Stewart discusses revenue sharing, transfer portal at Board of Regents retreat

Athletics Director Todd Stewart was asked Thursday about his thoughts on the new implementation of revenue sharing in college athletics. 

“How much time do you have?” Stewart responded, highlighting a laundry list of topics he discussed at the Board of Regents retreat. 

In light of House v. NCAA, college athletic programs are now able to directly share their revenue with athletes, a task Stewart said is falling mostly onto private donors. He said WKU will participate in revenue sharing but will give “nowhere near” the $20.5 million Power 4 schools are permitted to share with their athletes. 

Even though WKU won’t be able to pay as much as P4 schools, Stewart said revenue sharing is something WKU has to do.

“If you want to win the game, you have to play the game,” he said. “That’s the reality of college athletics now.”

Stewart said Hilltopper athletics is finalizing how it is going to share revenue amongst its programs. 

Along with revenue sharing, Stewart shared his thoughts on the transfer portal, which created an ever-changing roster for some Hilltopper squads. 

Seven players entered the portal from last season’s men’s basketball team. Football had over 30 athletes take to the portal, and last year’s record-breaking baseball team had 17 players in the portal the week after it opened.

Stewart compared the state of the transfer portal to free agency.

“You can literally transfer in any sport, after every single year and not sit out,” Stewart said. “Before, there were stipulations on transferring; now there are not. That is a problem.”

Provost Bud Fischer highlighted that constant transfers will make it more difficult for students to graduate on time.

Stewart said the problem is being exacerbated by individuals advising students to transfer in bad faith. He said, unlike in pro sports, there are currently no qualifications necessary to represent a student athlete.

“There are a lot of people who feel that way, which gives me some optimism that there will be some form of change,” Stewart said.

Stewart said where college athletics was five years ago was “probably not fair,” but now, he said, some areas of college athletics are “out of control.”

“It’s sort of like driving from point A to point B, and there’s no speed limit, and there’s no stop sign,” Stewart said. “That’s really how it feels like in college athletics right now… so I hope there’s some guardrails put in place.”

Given the unique challenges facing college athletics, Stewart and donors told the Board of Regents that funding is an ever-growing issue.

“Our current budget it’s a challenge; we’re in the bottom 25 of all Football Bowl Subdivision schools,” Stewart said.

Stewart invited Dion Houchins, CEO of Houchens Industries and donor to WKU Athletics, to speak to the regents.

Houchins told the board that to get a return on his investment in WKU Athletics, they need to have good teams that garner attention.

“If we saw a situation where we felt like we were the only ones working hard at this, we’d have to think about our donations,” Houchins said.

Donor and WKU alumnus Craig Browning spoke to the board about the importance of a well-funded WKU Athletics program as it promotes WKU on the national stage. He also said that athletic expenses have “skyrocketed” due to name, image and likeness costs.

“That skyrocketing cost has been absorbed 100% by private donors,” Browning said.

When asked by Rush Robinson, Student Government Association president, what students can do to help, Stewart said attending games is the best way to support athletics. 

“Nobody brings more energy than students,” Stewart said.

Stewart said 3-5 years from now, the college athletics programs that will be the most successful will have “the most individual support, have the most corporate support, and have the most university support.”