gate revenue and merchandise sales, what BYU's total athletic revenue is. Obviously, this is connected to the announcement that Utah and the rest of the PAC-12 is going to be getting around 22 mil a year from Media and Championship game deals.

Those that know me, know that I worked in a branch of the AD during undergrad. I just got off the phone with someone who is in the top 20 people who know what is going on at BYU athletically--and that is all I will say about him. There are at least a couple of other CB's who know who I am referring to. They both, I trust, know enough not to say who this person is. Anyway, I dared ask a vague question about the subject. His response was that, first of all, BYU will spend whatever money it needs to to stay competitive. There are intangible things accomplished by the success of the athletic programs, which we are all aware of. Secondly, he said that, in terms of Utah, BYU's budget had been several million greater than Utah's for many years. A Des. News article this last February stated that BYU MADE about 5.5 million last year. Utah was in the majority of the athletic departments in the country that lost money. It was thrown out in the conversation I just had that with the new media deal, our higher gate revenues, and our VAST merchandise sales, BYU would probably be right about where Utah is in terms of overall athletic budget. Further, it was suggested that if the basketball media deal turns out well, and we get some more payouts like the one we have scheduled with West Virginia (2.25 mil per team as reported by West Virginia), we may actually outstrip Utah in total budget, even with their new media deal. (Not one single piece of info. was thrown out about future schedules. I probed lightly, at the risk of overstepping my bounds, and was told that BYU is talking to some great programs--nothing we haven't all heard).

Anyway, this did loads to allay my fears that BYU would get run over by Utah's newfound budget. In reality, it seems that they will finally be getting to a level playing field with us. I am no longer worried.