Beard could make more than $1 million per season at UNLV

By Taylor Bern

Monday, April 4, 2016 | 2:27 p.m.

The Board of Regents will meet at noon Friday to go over the five-year contract proposal for Chris Beard, who’s set to make about $1 million annually as UNLV’s new men’s basketball coach.

Beard, who most recently led Arkansas-Little Rock (30-5) for one season, agreed more than a week ago to be the 12th full-time coach at UNLV. The regents must ultimately approve or strike down Beard’s deal.

It’s unlikely the deal wouldn't go through, but it’s probably going to get picked over and prodded. Just last year, the Board of Regents approved a five-year deal for UNR coach Eric Musselman, but his guaranteed money ($400,000) was less than half what Beard stands to make.

Here’s a look at the particulars of Beard’s deal:

Salary: Assuming Beard meets all of his media obligations, the guaranteed deal is five years for $5.75 million. Beard’s base salary starts at $400,000 then goes to $500,000 in 2019-20, while his media fees start at $500,000 and jump to $550,000 in 2017-18 and $600,000 in 2018-19. He also would receive retention bonuses of $300,000 in 2018-19 and 2019-20, and $100,000 in 2020-21, bringing the overall amount for completion of the deal to nearly $6 million.

Ticket revenue: In addition to the annual compensation detailed above, Beard can also earn up to $100,000 each of his first three years and up to $200,000 his last two years with revenue enhancement payments. Following a similar incentive that was placed into Musselman’s deal, the contract would pay Beard 50 percent of every dollar earned in ticket revenue over a $3.4 million threshold for the first three years and over a $3.6 million threshold after that. As justification for the provision, the committee cited an approximate $200,000 annual loss in season and single-ticket revenue and noted that UNLV had eclipsed $3.4 million in six of the past 10 seasons.

Performance bonuses: Beard would receive $10,000 for regular-season or conference tournament championships and $5,000 for winning the league’s Coach of the Year award. In the NCAA Tournament, he would receive $10,000 for each victory with a $25,000 bonus for the Final Four and $50,000 for winning the national title. In the NIT, Beard would receive $5,000 for each victory, $10,000 for reaching the semifinals and $25,000 for winning the title.

Miscellaneous

• If he leaves for another job in the first two years, Beard would owe UNLV $1 million. That buyout decreases to $750,000 between years two and four, and after that, it’s either $500,000 or the remaining base salary, whichever is less.

• Beard is free to gain more compensation by negotiating his own shoe and apparel deal, as long as UNLV approves it.

• The committee removed any bonus payment for achieving a minimum Academic Progress Rate score, citing both the “unhealthy motivations” it may cause and the fact that UNLV’s current roster largely leaving early could negatively impact the Rebels’ number.

• In justifying the contract, the committee cited $750,000 in the operating budget for a head coach, plus a five-year, $300,000 annual commitment from the Runnin’ Rebel Club plus another $150,000 committed through private fundraising for each of the next five years. In addition, they cite a $350,000 annual savings in travel because of a private donor’s commitment near the end of last season. The committee used those saved funds as an example of how the university would pay the $900,000 remaining on Dave Rice’s contract.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.