The Univ. of Nevada is going to its ninth bowl game in 10 years, only missing out last season, and it "has managed to turn a profit every time," according to Dan Hinxman of the RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL. The school has "learned how to cut costs, and it has done so at an impressive rate." The "biggest cost-cutting move is just limiting the number of people who go, which saves travel and hotel costs." Nevada also "saves money by taking the less-expensive team-meal options at the hotels and not splurging on expensive rings and watches in the event of a victory." Nevada AD Doug Knuth said that he "hears from his peers regularly about how impressed they are with how Nevada budgets for bowl games." Knuth: "It's almost a tradition here. When you talk to ADs around the conference, they point to Nevada and say, 'You guys have done it. How do you do it?' It's an expectation here. We do everything in our power to at least break even." Nevada football coach Brian Polian said, "We have to be fiscally responsible. We have to manage and balance the fact that this is a reward for the players, and frankly it's a reward for the coaches and their families, but at the same time, we are not Texas A&M or Stanford or Notre Dame." Hinxman noted in the previous eight bowl games, the school has "netted $1,144,670, an average of $143,084 per bowl." Knuth and Nevada CFO John Nunn indicated that the school "will take in $930,000 from this bowl game and is expected to spend about $681,000, a profit of about $249,000" (RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL, 12/14).
