Knight Commission Seeks Reform Of Economics Of College Sports

Geiger Says Scholarships A Way To Cut Costs

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics yesterday in DC at the "second public discussion in a year-long examination of the economics of big-time collegiate sports" revealed that it wants to "come up with creative solutions for an unsustainable economic model," according to Andrea Adelson of the ORLANDO SENTINEL. Recent NCAA information "shows athletic expenses are growing at two to three times the rate of total spending for universities, and only six Division I-A athletics departments had positive net revenues in each of the past five years." Former Ohio State Univ. AD Andy Geiger said that 50% of athletics spending is for "coaches, staff, and scholarships -- and pointed to these areas as a way to cut costs," and he added that "significant change is unlikely until administrators address those expenditures." Meanwhile, Penn State Univ. AD Tim Curley said that "supporting broad-based teams is becoming increasingly difficult for Division I programs as competitors put more resources into fewer programs." Univ. of Illinois College of Law tax professor John Colombo also "explained how it would be difficult to remove tax-exempt status from 'big-time college' football and basketball programs." But Colombo argued that Congressional action "would be justified in attaching special limitations to athletic programs, such as restricting expenditures and/or mandating disclosures so that programs could continue to receive 'tax-favored status.'" Univ. of Arizona professor John Cheslock also revealed that male participation in athletics has "declined in programs that compete in the FBS, but male participation has remained relatively flat in all other Division I programs" (ORLANDO SENTINEL, 5/13).

Swofford Says ACC's Budget Has Been Cut By About 6%

COST CONSCIOUS: ACC Commissioner John Swofford yesterday at the conference's spring meetings in Amelia Island, Florida, said that the conference's budget "has been cut by about 6[%], with a wage and hiring freeze instituted for the league staff." In Jacksonville, Garry Smits reports the ACC additionally will vote today on "establishing a limit of 72 players for football travel squads -- the same number allowed by each team for the ACC championship game." The ACC's move of the '10 conference baseball Championship from Fenway Park to Greensboro, North Carolina, also "will save the league about $150,000," and other cost-saving measures "being weighed or actually implemented by schools include taking a bus instead of flying to away games and cutting the size of a school's official party." Smits notes the ACC also is "eliminating printed versions of individual sports media guides, with reporters using online guides at the ACC's Web site or memory sticks with PDF files loaded," while schools are "being urged by the conference to evaluate the practice of taking the entire team to an off-campus hotel the night before home games." Swofford said that the ACC "has not had to consider layoffs of its 32 full-time employees because of the wage and hiring freeze" (FLORIDA TIMES-UNION, 5/13).