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SMU is off to the ACC in 2024 but the move will prove costly. The Mustangs needed to make a significant sacrifice to get into one of the “Power Five” leagues and it came down to money.
They forfeited their share of television revenue for seven to nine years.
For most schools, if not all schools, T.V. money is what keeps the athletic departments afloat. It typically accounts for the majority of the annual budget.
SMU will not see a penny of television money for nearly a decade. That would likely be a death sentence for other college football programs. They wouldn’t be able to operate without that income, which equates to about $30 million per year. Multiply that number by seven and you’re looking at more than $200 million.
It’s no big deal for the SMU Mustangs.
David B. Miller is one of the most prominent donors for the university. He graduated from SMU with a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Business Administration in 1973 and is a billionaire with a b.
Miller started his professional career with Republic National Bank of Dallas and oversaw the Republic Energy Finance Corporation. From there, he founded his own Denver-based oil and gas company.
Today, Miller serves as the founder of EnCap Investments in Dallas. Here is how the company describes itself on its website:
Since 1988, EnCap Investments has been a leading provider of venture capital to the independent sector of the U.S. energy industry. The firm has raised 24 institutional funds totaling more than $40 billion and currently manages capital on behalf of more than 350 U.S. and international investors.
— EnCaps Investments L.P.
Miller started as an oil banker, then an oil operator, now an oil investor.
Needless to say, he is doing well for himself. Money is no object.
When SMU was trying to figure out how to make the jump to the ACC, its top donors stepped up and vowed to cover the television revenue gap. Miller was among them and offered one of the most baller rich man quotes of all-time.
It’s a couple hundred million dollars. I’m not losing sleep over it.
— David Miller, via Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports
Savage. Oil money is just different.
Miller, who helped lead the charge to get other Mustangs boosters on board with the revenue-less move, is fully prepared to cover a huge chunk of the gap. $30 million a year is no big deal!