WSU
Athletics budget balancing plan relies on more money from students, donors,
ticket sales and TV
From Pullman
Radio News 5/31/2018
Washington
State University Athletics is hoping for a new student-approved fee, increases
in giving and ticket sales and more TV revenue to help balance its budget.
A new
state law requires collegiate athletics to receive regents approval for budgets
and deficit reduction plans when those departments run in the red. Cougar Athletics multiyear budget shortfall
is estimated to total 68 million dollars at the end of this fiscal year which
expires June 30th.
New Cougar
Athletics Director Pat Chun revealed his budget balancing plan Thursday. It calls for deficit spending to end in
fiscal year 2023.
The
proposal to the WSU Regents includes several assumptions predicting a nearly
30% increase in revenue.
The new
dollars are projected to come from a mandatory student fee for athletics that
would require student approval, a 40% increase in donations, a 20% increase in
money from ticket sales and a 25% increase in revenue from media rights
including more dollars from the Pac-12 Network.
A previous
effort to get students to approve an athletics fee never made it to the ballot
under former AD Bill Moos 2 years ago.
Revenue
from the Pac-12 Network has been below expectations. Meanwhile contributions to the Cougar
Athletic Fund have reached a record level at nearly 6.5 million dollars so far
this fiscal year, while ticket revenue is up 10%.
Chun’s
proposal doesn’t include spending cuts, noting that WSU Athletics has the
smallest budget in the Pac-12 and is consistently one of the least expensive departments
among the nation’s Power 5 conference schools.
Cougar
Athletics annual budget shortfall has already been reduced by several million
dollars down to an estimated 9 million.
Once the department gets out of its annual budget shortfall Cougar
Athletics will still have to pay back an 85 million dollar accumulated
debt. Officials don’t have a plan yet
for how long it will take for the department to pay that off.
Officials
note that the debt was caused by spending on athletics facilities over the past
several years and a decrease in institutional support. Chun’s budget and annual deficit reduction
plan is scheduled to go the regents for approval next week.
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WSU
athletics commits to balanced budget by 2023
May 31,
2018 from WSU News
WSU
football experienced record ticket sales during the 2017-18 season.
PULLMAN,
Wash. — Washington State University announced today that its athletics budget
will be balanced in five years. This plan will be presented to the WSU Board of
Regents on Friday, June 8 by Athletic Director Pat Chun and Chief University
Budget Officer Joan King.
The effort
relies on increasing revenue 27 percent by Fiscal Year 2023 while continuing to
contain expenses. This approach will slow the rate of debt accumulation over
the first four years, which is expected to reach a projected total of up to
$85.1 million by FY 2022. Plans call for the program to achieve a balanced
budget by FY 2023 with an anticipated $200,000 surplus.
The
athletics department is committed to first getting its budget balanced, then
building up reserves and finally repaying central reserves.
“We are
not here to make excuses,” said Chun. “We are here to move forward, take fiscal
responsibility and provide a world-class student-athlete experience.”
Detailed
financial information about the department and its budget strategy can be found
at https://regents.wsu.edu/meeting-dates/.
Under a
new state law, public colleges and universities with intercollegiate athletics
programs that experience operating deficits at the end of any fiscal year must
develop deficit-reduction plans. Those plans must be approved by the college or
university governing boards, which also will be required to approve any
expenditures or budget transfers exceeding $250,000. Additionally, the plans,
along with financial statements from the three prior fiscal years, must be conspicuously
posted and publicly accessible.
WSU
athletics already has the lowest annual operating expenses of any athletics
program in the Pac-12 and consistently spends less than any other program in a
Power 5 conference.
Much of
WSU’s athletics debt is connected to investments made in improved facilities
over the past several years, including a $61 million football complex. During
the same time, though, institutional support began decreasing as the University
struggled with the national economic downturn.
Chun noted
that encouraging signs are returning.
Contributions
to the Cougar Athletic Fund reached record levels this fiscal year, currently
at $6.4 million and climbing. Ticket sales for WSU football also are setting
records but continued growth is constrained by having the smallest stadium
capacity in the Pac-12.
The
department also is pursuing several other strategies for boosting revenue that
will be finalized in the near future.
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WSU
football
Washington
State outlines plan to balance athletics budget, reach $200,000 surplus by
fiscal year 2023
UPDATED:
Thu., May 31, 2018, 10:46 a.m.
By Theo
Lawson
PULLMAN –
Washington State has set in motion a plan to help the school’s athletic
department climb out of a projected $85.1 million deficit and not only become
solvent, but reach a $200,000 surplus by the fiscal year of 2023.
The budget
strategy, contingent on increased revenue and record donations to the Cougar
Athletic Fund, will be presented to the WSU Board of Regents at a retreat at
the Willows Lodge in Woodinville from June 7-8.
WSU will
ask that the Board of Regents approve the school’s 2018-19 athletics budget,
approve the plan for reducing the operating deficit in future years and allow
necessary transfers to cover the deficit balance at the end of the 2018 fiscal
year.
Athletic
director and Pat Chun and WSU Chief University Budget Officer Joan King will
discuss the athletics budget with reporters on a conference call this
afternoon.
The plan
is dependant on increasing revenue numbers by 27 percent come fiscal year 2023,
in addition to containing athletic expenses.
“We are
not here to make excuses,” Chun said in a school press release. “We are here to
move forward, take fiscal responsibility and provide a world-class
student-athlete experience.”
WSU plans
to first get its budget balanced, then shift its focus to building reserves and
repaying central reserves.
The
athletic department is already working with the lowest annual operating
expenses in the Pac-12 and WSU consistently spends less than any other Power
Five conference program in the country.
The debt
can largely be traced to the commitment former AD Bill Moos made to enhancing
WSU’s athletic facilities – most notably the addition of a $61 million football
complex. Economic downturn at the time also didn’t help, slicing institutional
support received by the athletic department.
But the
school has noticed a major upswing in Cougar Athletic Fund donations and
currently reports a record sum of $6.4 million. Gate sales at home football
games have also hit record numbers and are up more than $5 million from fiscal
year 2010, though ticket revenue is limited by stadium capacity and Martin
Stadium’s capacity is the lowest in the Pac-12.
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Read
Evergreen coverage about WSU Athletics’ plan to balance athletics
https://dailyevergreen.com/32634/news/athletics-budgets-27-percent-increase-in-revenue-record-ticket-sales-higher-fees
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Former WSU
football player sent to jail for beating up his girlfriend in Moscow
From
Pullman Radio News
The former
Washington State University football player accused of beating up his
girlfriend in Moscow has been sent to jail.
The Moscow Pullman Daily News is reporting that 20 year old Grant Porter
was sentenced to 15 days in jail and placed on probation for a year Wednesday
in Latah County Second District Court.
Porter pleaded guilty to simple misdemeanor battery after initially
being arrested for domestic battery. He
was taken into custody in November after his girlfriend told Moscow Police that
Porter assaulted her inside her apartment.
Porter also threatened to kill her if she told police. The defensive back was initially suspended
from the Cougar football team following his arrest. WSU's Sports Information Director says Porter
was dismissed from the team this Spring.
He never played in a Cougar football game. Porter’s conviction and jail time is in stark
contrast to an honor he received in May of last year. He received the Lifesaving Award from Pullman
City Council for preventing a suicide attempt.
……..
Clanton,
Sunitsch Earn All-Pac-12 Accolades
From WSU
Sports Info
SAN
FRANCISCO – Washington State designated hitter Blake Clanton and pitcher Scotty
Sunitsch were each named All-Pac-12 Conference honorable mention as voted on by
the league’s coach, the conference office announced Thursday.
Clanton, a
senior from Clinton, Okla., led the team in hits (56), RBI (35), on-base
percentage (.430), and was ninth in the Pac-12 in batting average (.350) and
fourth in slugging (.644). Clanton was second on the team in doubles (13) and
home runs (10), and finished the season reaching base in the final 15 games. He
led the team with 18 multiple-hit games and 10 multiple-RBI games and was the
first Cougar to post double-digit home runs and doubles in the same season since
Taylor Ard did so in 2012.
In league
play, Clanton was eighth in the Pac-12 with a .345 batting average, fifth with
a .655 slugging percentage, tenth with 40 hits and sixth with six home runs.
Earlier this season, Clanton set a WSU single-game record with four doubles in
the win over Santa Clara. Clanton also received the WSU Rob Oviatt and David
Lang Strength and Conditioning Award given out at the WSU Senior Awards Banquet
for possessing a great commitment to training and showed leadership while showing
overall improvement in the weight room.
Sunitsch,
a senior lefthander from Federal Way, Wash., led the Cougars in wins (6),
strikeouts (74), innings (84.1) and produced the second-lowest ERA (3.74).
Sunitsch was named National Pitcher of the Week and Pac-12 Conference Pitcher
of the Week in early April after throwing a no-hitter at Oregon. Sunitsch
struck out nine in the 7-0 win to record the 25th no-hitter in school history
and first solo nine-inning no-hitter since 1976.
In
conference play, Sunitsch tied for eighth in the conference with four wins,
tied for seventh with 62.1 innings, was sixth with 57 strikeouts and went
six-plus innings in six of his 10 Pac-12 starts. Sunitsch finished his Cougar
career fourth in WSU history with 85 appearances and tied for tenth with nine
saves.
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FOOTBALL:
WSU learns
kickoff times, television selections for four 2018 games
UPDATED:
Thu., May 31, 2018, 2:19 p.m.
By Theo
Lawson
Spokane
S-R
PULLMAN –
Some more late nights will be on the horizon for Washington State football
fans.
WSU
learned times and television networks for four additional football games on
Thursday, when the Pac-12 released its early 2018 TV selections, and at least
two of those will keep the Cougars and their fans up past 10 p.m.
Following
the Sept. 1 season opener at Wyoming’s War Memorial Stadium, a 12:35 p.m. PDT
kickoff that will be televised by CBS Sports Network, the Cougars return home
on Sept. 8 to play San Jose State in a Pac-12 Networks game that’s slated to
kickoff at 8 p.m.
WSU then
plays host to Eastern Washington on Sept. 15 in a game that will begin at 5
p.m. and also air on the Pac-12 Networks.
Next, WSU
travels to Los Angeles for a primetime ESPN showdown with USC at the Los
Angeles Memorial Stadium. The Cougars and Trojans will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on
Friday Sept. 21.
FOX will
once again air the annual Apple Cup rivalry game between WSU and UW – a 5:30
p.m. game that will be played on Friday Nov. 23 at Martin Stadium.
Times and
television networks for home games against Utah (Sept. 29), Oregon (Oct. 20),
Cal (Nov. 3) and Arizona (Nov. 17), in adition to road games against Oregon State
(Oct. 6), Stanford (Oct. 27) and Colorado (Nov. 10) haven’t been set.
All
remaining television selections and times will be made 6-12 days in advance of
a given game.
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Former
ASWSU President Jordan Frost WSU student regent
Former
ASWSU President Jordan Frost will serve as the next WSU student regent after
being selected to the role by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
By IAN
SMAY, Evergreen
May 30,
2018
Gov. Jay
Inslee has selected former ASWSU President Jordan Frost as the next WSU student
regent.
Frost
announced his new role on Facebook Wednesday evening after Gov. Inslee informed
him of selection that morning.
“I
screamed and jumped up and down and kind of freaked out,” Frost said. “I was
very excited.”
Frost said
he sees the role as an opportunity to give back to the WSU community and to
continue to make an impact.
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