Univ. of Colorado AD Rick George said that the school's athletic department "will have a budget shortfall for the third year in a row because of continuing drops in football ticket sales," according to Kyle Ringo of the Boulder DAILY CAMERA. George added that athletics "will not seek a loan from the campus to help cover the cost of the shortfall." He said they will finish FY June 30, 2015, "with a balanced budget by finding ways to bring in additional revenue through concessions, maximizing high interest in men's basketball, adding non-game-day business, and, if needed, cutting expenses." Ringo notes CU "has an eight-game streak of attracting fewer than 40,000 fans to football games at Folsom Field dating to last season." Before the current streak of eight home games, it "had been 25 years since the program attracted a crowd of less than 40,000 for a game." George said that he "doesn't know yet how big the shortfall will be," but that it will be "considerably smaller than the previous two years and likely less" than $1M. Ringo writes with a $181M facilities project ongoing in and around Folsom Field, some "might be confused how the department can have a shortfall and be undertaking such a project." The shortfall "relates to the department's operations budget, which is separate from the facilities project being funded through private donations, corporate gifts and issuing bonds" (Boulder DAILY CAMERA, 10/31).
