After the NCAA’s Board of Directors approved a handful of changes affecting Division I athletics last week, things are looking good for intercollegiate student-athletes across the country — provided they aren’t attending this university. News of the reforms was followed by a report from The Washington Post on Wednesday revealing just how dire the athletics department’s financial situation is. The numbers should be ugly enough to frighten many of this university’s 617 student-athletes.
According to the Post, the athletics department is on track to lose $4.7 million in the current fiscal year, which ends next July. The department also predicts a staggering annual deficit increase, reaching $17.6 million by 2017. Those numbers are projections, so they could certainly prove excessive. But if attendance at last weekend’s football game against Boston College is any indication, they may have been too conservative.
Those numbers also don’t factor in the anticipated additional expenses that may be incurred as a result of the NCAA’s new regulations. The most significant new rule grants conferences the option to provide student-athletes up to an additional $2,000 on top of their scholarship. The money is designed to bridge the gap between what a full athletic scholarship provides and incremental expenses a student incurs over the course of a year — referred to as the full cost of attendance.
It’s a great development for athletes, but one that could prove costly for the university and its conference-leading 27 varsity teams. What remains to be seen is how many sports will actually receive the additional $2,000. That matter is determined by conference, and the ACC hasn’t publicly reached a decision. But if the conference decides to provide every scholarship athlete an additional $2,000, this university — which grants the equivalent of about 320 full scholarships per year — would face about $640,000 in additional expenses.
That’s a lot of money for a department that’s already in the red and currently leans heavily on mandatory student fees — $11.1 million this year, according to the Post — to balance its budget. The additional expenses are also sure to weigh heavily on the minds of the university’s President’s Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, a 17-member group appointed this summer by university President Wallace Loh to examine the athletics department’s financials. The commission’s final report is due on Loh’s desk Nov. 15. Loh will then spend the rest of the year garnering input from Athletic Director Kevin Anderson and the university’s Athletic Council before releasing his decision.
The athletics department is already stretched thin: The Post crunched 2010 numbers, released in accordance with the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act, and determined the athletics department spends less per athlete — $67,390 — than every other ACC school. Florida State leads the conference with $118,814, but five schools exceeded the $100,000 threshold. Part of that disparity results from a drop in revenue, but it’s also a result of the university fielding 27 varsity teams — four more than the ACC average, and 11 more than is required to maintain Division I status.
The commission has remained tight-lipped about its discussions, but all signs point to a reduction — possibly significant — in the overall size of the department. Undergraduate students already subsidize athletics with almost $200 per semester, so raising the mandatory athletics fee shouldn’t be an option. The fickle Terps fanbase is unlikely to surrender more money through tickets and donations unless the football and men’s basketball teams excel — but that’s doubtful given the rebuilding projects facing both programs. Federal Title IX requirements mean any cut in women’s teams will need to be matched by the elimination of men’s programs. Excluding football and men’s and women’s basketball, the remaining 24 varsity teams lost about $7.3 million last year, so if the athletics department can’t find sources of additional revenue, bridging the current budget shortfall could mean cutting several programs. As painful as that would be, it’s probably the best move.
As it stands, Loh is set to make his decision public by Dec. 31 — a day surely marked on the calendars of Terrapins athletes and fans throughout the region. So much for a happy New Year.
