Conference USA Presidents Approve Money-Saving Measures

Conference USA member school presidents "approved several leaguewide money-saving measures Monday, a step the group's chairman sees as an impetus towards a national rollback of college athletic spending," according to Ted Lewis of the New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE. Southern Methodist Univ. President Gerald Turner said the recession is "accelerating the need to make hard choices about college athletics, but the fundamental problems will not abate when the economy improves." Yesterday's vote, which "ratified decisions made by the conference's athletic directors at their spring meeting last month, cuts the size of the tournament fields in baseball, volleyball and soccer and reduces the size of travel squads in football and soccer." The board also "voted to reduce the conference operating budget by 4[%], including a hiring and salary freeze, and appoint a task force" to study conference basketball scheduling. But the "most noticeable leaguewide changes will be in the conference tournaments." The field for the volleyball tournament was "reduced from 12 teams to eight." All 12 teams "will participate in the men's and women's basketball tournaments, but the 2010 events will be played simultaneously" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at "different arenas." Previous tournaments "had been played in different cities" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/2).

MAKING GREEN WAVES: The TIMES-PICAYUNE's Lewis reports the Tulane Univ. (TU) athletic department is "ending its relationship with ISP Sports, the school's multimedia rights holder since 2002," as part of several measures following a year in which "revenue fell 30[%] short of expectations." ISP owned the broadcast and marketing rights for TU sports "in exchange for a rights fee." TU Exec Associate AD Brandon Macneill: "It was a mutual and amicable decision. ISP has been a great partner for us, but we believe we can be more successful on the revenue end going in another direction" Other changes at the TU athletic department include a salary and hiring freeze on "most non-coaching positions," and "delaying until 2011-12 the attainment of the Division I-A minimum of 16 sports." There also will be "no flights of less than 400 miles to away games." Macneill: "We've got to get more creative with our marketing. Quite frankly, we didn't do a good job with it last year. We've got to figure out how best to create an impact with the money we're spending" (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 6/2).