Jul 16th, 2010
Oh yeah sure Albert Einstein was named the Man of the Century, but could he hit a curveball?
The Chancellor’s Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics came up with some interesting numbers regarding the fiancial woes of the Cal athletics program when it released its report the other day.
Normally we don’t care much for numbers. Colleges offer classes in “How to Lie With Statistics,” and you can prove and suggest virtually anything you want if you manipulate the numbers enough. Politician are experts at it.
This is getting off the subject a bit, but the one number we would like to have on hand is the hours ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian spends poring over dusty record books. He comes up with some dandies. “Boy was I impressed with Tim Lincecum today. He became the first right-handed pitcher since Joe Oldbody in 1934 to give up two hits or fewer without issuing a walk in three consecutive night games played in the Mountain Time Zone in May at elevation above 2,500 feet for a team within two games of first place while wearing polka dot boxer shorts.” Of course, he could be making it all up. Who would know to challenge him?
Ah numbers.
The mathematical wizards would have you believe every world problem can be solved by applying a little Pythagorean Theorem here, adding a dash of Newton’s Laws of Motion there and then sprinkling a pinch of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity on top.
Anyway, this Cal committee spit out some figures that might actually be useful. You had to wade through all the wherefores and herebys and party of the first parts that those committees feel compelled to use to sound erudite, but we are here to give you the abridged version in a few useful sentences.
Here’s what I learned — eventually
– Cal’s athletic department has run a deficit ranging from $7 million to $14 the past six years, which is the amount Cal had to cover with general funds.
– Cal expects its athletic department’s deficit to be about $14 million range the next two years, which makes it the biggest deficit in the Pac-10.
– UCLA’s athletic department typically requires only $2.8 million in general campus funding to make ends meet.
– There are a zillion ways to compute the deficit, which may or may not include scholarship costs, economic climate and the effect athletics has on donation to other parts of the campus. You can reduce that defict by about $3 million just by using the right categories (see “How to Lie with Statistics”).
– In the same period that athletic department expenses have grown by 61 percent, 20 percent cuts have been made in teaching and research expenditures at Cal.
– The committee states that reducing the athletic department deficit to $5 million by 2014 would be acceptable. That means a $9 million reduction within four years.
– Cal’s total campus expentures each year are about $500 million, which sort of makes $ 9 million seem like chump change.
– The committee concluded that although athletic director Sandy Barbour is doing a laudable job, the administrative structure of the athletic department stinks.
– The athletic department needs to raise more money through alumni donations. The committee made the surprising discovery that the top 138 lifetime donors to Cal athletics actually contribute more to Cal academics ($370 million) than to Cal athletics ($280 million).
– The committee recommended that spending caps be established for all sports, which may mean the reduction in administrative and coaching staffs and a reduction in salary. (Jeff Tedford’s $2.8 million annual salary has always been a complaint of Cal faculty.)
– Two new high-level administrative officers should be hired in the athletic department – a Chief Operating Officer to adopt a corporation business model and a Director of Athletic Development to improve fund-raising. Only 1.6 percent of alumni donate, which is at the low end in the Pac-10. We’re assuming this suggestion goes under the heading of “You have to spend money to make money,” but hiring two more people at what preumably will be six-figure salaries is an interesting way to reduce a deficit.
– Coaches must to a better job of soliciting alumni donations for their sport, the committee said. Teams should be self-supporting, and teams that raise a lot of money should be guaranteed that their sport will retain varsity status.
– The committee was undecided on the issue of eliminating sports, but agreed that if any sports were cut, five to seven should be eliminated, not just one or two.
– If the $5 million deficit target cannot be met by 2014, sports must be cut.
– The committee concluded that Pac-10 expansion may lead to increased revenue, but it may also bring some additional costs (travel and such). The committee made specific mention of the volatility of ticket prices if the two-division alignment is put in place. That’s a reference to the fact that if Cal is not put in the same division as USC and UCLA, ticket revenue will drop in the years the Bears do not host one of the L.A. schools.
– The committee ended by saying the chancellor needs to be the leader in reducing the athletic department deficit, which means Robert Birgeneau could be taking some unilateral action. If Birgeron wants to score big points with the academia (and get booed out of Memorial Stadium), he will take a slash and burn tactic with the athletic department. The athletic boosters yell louder (and more profanely) than the eggheads, so he probably won’t take that approach immediately.
This all you need to know from a report that goes on and on and on and . . . . . .
