Univ. of Minnesota President Eric Kaler in the fall predicted the school "soon would join the short list of universities whose athletics programs rake in more money than they spend," but now UM has "saddled itself" with a number of debts, according to Josh Verges of the ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS. UM has $7.1M in "one-time transition costs" after firing its football staff, and a new football coach in P.J. Fleck who will make $2M a year "more than his predecessor." That is on top of an $8.45M hole in this year's budget "caused by weak football ticket sales, a budgeting error and a buyout paid to Syracuse" for hiring away its AD Mark Coyle. When all that is paid off, the athletics budget will "start making loan payments on Athletes Village," a $166M football and basketball project slated to open later this year. The school has "secured donations for only about half the cost of the complex." Minnesota Senior VP/Finance & Operations Brian Burnett said, "Right now, getting them back onto firm financial footing with all the things that they have going on, which is substantial, is top of mind for me." Burnett said that a projected 9% increase in ticket revenue next year is "related to an attractive home schedule this fall," not the hiring of Fleck. Burnett said that season-ticket sales have been "good since Fleck's hire, but they wanted to be conservative in their budget projections." Minnesota’s share of the TV revenue from the Big Ten's new rights deal "would grow" to $42.5M next year from $25.3M this year. Total athletics revenue next year "is forecast" at $120.6M. The projections have next year's athletics budget surplus "erasing the current year's deficit" (ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS, 3/20).
