Is Cincinnati Continuing To Lose UCATS Members?

(Courtesy ESPN)

On July 1st UCATS launched the “Drive for 5” program. Like most concepts developed under Whit Babcock, this is aimed at adding more UCATS members and generating revenue for UC athletics. It’s a referral program that incentivizes current members to recruit new members by offering rewards such as priority points and opportunities to win freebies like Bearcats memorabilia. Outside of regular revenue from sporting events or media contracts, donors are the lifeblood of the athletics department. Babcock has known this for years and has stressed growing his donor base through the UCATS program.

Which is why it’s disappointing to me to hear that the goal of this program is to reach 5,000 active members (down from 6,000 in 2012). The actual concept isn’t what’s bothering me. Everyone should have goals. When I was little I dreamed of being able to handle a hockey puck like Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings. I never made it to the NHL (or the AHL, IHL, ECHL, or any travel team) but that goal certainly pushed me every time I jumped on the ice.

But for Cincinnati, the idea that UCATS is operating with less than 5,000 current members is extremely disheartening.

Like I mentioned, at UC, where the financials are so out of whack that Greece is snubbing its nose at them, building the donor base is critical to performing at a high level athletically and at least keeping the budget balanced. It doesn’t seem like that has happened over the past few years. If true, per the below graphic featured in the 2012 UCATS membership guide, the fund-raising organization is operating with less than 5,000 members for the first time since the 2009-10 season.

7.18.2013 UPDATE: Some of you reached out and mentioned the possibility of the numbers in the above chart being inflated. As a result, the “Drive for 5” campaign isn’t a reaction to huge drop-offs in UCATS memberships but a standard program to continue to increase membership numbers. Great points by all of you and thank you for bringing them up! I posed the question to UC tickets guru Greg Harrell who snuffed out those theories. According to him the numbers above are accurate.

Membership grew sharply during the Brian Kelly era. No surprise there. He set the world on fire bringing Bearcats football into the national spotlight and leading them to back to back BCS bowl games. As a result, students and alumni wanted to jump on for the ride and show their support. But when he left for Notre Dame, Butch Jones was hired and the new coach proceeded to follow a 12-1 season with a 4-8 debacle. Not surprisingly, fans started jumping off the bandwagon and Cincinnati’s athletic department felt it in the UCATS membership.

These numbers are strong indication of what Whit Babcock is up against on a daily basis running this athletic department. He’s seeing costs skyrocket in the form of new coaching contracts and expensive construction projects around campus but the donor base is falling, at least in UCATS. In addition this drop off shows how truly disconnected the Cincinnati fanbase was with Butch Jones. Honestly, I never thought it would be this bad. With coaching changes, especially from a fellow so charismatic and dominant on the football field as Kelly to a personality like Jones, some attrition is expected. However, it appears that membership has continued to fall despite Jones winning two Big East championships, guiding the Bearcats to a bowl win over the Vanderbilt Commodores, and upgrading the talent level on this team mightily. Maybe Butch used one cliche too many.

The encouraging news is that fans are responding well to Tommy Tuberville. Rumor has it that some home games are on pace to sellout and fundraising efforts for the Nippert Stadium renovation are going smoothly. With all of his name recognition, I’d expect UCATS membership to spike once again in 2013 if Tuberville has a strong season.

Now I have to admit that some of this is speculation on my part as I don’t have hard figures of current membership levels. But they are assumptions born in strong evidence. Obviously I can’t be certain of how many people are currently in UCATS but that number may have even slipped to levels not seen since before 2009. That’s a scary thought to process for sure. If you have any information on current membership levels or if the above few paragraphs are flat out wrong, please feel free to drop me an email or tweet and I will gladly share it.