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Washington State Looks To Address Athletic Department Deficit, But Not Cutting Spending

Washington State has resisted “cutting athletics spending” as it tries to "dig the athletics department out” of its $50.7M deficit, according to a front-page piece by Shawn Vestal of the Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW. The school’s deficit at the end of FY '16 was “largely the result of expensive upgrades to the football facilities in combination with lower-than-expected TV revenues.” Athletics began operating in the red in FY ’11, and it has “accumulated ever since,” running about $13M in “each of the past three years.” According to the university’s plan to get sports “back in the black, the shortfall is expected to exceed” $66M by the end of FY ‘19, after which athletics is “expected to reach balance and begin repaying the deficit.” But Vestal notes that plan, which was presented to the school BOR last month, is “full of contingencies.” The plan “outlines a student fee that would have to be approved by a vote of the student body, which seems at least uncertain.” School officials have described this $100 annual fee as “modest.” The plan also “relies on stadium beer sales in the current fiscal year -- when such sales still have not been approved by the state and football season is well underway.” Since FY ’10, athletics spending rose by 89%. Revenues have “also risen, but by just” 49%. In ‘16, athletics “took in 78 cents for every dollar it spent.” Still, AD Bill Moos “likes to point out how little WSU spends compared to other programs” (Spokane SPOKESMAN-REVIEW, 10/7).

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