” Gilbert said. “Obviously baseball is very important at East Carolina, and if you look at how the tournament played out.”

Tennessee, the No. 1 seed, ultimately won the College World Series.

“The committee was very solid in how they selected, and I do think it’s important. We are intentional about this with our baseball schedule, as you really can’t control who you play in your conference. Those games are mandated. But I think it is important to have a strong nonconference schedule because as teams get evaluated against one another, the nonconference schedule and who you played certainly is a determining factor.”

ECU was 4-1 overall in 2024 against North Carolina and N.C. State, which also hosted regionals.

Football season tickets

The Pirates don’t have an ACC or SEC opponent coming to Greenville in 2024 to drive sales, but season tickets have been moving well.

“I think we’re at 13,300,” Gilbert said. “I usually get a weekly update. I still would love to get to that 15,000 number. Now, that 13,300 is what’s sold. We probably have another 2,000 tickets that are part of sponsor agreements, so we’ll be over the 15,000 number all in. We’re at 13,300 currently sold, and I’d like to get that number closer to 15,000 on the sold piece.”

The addition of offensive coordinator John David Baker from Ole Miss, offensive line coach Matt Mattox as well as transfer quarterbacks Katin Houser and Jake Garcia have created an optimistic outlook for the Pirates, whose premier home game shapes up as a matchup with Appalachian State on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 4 p.m. (ESPNU).

Black Knights in AAC

A revitalized Army program becomes part of the AAC for football this season. ECU plays at West Point on Oct. 19 at noon on an ESPN network.

“Obviously, West Point is one of the premier institutions in this country,” Gilbert said. “To be able to have them join our conference is special. Being in Eastern North Carolina, the number of military bases that we have in this region, I think it’s a great fit. Obviously, we play there this year and looking forward to that game day atmosphere there, but also when they come here, we can attract a lot of people from the military bases that are local to Eastern North Carolina.”

Update on indoor practice facility

ECU is in the process of raising funds for an indoor practice facility for football.

“Fundraising is going well,” Gilbert said. “I think we’re still, I would say, a few million dollars off where we need to be. We’re very close. I’m very encouraged about where we are. Our donor base has answered the bell in a meaningful way, and so I’m hopeful sometime this fall we can take the project to the Board of Governors for formal approval. If that happens, then we could potentially break ground sometime after the first of the year is my hope.”

Attendance encouraged

Gilbert reached out to Pirate Nation.

“We just want people to come out and experience a Pirate football game,” Gilbert said. “In the fall we’ve got volleyball and (women’s) soccer that are completely free, and just want to make sure that we invite the community to come see and watch the Pirates compete.”

Profitable opener in comparison

ECU made $1.8 million for its season opener at Michigan in 2023. Gilbert wasn’t certain of the exact figures of the payout for this year’s season opener in Greenville on Aug. 31, at 6 p.m. against Norfolk State, but there will be a dramatic difference in compensation.

“That game’s been scheduled for a while,” he said. “Don’t hold me to this amount, but it’s probably somewhere around $325,000 to $350,000.”