Jul. 27—In his first eight months on the job, Fernando Lovo has already found success in squeezing drops of blood out of turnips.

UNM's ambitious 36-year-old athletic airector — with the hopes of setting Lobo Athletics up to be on the right side of the next wave of conference realignment in about five years — has managed to get increased revenue and financial support out of multiple sources thought by many to be lost causes.

Whether it be successfully lobbying Santa Fe lawmakers to increase their annual appropriation, getting the Board of Regents to increase student fees allocated to athletics, or seeing record-setting fundraising from the Lobo Club, the blitz to increase the investment from all areas has been netting positive returns thus far.

And now, he's hitting the town, so to speak.

Lovo and UNM have set sights on city and state business leaders, pitching the mutually beneficial aspects of getting the most out of Lobo Athletics — and Lobo football, in particular — to be as in control as possible of UNM's own future when the next wave of conference realignment hits.

"There's a broader perception that UNM has not invested at the level needed to compete with programs targeted for realignment," Lovo said last week at a monthly meeting of the Economic Forum of Albuquerque.

"These are realities, but the good news is they're not permanent. They're challenges we can and must overcome with vision, with investment and with strategic alignment between our university, our supporters, and this business community in this group, because here's what we know: another wave of realignment is coming. Most experts believe that it will happen around 2030 when Power 4 (conferences') TV contracts and the CFP (College Football Playoff) contracts expire. And when they do, the programs that are ready, the ones that have invested, built and aligned, will be the ones that move forward."

Despite UNM having bottom-third investment in athletics in the Mountain West, it finished this past sports year having had, by a wide margin, the best overall success in athletics of any Mountain West school according the Learfield Cup standings. UNM ranked 49th in Division I, the highest of any non-power conference school with a FBS football program and 42 spots ahead of the next closest MW school, Boise State (91st).

But maintaining that with current funding seems untenable, and current investment levels were deemed too low for five Mountain West members who announced last fall they would be leaving the conference to rebuild the Pac-12.

"As you can see, we currently sit nearly $15 million below the average budget of our peers in the Mountain West and the newly-formed Pac-12," Lovo said. "That gap affects everything, recruiting, staffing, facilities, technology, nutrition, travel, retention, the full student-athlete experience, and it ties directly to the conversation that we just had around conference realignment. If we're serious about being part of the next wave, and we are, if we want to move forward instead of getting left behind, this is the kind of investment we must consider."

Jut as any ambitious local business isn't satisfied merely in keeping the lights on, but in providing the best product or service it can to customers, Lovo says UNM's goal is not merely to generate enough money to tread water.

"Athletic departments are facing historical financial pressure, as you've probably seen in the news, programs are cutting sports, deferring maintenance and leaning on emergency institutional bailouts just to stay afloat. UNM is not one of them," Lovo noted, though it wasn't lost on many in the room that UNM did face each of those things in the decade prior to Lovo's arrival.

"We closed FY 24/25 with a balanced budget, and we're on track to do the same in FY 26. But let me be clear, fiscal stability is not the end goal. It's just the starting line. We've worked hard to manage our budget responsibly, and I am proud of the stability we've built. But just like in business, being stable is not the same as being impactful."

Lovo said the return on investment in Lobo sports isn't just about wins, "but in measurable economic impact that local athletics delivers to Albuquerque and the entire state of New Mexico."

Nearly a hal- million fans attended UNM sporting events in FY24, UNM reports, and 118,000 more attended non-UNM events at UNM facilities (state basketball tournament, professional bull riders event, etc.

Combined, according to a study Lovo cited, UNM athletics ($157.4 million) and non-Lobo sporting events ($17.1 million), generated approximately $175 million in economic impact in Albuquerque in FY24.

UNM is unleashing new group-ticket options geared at businesses to share with employees, expanding sponsorship opportunities and just getting more free signage around town to have fans and businesses essentially become living billboards all over town — not unlike the success New Mexico United has had in getting its branding all over town in the form of car magnets and signage in businesses which, at a minimum, create the perception of a mass following that can then become contagious.

"We've been talking about flooding this town with cherry and silver with posters with pendants. If you renew your season tickets, put something in your front yard (that says) 'Lobo season ticket holder!'" Lovo said.

"I know that may sound a bit trivial or childish, but that's the reality. We have to do that. Telling our story is really important. … We're really going to try to elevate our storytelling so that in these next five years, we're telling our story and no one's telling for it us."

#Lovo #hits #town #UNM #takes #aim #business #community #blitz #increase #investment #athletics