The Miami Hurricanes have sold 2,000 football season tickets and raised over $1,000,000 since Mario Cristobal was hired as head coach on December 6 according to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald. The donations to the Miami athletic department broke down in several ways according to Jackson.
Seven donations totaling over $500,000 were made to the Athletic Director Society. The Athletic Director Society was started in June 2021 by former Miami Hurricanes athletic director Blake James. All of the money that has been raised has occurred since Miami hired Cristobal and new athletic director Dan Radakovich.
Radakovich oversaw over $200 million in facility construction and enhancements at Clemson. These included the renovation of the Clemson basketball arena, Littlejohn Coliseum and the construction of facilities for baseball, football, softball and tennis. Radakovich will analyze where the money Miami raised will go.
Jackson also reported that Miami raised over $400,000 for the student impact fund that goes towards the athletic department’s annual operations. That $400,000 was raised via 12 new members of the Golden Canes club. Miami increased the membership from $20,000 to $25,000 and is at full capacity of 200.
Miami has a waiting list of about 20 to become Golden Canes per Jackson. During his Clemson tenure, Radakovich helped the Tigers raise over $200 million and round over $80 million in scholarships. With Radakovich running the athletic department and Cristobal as Miami football head coach, fundraising should increase.
Chris Cohen, the Miami senior associate athletic director of development told Jackson that they gained a lot of momentum in fundraising when the 2017 football team started the season 10-0. Miami was able to accomplish some needed upgrades that included building the Soffer Indoor Practice Facility for Football.
With Cristobal and Radakovich hired, Cohen hopes that Miami can have five to 10 years of sustained success in fundraising at a high level. The hope is that sustained success in all sports will lead to accomplishments throughout the Miami athletic department. Hiring Cristobal and Radakovich made a statement.