College Sports Cut Tournament Travel Costs as Economy Skids 09/10/2008 |
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U.S. college sports' governing body is cutting travel costs to its championship tournaments because of the economic slowdown, NCAA President Myles Brand said in an interview.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is increasing the minimum distance teams must travel by bus and cutting back luggage allowances as part of its efforts to reduce transportation spending, Brand said. The travel costs have risen 53 percent in the past three years to $42.6 million, according to the NCAA.
The organization sent a memo to its member schools Sept. 23 outlining those changes and others under consideration as the worldwide credit freeze is slowing economies and driving stock markets down. Intercollegiate sports programs likely soon will be pinched by lower returns on endowment funds, cuts in funding and declines in sponsorship and media-rights revenue, Brand said. The travel cuts are a way to prepare for that.
``We have no idea how bad it will be,'' he said. ``But there are more than 100,000 sporting contests in intercollegiate athletics each year, and we do 212 championships. Now multiply it that many times over.''
The Indianapolis-based NCAA said it also may consider taking travel costs into account when deciding preliminary matchups for tournaments, such as the 65-team men's basketball event held each March. The organization has ``bracketing software'' that can include transportation as a variable, the memo said.
Luggage Allowance
Meantime, the organization expects to save $1.5 million a year by reimbursing schools for only two bags per traveler.
Other than Division I basketball squads, teams that are within 400 miles from a competition site are expected to travel by bus or van. The previous limit was 350 miles. And if an airport within 150 miles from the school's local airport is less expensive, the team is expected to fly from there. The previous maximum distance was 120 miles.
These two changes are expected to save the NCAA another $500,000 a year.
The association will also explore other ways to ship equipment, such as truck or air freight, rather than commercial planes. That could save about $10,000 per trip, according to the memo.
More Proposals
Some of the additional cost-cutting remedies to be considered next month include increasing the distance that basketball teams must take a bus or van to a competition to 350 miles from 300 miles, saving about $825,000.
In the 2007-2008 academic year, the NCAA generated 89 percent ($548.2 million) of its revenue from television and marketing rights fees, followed by 9 percent ($54.9 million) from championship tournament revenue, 2 percent ($9.8 million) from investment fees and services and 0.17 percent ($1 million) from membership fees, according to the NCAA. Ninety-five cents on every dollar is returned to the schools.
``As tax revenue decrease, there will be less money available to universities in general,'' Brand said. ``Athletics only represents about 5 percent of a university's budget, but the cuts will be shared by all.''
(Source: Bloomberg)
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