University of Nebraska at Omaha Vice Chancellor for Athletic Leadership and Management and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Trev Alberts analyzed his first decade at the helm of the UNO Athletic Department — and talked about challenges and opportunities ahead — during his presentation at the Omaha Press Club’s Noon Forum on Thursday, Oct. 17.
Bridget and I were tasked with covering the event for the Omaha Press Club newsletter (Bridget is a past president, current board member, and chair of the marketing/membership committee).
When you look back at the last 10 years of athletics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, you’ll see a decade of seismic changes impacting the image of the university as a whole.
In that time, athletics underwent a reclassification from Division II to Division I. The university undertook a major rebranding effort, which involved new logos, emphasis on the “Omaha” part of the school’s moniker, and an evolution of the official color scheme.
“We are the brand investment of the institution,” Alberts said of athletics.
That investment is most evident in Baxter Arena — a $90 million facility built to showcase the university’s athletic programs. The arena opened in October 2015.
“Baxter Arena continues to be a game-changer for us,” said Alberts.
When Alberts was hired at UNO in 2009, he started working (without compensation) two months before his contract was officially set to start.
He felt building the school’s brand was important in a community like Omaha with an established “level of excellence.”
The pursuit of Baxter Arena and the move to D1 were developments predicated on high-profile institutions like Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and the CHI Health Center that set a high standard within the community. Alberts says you either join that level of excellence or you struggle with relevancy.
Baxter Arena has become a gleaming front door for the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
In addition to athletics, the facility hosts concerts and other community events. The money earned from these events has augmented revenue streams at the facility (which are subject to the vagaries of athletic success).
“Ticket revenue is under a lot of pressure [nationally],” said Alberts. It doesn’t matter if you are a Power 5 football school or not, the challenges in 2019 impact nearly every collegiate athletic department, he added.
At the time of Alberts’s talk, Baxter Arena was set to host musician Nelly in concert — an event that would net the university $40,000 to $50,000 in revenue.
According to Alberts, the university nets somewhere between $400,000 to $500,000 annually from events “not associated with athletics.” The size and structure of the facility was designed to complement the CHI Health Center downtown — and not compete with the larger acts that facility books annually.
Competitive success continues to be the motivating goal for athletics (along with the student-athlete experience). Alberts had high praise for the university’s stable of coaches, and was pleased to see many of the school’s D2 coaches (like UNO Men’s Basketball Coach Derrin Hansen) embrace the move to D1.
Hockey is ultimately the engine that drives the train, he said.
“We are a hockey school,” said Alberts. He said the university generates slightly over $2 million annually in ticket revenue as a department — $1.9 million of that is hockey.
The athletic department has different “tiers” for its athletic programs. Unlike Power 5 schools that are able to fully fund a full slate of sports, schools like UNO have to prioritize resources.
The “Tier 1” sports are men’s hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and women’s volleyball. The “Tier 2” sports are men’s and women’s soccer, baseball, and softball. “Tier 3” sports are swimming, golf, and tennis.
Alberts said he is “really proud of Coach Gabinet, David Noel-Bernier, and Paul Jerrard.” He added he’s not sure of any college hockey coaching staff that is “grinding harder” or more invested in getting the UNO Hockey program to an elite level.
The university takes considerable pride in its membership in the elite National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC). Alberts said the conference is operating with a $1.8 million surplus — and member schools receive a distribution from that revenue.
Despite a string of high-profile successes, Alberts noted that the UNO Athletic Department still faces challenges.
For example, when Mike Kemp started the UNO Hockey program in 1996, the recruiting budget for hockey was $75,000. When Mike Gabinet took over as head coach in 2017, the budget for recruiting was still $75,000.
Alberts said that donors put on an event to raise money for a “Hockey Excellence Fund” (via the NU Foundation) that raised $400,000 for recruiting expenses. Last year, an extra $40,000 was put toward the recruiting budget for hockey.
(Coach Gabinet told us earlier this month at “Dinner With The Mavs” that Coach Noel-Bernier and Coach Jerrard have been criss-crossing the U.S. and Canada in search of the next generation of recruits — and eagle-eyed fans have noticed a number of prospects verbally committing from north of the border the past few months.)
Alberts also said the university is “profoundly grateful” for the accomplishments of Coach Dean Blais (one of the first hires Alberts made when he took the helm in 2009). He talked about the credibility and momentum Blais brought to the program.
The biggest threat facing UNO Athletics is “complacency,” suggested Alberts. While things are going well for athletics (Baxter Arena and the athletic department have operated with surpluses the last four years), the university is planning for the future (and Albert said money is being put aside for improvements to Baxter Arena).
Looking at accomplishments in the arena of competition, Alberts said UNO can’t merely be satisfied with appearing “in the championship game” of this or that tournament.
“Creighton isn’t just happy to be in the Big East,” he said. “They expect to win it.”
Alberts believes “unity of purpose” is important when it comes to having success in athletics. He says there isn’t a lot of drama within the athletic department. He believes unified leadership in all facets of the organizational chart is critical.
When he started at UNO in 2009, 60 percent of the athletic budget was subsidized (while 40 percent was funded via revenue raised by the athletic department). Today, the script is flipped, with 60 percent of the budget being self-generated.
The NCAA has also negotiated incentive programs alongside some of its TV deals that distributes revenue to schools based on “academic progress reports.”
In that effort, the UNO Athletic Department has been working to improve graduation rates among student athletes. In 2011, the graduation success rate was 70 percent. This year, the graduation rate is 88 percent (11 percent higher than the rest of the student population at the university).
That incentive has spurred schools like UNO to make sure academic support is in place for student-athletes.
Alberts touched on UNO’s $22 million baseball/softball complex under construction (on the former Chili Greens property), and was pleased the university will once again host the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials at Baxter Arena.
He also discussed the place of UNO Athletics in the Omaha sports media landscape. Alberts says he’s not an “excuse guy” and that if UNO wants more coverage, they need to “go earn it.”
To that point, he mentioned the athletic department had no problem getting coverage when the hockey team made the NCAA Frozen Four in 2015, or when the baseball team made the NCAA tournament earlier this year.
He said the development of the new Maverick Digital Network is designed to advance the university’s brand.
Alberts shows no signs of slowing down or coasting on his greatest hits of the past decade. The former NFL linebacker and media commentator seems to have found his groove leading UNO Athletics.
“Omaha is a really remarkable place,” he says. “It is an honor and privilege to be here.”
