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OSU athletics face cuts in coming year
Four sports safe from chopping block are football, volleyball, men's and women's basketball
Issue date: 4/27/09 Section: News
The economic recession and major budget cuts that face OSU as a university are beginning to hit home for Oregon State athletics.
According to Bob DeCarolis, OSU's athletic director, the current economic climate has put the athletic department in a position where every sport at OSU is currently on the table for cuts. Many of these sports, as a last resort, could even be completely eliminated from the athletics program.
In order to keep its Division I status, OSU must support at least 16 sports in its athletics department, at risk of being bumped down to Division II status. According to an April 21, 2009, letter by DeCarolis posted on osubeavers.com, four sports absolutely cannot be cut from the department in order to maintain Division I status and membership in the Pac-10: men and women's basketball, football and volleyball.
It is unlikely that men's basketball or football would be cut anyway, as they are the two largest generators of revenue for the athletics department, the letter stated.
DeCarolis' letter, titled "AD Report," also insinuated that OSU's athletic program is one the leanest in terms of money spent and the amount of money that the department lives off of.
"We don't have a lot of fat left to cut. We're already at the proverbial bone, which means programs may have to be cut unless we can raise more money on the revenue side," DeCarolis said in the "AD Report."
"Be assured, this is not meant to be a scare tactic. It's a regrettable reality of the times we're all living in and experiencing with every financial statement that arrives in the mail."
DeCarolis has made up a task force of "donors, alumni and prominent business community members" to make a plan and recommendations on what the next steps will be as far as cuts go. The next major decisions must be made by June, after which the athletic department will have a year to fundraise to save any programs that may be affected by the budget cuts, as they will not be effective until July 1, 2010.
Read The Daily Barometer this week for a more in-depth look at the budget cuts at OSU and what they will mean for the athletics department.
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
According to Bob DeCarolis, OSU's athletic director, the current economic climate has put the athletic department in a position where every sport at OSU is currently on the table for cuts. Many of these sports, as a last resort, could even be completely eliminated from the athletics program.
In order to keep its Division I status, OSU must support at least 16 sports in its athletics department, at risk of being bumped down to Division II status. According to an April 21, 2009, letter by DeCarolis posted on osubeavers.com, four sports absolutely cannot be cut from the department in order to maintain Division I status and membership in the Pac-10: men and women's basketball, football and volleyball.
It is unlikely that men's basketball or football would be cut anyway, as they are the two largest generators of revenue for the athletics department, the letter stated.
DeCarolis' letter, titled "AD Report," also insinuated that OSU's athletic program is one the leanest in terms of money spent and the amount of money that the department lives off of.
"We don't have a lot of fat left to cut. We're already at the proverbial bone, which means programs may have to be cut unless we can raise more money on the revenue side," DeCarolis said in the "AD Report."
"Be assured, this is not meant to be a scare tactic. It's a regrettable reality of the times we're all living in and experiencing with every financial statement that arrives in the mail."
DeCarolis has made up a task force of "donors, alumni and prominent business community members" to make a plan and recommendations on what the next steps will be as far as cuts go. The next major decisions must be made by June, after which the athletic department will have a year to fundraise to save any programs that may be affected by the budget cuts, as they will not be effective until July 1, 2010.
Read The Daily Barometer this week for a more in-depth look at the budget cuts at OSU and what they will mean for the athletics department.
news@dailybarometer.com, 737-2231
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