Athletics struggles to balance wins, money

As a number of Terrapin athletic programs garner national rankings and contend for championships this fall, the Athletics Department is facing the pressure of balancing a reduced budget with the needs of student athletes on 27 varsity teams.

An initial budget cut of $2.4 million was followed by a second cut of $1.3 million in August, once Athletics officials determined season ticket sales for football and men's basketball, both key revenue sources, would decline compared to last year's totals. For now, the cuts haven't touched any scholarships or teams, two moves that would be last-ditch initiatives, according to Athletics Director Debbie Yow.

"We'd try everything else first," Yow said. "That'd be the last thing we change because again, that's what we're here for, is for the student athletes. It'd be extraordinarily challenging to take away scholarships at this point, after we've worked so hard to put ourselves in the position to have them."

All of the department's programs either have, or are on track to have, the full scholarship allotment except for men's track, which has two-thirds of the number of scholarships allowed by the NCAA.

But with the economic recession, fans have less disposable income to spend on tickets and Terrapin Club members have donated less to scholarship funds. Athletics has been forced to make cuts, some of them drastic.

The department restricted all coaches' spending to team travel and recruiting, refrained from hiring replacements for almost a dozen administrative staffers who left for other jobs and even cut basic amenities such as water service to its Comcast Center offices, according to Yow and Senior Associate Athletics Director and Chief Financial Officer Randy Eaton.

"That's always our number one goal, is to minimize the impact on the student athlete," Eaton said. "We feel it, but we don't believe the student athletes feel it."

 

The budget for the 2010 fiscal year is set at $54.5 million. The challenge has come in maintaining the on-the-field success that yielded two national championships and five ACC titles last school year.

So far, the Terps' results competitively this fall would seem to ease those concerns. The field hockey and men's soccer teams are highly-ranked, while the No. 19 women's soccer team is off to its best start since 1996. Wrestling and men's basketball have earned preseason recognition from national media outlets.

But the possibility of making further cuts that would affect scholarship allotments or recruiting and travel budgets is something that Athletics officials have not completely ruled out.

Yow also said she wants to "exhaust every other possibility first," before considering staff layoffs.

Many athletic programs throughout the country are dealing with similar decisions, according to Michael Cross, executive associate athletics director at Princeton and author of Ultimatesportsinsider.com, a blog that examines issues in college sports management.

"The mode that many of us are in — schools in the Ivy League are no exception — is the idea that, hey, we've always been running lean, efficient operations, so the economic climate we're in now is really forcing a lot of schools to some core reductions," Cross said. "If there's really any room to cut fat you will, but at some point you do start affecting the student-athlete experience."

That's the aspect of the current budget climate the Athletics Department wants to avoid, especially when it comes to the eight traditionally underfunded men's Olympic sports.

 

This summer, Athletics hired Erik Bakich and Kyle Spencer, two highly-regarded assistant coaches,to take over the floundering baseball and men's tennis programs, respectively, in an apparent effort to improve the two team's performance.

It's clear that Yow especially doesn't want to have to reverse course because of further financial restrictions.

"It's important that if you're going to wear the Terrapin name on a jersey that we actually have an opportunity to compete, not that we're gonna go out and get slaughtered because we don't have scholarships," Yow said.

Athletics will continue to cut and conserve where possible for the near-term, according to Yow, who cited the expected increased revenue from a new ACC basketball and football television contract after the 2010-2011 school year as a potential source of assistance.

And officials hope they'll be able to survive the budget crunch without having to sacrifice the competitive level of any of the Terps' programs.

"Nobody foresees this lasting forever," Eaton said. "We've tried to position ourselves to get through a couple of tough years. Things have to get better. 

akraut@umdbk.com