Athletics faces growing deficit

By Grover Welch, Herald Staff

While Arkansas State University is looking at large budget cuts in most areas, athletics is looking at its own money shortage and will not be susceptible to cuts in funding.

The budget calls for spending of $8,265,232 over the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The budget is used to operate the 15-sport program at ASU including the management of facilities and administration, according to Doug Abel, associate director of athletics and interim administrative replacement for athletic director.

According to an October budget analysis from the Department of Finance and Administration, the current athletic figures show that there is a projected $2.1 million deficit for the athletic program.

About $250,000 of that shortfall can be attributed to unsatisfactory ticket and concession sales from this year's football season.

"There is a high demand for the budget of the athletic program," ASU President Dr. Les Wyatt said at the University Planning Committee meeting Friday. "If there is virtue to the football program, it is in revenue potential. We are convinced we were not going to get there with the program we had in place. We weren't generating revenue, because we weren't winning. I am confident in our ability to manage a way out of this and advise you not to despair."

However, revenue shortfalls can have adverse affects on the athletic budget as it struggles to meet expenses like the $2,595,563 budgeted for salaries, or the $3,287,080 needed for supplies and expenses.

Supplies and expenses include $623,500 paid out by ASU in game guarantees, $1,066,000 for team travel and $242,235 for equipment supplies and repair.

These shortfalls also can lead to other strains on the university. Most institutions stay out of the red with their athletic budgets by cutting corners elsewhere in the university structure, similar to crunches made by ASU in 1999 and 2000.

However in the current climate of statewide economic cuts, the university would find it hard to adjust the numbers if shortfalls become too large.

"At this point and time, we are tracking favorably on expenses but unfavorably on revenue," Abel said. "It is too early to make any definitive statements about deficits. Projections change."

According to the October analysis, the budgeted men's sports expenses are; $334,018 for baseball; $2,486,233 for football, $959,285 for basketball, $100,339 for golf, $259,388 for track. For women's sports, the budget projects expenses of $556,469 for basketball, $169,569 for golf, $272,482 for track, $282,056 for soccer, $137,858 for tennis, $280,425 for volleyball.

The most recent budget analysis offered by the Department of Finance, shows that athletics is still due much of the revenue projected for this year, with $810,450 in game guarantees still yet to come. Game guarantees come when ASU plays at other schools and are largely earned from football, and are guaranteed revenue sources de to contractual obligations. The game against Georgia Sept. 1 earned $375,000.

"Guarantees that large are usually only possible in I-A competition," Abel said. "The game at Baylor paid $250,000 and three conference road games paid $50,000 each."

NCAA income, money paid to the institution based on the number of scholarships and number of sports ASU offers, totaled $117,500, with Sun Belt conference income at $116,000.