The Colorado State athletic department in FY '16-17 generated $1.6M more in revenue "than expected and reduced its reliance on university support by $350,000," according to Kelly Lyell of the Ft. Collins COLORADOAN. That $350,000 figure dropped the university's "net contribution" to the athletic department's $40.8M budget from 12.3% in '15-16 to 10.5%. CSU's athletic department received $14.8M from the university's general fund in FY '16-17, "about $350,000 less the planned allocation," and another $5.8M in student fees. CSU Chancellor & President Tony Frank said that the "student fee for athletics" is $114.92 a semester. Lyell noted CSU athletes "graduated at a rate" of 65%. A report from CSU AD Joe Parker showed the "biggest piece of the athletic department budget," about $15M, goes to "salaries and benefits for coaches and staff." Another $11.6M was "spent on operations" and $9M on "scholarships and other financial aid." Parker's financial report also showed the athletic department had "self-generated revenue" of $15.7M in FY '16-17 (Ft. Collins COLORADOAN, 8/3).
HOT TICKET: Parker at a Wednesday meeting with the school's BOG said that season-ticket sales for CSU's "first football season in its new on-campus stadium have reached 15,000." He said that the number is "well above the previous record of 11,500 and approaching the upper limit of what's available" in the new $220M facility, given the number of seats that have been committed to three-game mini-plans, single-game tickets and set aside for students. Parker said that the 15,000 figure was an "internal goal that school officials had been reluctant to admit to previously." He added that CSU has "sold more than 1,000 mini-plans." Lyell noted CSU "sets aside 10,500 of the new stadium's 36,500 seats for students." Meanwhile, CSU is "opening up the stadium to the public for the first time Saturday with a community open house" (Ft. Collins COLORADOAN, 8/3).
