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UW Superbowl Ad

I am convinced the Ed Siedel is basically incompetent. He has yet to do anything since become President, however the deeper issue relates to the overall legislature and board of trustees which waste $60 million on a new swimming pool when one is right across the street and $80 million on stadium upgrades when college athletics was in disarray. AND actually continue to increase the pay of administrators (athletic director) in spite of the woeful performance of the programs that he is administering. His salary is $551,000 that just speaks to the total incompetence that the Board, President of UW and administration have. These are the type of bad decisions that are hard to overcome. Putting an ad in the Super Bowl makes the elite few alumni and UW personnel think they are big time, but it's not going to result in $2 million dollars of tuition dollars or increases in enrollment. Very similar to increasing the improvements in the stadium that only benefit a few thousand season ticket holders.

Enrollment numbers over the past 40 years speak to this: in 1988 there were 12,499 students; 2000 had 11,807, 2015 had 12,627 and in 2024 UW had 10,813. It does not grow. The primary purpose of UW seems to be to provide high paying jobs for a select few individuals.
 
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As always, nice idea but crappy execution. The production quality and content are god-awful - typical of UW. I guess the only group available to cut a $2 million ad was the UW freshman AV club? When it is running in a space that includes NYC-firm produced ads, it will make us look like the rubes we are. I could think of a lot better ways to spend that $2 mil.
 
$2m would have been better spent paying part of Sawvel’s buyout and jettisoning him from Laramie. Cannot fathom a favorable ROI with this ad.
 
rocket city poke said:
I am convinced the Ed Siedel is basically incompetent. He has yet to do anything since become President, however the deeper issue relates to the overall legislature and board of trustees which waste $60 million on a new swimming pool when one is right across the street and $80 million on stadium upgrades when college athletics was in disarray. AND actually continue to increase the pay of administrators (athletic director) in spite of the woeful performance of the programs that he is administering. His salary is $551,000 that just speaks to the total incompetence that the Board, President of UW and administration have. These are the type of bad decisions that are hard to overcome. Putting an ad in the Super Bowl makes the elite few alumni and UW personnel think they are big time, but it's not going to result in $2 million dollars of tuition dollars or increases in enrollment. Very similar to increasing the improvements in the stadium that only benefit a few thousand season ticket holders.

Enrollment numbers over the past 40 years speak to this: in 1988 there were 12,499 students; 2000 had 11,807, 2015 had 12,627 and in 2024 UW had 10,813. It does not grow. The primary purpose of UW seems to be to provide high paying jobs for a select few individuals.
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There are a few reasons for UW's stagnation in enrollment. The primary one, by far, is the lack of population growth in the state. In 2000, there were 6,462 graduates from Wyoming public high schools. In 2024, there were 6,580.

The reality is that UW does not have even a single program that is recognized as a nationally renowned program. As such, the vast majority of UW students are going to come from inside the state. If UW wants to increase its enrollment, it will have to rely heavily on the State of Wyoming making changes to attract people to move to the state.

I would argue that the changes necessary to attract more people to the state would fundamentally undermine a big part of what makes Wyoming what it is. Slowly, but surely, it would become a lot more like Colorado. There may be a few people in the state who think that would ultimately be a good thing, but I would guess the majority of Wyomingites would not be fans of such changes. What this ultimately means for UW, I am not sure. But UW's enrollment "problems" are far more complex than they might appear at first blush.
 
TheRealUW said:
There are a few reasons for UW's stagnation in enrollment. The primary one, by far, is the lack of population growth in the state. In 2000, there were 6,462 graduates from Wyoming public high schools. In 2024, there were 6,580.

The reality is that UW does not have even a single program that is recognized as a nationally renowned program. As such, the vast majority of UW students are going to come from inside the state. If UW wants to increase its enrollment, it will have to rely heavily on the State of Wyoming making changes to attract people to move to the state.

I would argue that the changes necessary to attract more people to the state would fundamentally undermine a big part of what makes Wyoming what it is. Slowly, but surely, it would become a lot more like Colorado. There may be a few people in the state who think that would ultimately be a good thing, but I would guess the majority of Wyomingites would not be fans of such changes. What this ultimately means for UW, I am not sure. But UW's enrollment "problems" are far more complex than they might appear at first blush.
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Texas, Montana, Idaho, and Utah have had population explosions in the last 20 years. Not one of those states is liberal politically. As someone who grew up in Casper and lives in Colorado, there are a number of reasons Wyoming hasn't kept pace. Wind and weather is part of it. There is not a single large airport in the state. There are other reasons as well. But Wyoming's politics are not hindering growth. The tax structure and less regulation is a positive for a lot of businesses. But the lack of people is a problem for those who need a big consumer base. Sadly, depending on your view, the lack of population is keeping it from gaining more population.
 
bladerunnr said:
Texas, Montana, Idaho, and Utah have had population explosions in the last 20 years. Not one of those states is liberal politically. As someone who grew up in Casper and lives in Colorado, there are a number of reasons Wyoming hasn't kept pace. Wind and weather is part of it. There is not a single large airport in the state. There are other reasons as well. But Wyoming's politics are not hindering growth. The tax structure and less regulation is a positive for a lot of businesses. But the lack of people is a problem for those who need a big consumer base. Sadly, depending on your view, the lack of population is keeping it from gaining more population.
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So many of the problems Wyoming faces are overdetermined. List the top ten and take any three of them away and you still end up struggling. The individual challenges that Wyoming faces are, as you point out, somewhat shared by neighboring states....but they are more numerous and inter-related in a pretty tough way. I will say that it seems like the states leadership and it's political climate is, at best, not in the positive column for population growth.
 
307bball said:
I will say that it seems like the states leadership and it's political climate is, at best, not in the positive column for population growth.
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This is a bit odd considering a good portion of the new state’s leadership is from out of state. Although I do blame their ‘we know what’s best for Wyoming’ and we ‘only take instruction from our DC freedom caucus overlords’ mentality as a big reason things are about to get much much worse here.

People used to come to Wyoming for the affordable cost of living compared to salary and surprisingly great public school ratings. We are about to sink faster than the titanic in those things.
 
bladerunnr said:
Sadly, depending on your view, the lack of population is keeping it from gaining more population.
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What’s really going to hurt is the inevitable small town public schools closing when the costs can’t be justified compared to the budget. Friday night football and the towns ability to support a consumer base will go with it.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
This is a bit odd considering a good portion of the new state’s leadership is from out of state. Although I do blame their ‘we know what’s best for Wyoming’ and we ‘only take instruction from our DC freedom caucus overlords’ mentality as a big reason things are about to get much much worse here.

People used to come to Wyoming for the affordable cost of living compared to salary and surprisingly great public school ratings. We are about to sink faster than the titanic in those things.
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Maybe political climate and leadership is just the wrong way to look at growth?

Like, do we make a mistake when we look at outcomes and lay blame or give credit to politicians?
 
Meh, every state has things or limitations that are either out of control or require very long-term solutions. A lot of focus is here at state level and certainly at UW (Burman's excuse machine is centered here).

The question is: do you do everything you possibly can and making the best decisions possible for the things you can control. I don't think there's necessarily enough focus here. Will anyone ask if enrollment went up, donations went up, or recruiting improved next year as a result of a 2 mill ad? I doubt it.
 
ragtimejoe1 said:
Meh, every state has things or limitations that are either out of control or require very long-term solutions. A lot of focus is here at state level and certainly at UW (Burman's excuse machine is centered here).

The question is: do you do everything you possibly can and making the best decisions possible for the things you can control. I don't think there's necessarily enough focus here. Will anyone ask if enrollment went up, donations went up, or recruiting improved next year as a result of a 2 mill ad? I doubt it.
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I've always choked when I've seen what gets spent on marketing but people a lot smarter than me keep saying you can't not do it....

I agree with your overall "do the best you possibly can" mentality no matter the challenges you face. There is no better way to go. The problem is...you can accomplish that mentality poorly. Challenges that you cannot foresee or control will always rob you of something. If an individual or organization can't acknowledge that and just repeats "there are no excuses" you end up in weird place where you begin to define success by whatever mediocrity you actually can accomplish (look no further than UW athletics). I don't think UW administration or it's fan base has taken seriously how difficult it has become to really succeed in college athletics for small economy programs since the late '90s. No matter how well you try to bring those challenges into focus...accusations of "loser mentality" and "accepting mediocrity" are immediately brought up. Those accusations are doing more harm than good. Even writing this will get folks (maybe you) inflamed that I'm trying to excuse Burman....go back and read all of the times I've characterized him as an empty suit at best. He's a stooge, but UW athletics is not merely a good AD away from being something that looks much different.

There is not money to do it, (or, more accurately..not the will to spend the money) but if you want to succeed nowadays, it's all about the $$. Spend big on the coach, spend big on the players, and the championships will follow (in all sports).

No matter how good you are, sometimes the current is against you. When you fight it, you just tire yourself out and squander what strength you may have had. When I look back at the last 30 years of UW athletics....that kind of looks like what is going on. There have been some good people, some incompetent people...but the current has swept us all in the wrong direction. This outlook does rob me of being able to be righteously indignant over the failings that are becoming so obvious. If I were an up and coming coach or administrator...I wouldn't touch UW with a 10 foot pole. The best success that has happened from the UW "tree" is Josh Allen winning the MVP and some Craig Bohl assistants dominating the FCS....
 
307bball said:
I've always choked when I've seen what gets spent on marketing but people a lot smarter than me keep saying you can't not do it....

I agree with your overall "do the best you possibly can" mentality no matter the challenges you face. There is no better way to go. The problem is...you can accomplish that mentality poorly. Challenges that you cannot foresee or control will always rob you of something. If an individual or organization can't acknowledge that and just repeats "there are no excuses" you end up in weird place where you begin to define success by whatever mediocrity you actually can accomplish (look no further than UW athletics). I don't think UW administration or it's fan base has taken seriously how difficult it has become to really succeed in college athletics for small economy programs since the late '90s. No matter how well you try to bring those challenges into focus...accusations of "loser mentality" and "accepting mediocrity" are immediately brought up. Those accusations are doing more harm than good. Even writing this will get folks (maybe you) inflamed that I'm trying to excuse Burman....go back and read all of the times I've characterized him as an empty suit at best. He's a stooge, but UW athletics is not merely a good AD away from being something that looks much different.

There is not money to do it, (or, more accurately..not the will to spend the money) but if you want to succeed nowadays, it's all about the $$. Spend big on the coach, spend big on the players, and the championships will follow (in all sports).

No matter how good you are, sometimes the current is against you. When you fight it, you just tire yourself out and squander what strength you may have had. When I look back at the last 30 years of UW athletics....that kind of looks like what is going on. There have been some good people, some incompetent people...but the current has swept us all in the wrong direction. This outlook does rob me of being able to be righteously indignant over the failings that are becoming so obvious. If I were an up and coming coach or administrator...I wouldn't touch UW with a 10 foot pole. The best success that has happened from the UW "tree" is Josh Allen winning the MVP and some Craig Bohl assistants dominating the FCS....
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Continually looking to the past as baselines, trends, or whatever is futile. The game has changed academically, athletically, etc. Old people looking at old ways for new problems is the problem.

We also use per capita as the excuse for low attendance. Well, per capita we generate roughly 3x more tax revenue per resident than TX. With a little belt tightening and vision, we have the resources to build fantastic investment accounts which can provide long-term annual returns to supplement budgets. We could strategically use toll roads to capitalize on tourism and interstate traffic. We have technology for passes for local traffic. It's a real possibility that UW will have to reduce offerings of more degrees but invest heavily in strengths. That goes for sports too. I've said it before, the sports department needs an honest and thorough outside cost-benefit review. The mission of UW is that of a Land-grant not that of sports trophies unless those trophies aid in the Land-grant mission. Maybe leveraging hapc and limited NIL for Olympic sports isn't as sexy but is better for the overall mission? I have no idea but it's time to ask hard questions.

It goes on on but there's not a clear focus and strategic plan in place for the things that can be controlled.
 
OrediggerPoke said:
JJ Watt tweeted about Wyoming’s advertisement and it made sports illustrated. So maybe Wyoming will get its money’s worth.

www.si.com

Inspiring commercial celebrating incredible journey of Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen just aired during Super Bowl

Josh Allen had to make his own way in the world of football and his alma mater, the University of Wyoming, celebrated that journey for millions to see on Sunday
www.si.com www.si.com
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By what metric? Not being an ass, but, seriously what will be the return for the money? If it's just exposure, then what's the effect of exposure?
 
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