Forum examines athletics’ financials

A panel university President Wallace Loh charged with tackling the athletic department's worsening deficit heard input from students, staff and alumni yesterday afternoon at a public forum in Stamp Student Union.

Many of the forum's about 50 participants expressed concern over whether the athletics department's budget woes — the department depleted its reserves last semester and faces a deficit of more than $83 million — would lead the commission to consider eliminating one or more of the university's 27 teams.

A downturned economy, dwindling donor list and recent stumbles in the department's primary revenue-generating sports — football and men's and women's basketball — have offered the department fewer options to support the school's non-revenue sports, which The Washington Post reported in July had lost more than $64 million between 2005 and 2010.

But many of the speakers said eliminating a sport, as James MadisonUniversity and the University of California, Berkeley have done in recent years, would be a mistake.

"Cutting sports is not the solution in my opinion," senior history major Austin Bartolomei-Hill said. "I think that's a last-ditch effort that I'd love to not see."

To avoid losing a sport, an option commission members did not comment on, the 17-person panel said it is carefully examining the department and ramping up its outreach efforts. The commission, which is comprised of a mix of athletic department figures, student representatives and other groups, is due to submit its report and list of recommendations for attaining "greater excellence in academics and athletics" and financial sustainability in the department to Loh by Nov. 15.

"No stone will be left unturned in the fundraising area, I can assure you that," said commission member John Brophy, a member of the University of Maryland College Park's Foundation Board of Trustees. "But it's hard; fundraising across the United States is struggling, but I can assure you a lot of the groundwork has already been done."

A number of other speakers said the university should focus on improving the events' family-friendly atmosphere and encouraging fans to have good sportsmanship.

"Winning will provide tickets for any sport, yes, but how about creating an environment that's so fun that you want to go and then the game is on the side," senior economics major Ary Manzhukh said.

Other alumni in attendance said the university's game-day atmosphere, which has come under attack in recent years for students' vulgar conduct, discourages them from attending football and basketball games. Last week, Athletic Director Kevin Anderson reprimanded the student body in an email recounting an incident from the Sept. 5 football game against Miami in which a student yelled profanity at an 11-year-old boy.

Some speakers, citing the Terps' poor attendance at Byrd Stadium last year, posed their own ideas for generating more interest and excitement at football games. Reflecting on the 2010 season, during which the team drew more than 75 percent capacity just once, participants said the university should use another field as an area for football pick-up games and invite high school bands to play at some games.

"How do we get young people hooked on Maryland — I think that's the solution," commission chair Barry Gossett said. "But we have some more immediate problems going forward."

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