UTRGV Intercollegiate Athletics raised a record $2,016,830.69 during the 2021-2022 financial year to help improve the student-athlete experience.
The department raised $682,821.69 more than the previous financial year, according to Vince Volpe, deputy director of Athletics and chief revenue officer.
The growth was in part thanks to increased attendance after the laxing of COVID-19 restrictions, but UTRGV Vice President and Director of Athletics Chasse Conque also credited Volpe, Sara Hernandez and Seth Jones, the Athletics External Operations senior leadership team.
“All of my colleagues that you mentioned … were instrumental in really helping our department generate the needed resources,” Volpe told The Rider in an interview last Tuesday. “So, when you generate revenue at a significant level, it’s a team sport.”
He said Athletics is planning to continue leveraging key relationships throughout the Rio Grande Valley, the state and the country with the goal of exceeding that $2 million mark every year.
“We can’t rest on what we generated last year,” Volpe said. “We’ve got to continue to generate expanded resources every year and there’s many ways that we do that. And three of the key ones I’ve mentioned [are] corporate partnerships, ticket sales and philanthropy. There’s also licensing. It’s a challenge of ours to continue to spread our brand, our five letters, [UTRGV], throughout the region from a retail perspective, as well as throughout the state. So, a lot of key pieces to, hopefully, breaking $2 million on our way to $3 million and then on our way to $4 million and so on and so forth.”
Asked how the department plans to spend the money generated, he listed where the money will go.
“I think all of those revenue buckets are to enhance the student-athlete experience,” Volpe said. “Certainly help us travel, scholarships for student athletes [and] capital projects that you’ve seen. There’s a myriad of ways that the revenue helps enhance our program.”
Asked how she felt about the department raising over $2 million, Hernandez, associate Athletics director for Marketing and Strategic Initiatives, replied she was happy.
“It’s very exciting because that only reflects the support of the community,” she said. “I think [in] the community, in recent years, everybody knows what we’re trying to do here, [at] UTRGV. I think it’s exciting and rewarding to see that from the ticket side and the corporate sales [that] people are excited about it, and they’re willing to support. So, I’m very thankful and excited for that.”
Hernandez said messaging played an important role in the department generating its revenue.
“You have marketing, ticket sales, corporate sales,” she said. “You have the development side, sports information and coaching. I think everybody’s really doing their part to bring the message across to the community that they were doing an important job here at UTRGV Athletics, and that we’re not only bettering the lives of our student athletes and giving them the opportunity to play Division 1 athletics, but, also, we’re contributing to the UTRGV [and] the RGV community.”
