Revenue sharing with athletes in selected sports and the removal of scholarship limits are elements of a new era at East Carolina as the Pirates look to stay current with the realities of the House settlement.

Athletic director Jon Gilbert has seen the changes coming and ECU has been involved in preparations for months.

Institutions may share up to $20.5 million with athletes, effective July 1. The NCAA removed scholarship limits on that date as well.

 “We’ll have over 26 new scholarships,” Gilbert said. … Aportion of those will go to our baseball team,” Gilbert said.

Coach Cliff Godwin has been working within the limitations of 11.5 scholarships, which have been awarded individually on a partial basis.

“The remaining scholarships will be split up among (girls) soccer, volleyball, swimming, lacrosse and track and field,” Gilbert said. “It’s a very positive move that will benefit a lot of student athletes here at ECU, both male and female.”

Coaches will have some discretion as to how additional grants are distributed.

“That’ll be completely dependent on our coaches and how they allocate,” Gilbert said. “Certainly, they can allocate full scholarships if they choose. I think you’ll see a combination of some student athletes on full scholarship, and then I think you’ll also see some that are on partials as well.”

Revenue sharing

Football is expected the get the largest portion in revenue sharing.

According to an On3 estimate, 75 percent of payments will go to football nationally, 15 percent to men’s basketball, five percent to women’s basketball, and five percent to all other sports.

“We’re going to revenue share with football, men’s and women’s basketball and our baseball program,” Gilbert said. “Those are the primary sports that we sell tickets to and generate revenue from.”

Football, obviously, brings in the most money. The ECU AD cited a pro football model in regard to the pay scale.

“It’s probably safe to say that the majority of schools across the country will have different pay levels,’ Gilbert said. “Football is going to be much like the NFL, where, you know, a quarterback is going to have a higher marketing value than, say, the punter.

“Both are certainly important to the success of the program. But certainly there’s a difference in the visibility of those two positions.”

Cost of attendance

Cost of attendance became part of full athletic scholarships at ECU in 2015 and remains part of the package. That includes expenses for traveling home for athletes and costs for holiday stays on campus as well.

“A full scholarship still will consist of tuition fees, room, board, books, and then they’ll also get a cost of attendance check,” Gilbert said.

Indoor practice facility

Ground was broken for an indoor football practice facility in late April and work is progressing.

“We’re really excited about that project,” Gilbert said. “The first thing that comes to mind is just thanking the many Pirate Club donors that have invested in that project. The project will be fully funded.

“We’re not bonding or taking a loan out to pay for it. Right now, we’re still working a majority under the ground in that we are putting in fiber optic cable, drainage system, etc. We’ve got a lot of dirt work to do to expand it to make it a full 100 yards.

“You’ll see, sometime in September, things more above ground starting to take shape, but really pleased with where that project is and the progress that they’ve made.”

Neighboring project

The southwest corner at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium will have a new look.

“The other project that’s ongoing is Scales Fieldhouse,” Gilbert said. ” … It’s certainly a different view and look forward to having that space completely clear where we can use it for special events throughout the year.

“We’re going to turf that space and use it, obviously, on game days. We’re still working through what the exact use of that space will be. … We’ll be able to rent that throughout the year for other social events.”

Bowl balance sheet

Gilbert said the final ledger on Military Bowl expenses vs. revenue has not been completed.

“When you look at bowl games, you want to try to break even as best as you can,” he said. “If you look at our expenses versus our revenue, certainly, I think we’re in a positive light there. When you win a game like that, obviously, you have bonuses to pay that that would go on top of the bowl expense, but I feel good about where we were from a financial standpoint.

“In the long term, maybe even more than the monetary benefit of the bowl game is the excitement that our fan base has when you win a game like that, against an opponent like an N.C. State. The amount of months that we’re able to capitalize on that victory is really far reaching.

“Really excited to win a bowl game and then bear the fruits of that labor over the last several months of the offseason.”

Season ticket sales

Season ticket sales are a measure of fan interest and support of the program.

“I do think season ticket sales are steady,” Gilbert said. “I think we’re going to be somewhere in that 15,000 range again.

“We’ve got BYU coming in (Sept. 20), who will be a Top 20-type opponent at home. It will be a very good home game. I would anticipate that game being nationally televised. Just excited about the opportunity to have a team like that come to Greenville.”

Mike Houston’s contract

Gilbert dismissed Mike Houston as coach on Oct. 20 after the Pirates dropped to 3-4 with a 45-28 loss at Army. Blake Harrell was promoted and ECU won five of its last six to finish 8-5.

Houston is due $1.4 million annually from the Pirates through Dec. 1, 2026, an amount that will be reduced by the total of his income elsewhere.

Correlation of money and talent

The relation between resources and talent continues in college football. The rich get richer as the saying goes.

“If you look at the revenue share in the way that you’re going to have teams that are at the highest level of college athletics, you’re going to have a tiered system where some people are revenue sharing at the highest amount,” Gilbert said. “Then you’re going to see different tiers and you’re going to see some highly resourced teams and teams that are not as highly resourced.

“It’s going to be an interesting dynamic to see  are the more resourced teams the most competitive? I think over time you will see that, but I do think you’re still going to see some teams like in baseball, the Murray States of the world that are not as resourced and they put a team together that still can remain competitive.”

NCAA baseball selection committee

Gilbert is serving on the selection committee for the NCAA baseball tournament.

“You analyze and look back, I feel like we did a really good job of getting the right teams in the tournament, he said. “From a seeding standpoint, you always try to do the best in getting teams the right seed.

“You can always work to refine, to make sure that you’re doing your due diligence to make sure the seeding is proper.”

 Collective administration

A recent announcement outlined administrative changes in an ECU athletics collective that has assisted in funding NIL compensation,

“Essentially, Team Boneyard will be absorbed by the athletic department,” Gilbert said. “We’ll begin revenue share payments this month.

“People can still do NIL deals with individual student athletes, but the majority of payments are going to come through revenue sharing.”

Funding for other sports

Gilbert said sports not involved in revenue sharing  also will be reaping financial benefits.

“The other sports are going to benefit from additional scholarships for their respective sports,” Gilbert said.  “Also, our women’s Olympic sports teams will get Alston funding, equivalent to their scholarship. So, if a female student athlete in soccer is on a 50 percent scholarship, she’ll also get 50 percent Alston funding. So the majority of our teams, almost all of them, are benefiting from the new landscape with either revenue sharing,  new scholarships and Alston payments.”

Funding sources

With all the funding going out to athletes, it’s logical to wonder where the money will come from for payments.

“A combination of, of places,” Gilbert said of the sources of funding. “Ticket revenue,  conference distributions, NCAA distributions. We have started a Purple and Gold Society that will help with some of the expense. 

“Then, certainly, institutional support. It will be coming from a multitude of buckets.”

Financial priority

Gilbert addressed ECU’s financial position in athletics with the increasing distribution of dollars.

“I feel really good about where we are from a facility standpoint,” he said. “We have, by and large, what we need to be competitive. The more money that we can direct towards player acquisition, the better off we’ll be.

“If you look historically at the professional leagues, they have given us at least a glimpse that the more money that you can allocate to player acquisition, typically, the better teams you’re going to have.

“Moving forward, our focus needs to be on funding for player acquisition, because at the end of the day, our coaches are only as good as the types of players that they can recruit and coach.”