In February, the University of Hawaii issued a report called "The Financial State of Hawaii Athletics: Version 2.0 — Revising the Game Plan."
The title of the report was bland, but the contents were not. The report, presented by then-Athletics Director Ben Jay, warned that the rapidly changing landscape of NCAA college athletics would drive up the cost of staying competitive, putting brutal pressure on the UH program’s already dire budget situation.
Now, the new athletic director, David Matlin, and the UH Board of Regents are preparing to tackle the fiscal problems by taking what board Chairman Randy Moore calls a "deep dive" into UH-Manoa’s athletics budget. It’s more like a leap of faith, given a projected $4 million deficit at the end of this month and a 14-year accumulated net deficit of $21.4 million.
Of course, no one expects the athletics department to be self-sufficient; very few collegiate programs are. UH athletics will continue to depend on various sources of funding, from student fees to donations to the state taxpayers. Rather, Matlin and the board will need to find news ways to increase revenue without placing an additional burden on the people UH is intended to serve — its students.
It’s tempting to do otherwise. UH students pay $50 a semester for athletics; some Division I schools charge their students $500 or more. Nonetheless, as the state’s sole public university, UH has a special obligation to keep the cost to students as low as possible, especially with university tuitions nationwide skyrocketing. The regents and UH President David Lassner recognized this reality in May when the regents reduced scheduled tuition increases on Lassner’s recommendation.
UH could consider dropping a few sports. But it’s practically an all-or-nothing proposition. The UH report offered three options for reducing programs without losing the university’s eligibility as a Division I competitor. With one of the options, UH could save nearly $1.4 million, but lose 98 student-athletes. Another option included losing football — a headline-grabbing choice that the report said would save no money at all.
UH could seek new sources of funding, and some good options have been proffered. Regent Jeff Portnoy pointed out that the state-funded Hawaii Tourism Authority should resume its support for UH athletics, as it does for the Pro Bowl and various golf tournaments. After all, UH literally pays to bring visitors to Hawaii — unlike other schools, it subsidizes the travel of competing conference teams, which bring their fans and generate tourist income for the state.
UH also should get a larger share of what its football games generate for Aloha Stadium, including concession and signage revenues.
Even so, the costs will only increase. The February report noted that beginning Aug. 1, NCAA will allow schools to provide more "full cost of attendance" support for student-athletes, putting cash-poor programs like UH at a competitive disadvantage.
Given the size and persistence of the budget deficit, it seems clear that UH will require more dedicated support from deeper pockets if it hopes to stabilize its finances and find success on the field.
When the cash-strapped University of Alabama at Birmingham announced plans last December to drop its anemic football program, which was averaging about 22,000 fans per home game in 2014, the community responded with shock and anger — but also stepped up. Some $17.2 million was pledged by business leaders and other private sources to save football. Students even voted to pay higher fees.
But is UH athletics a good long-term investment? Countless student-athletes and dedicated UH sports fans would say so. It also makes business sense: A Shidler College of Business report found that UH athletics generated $66 million in direct spending in 2014, during a losing football season.
While Hawaii is not football-mad Alabama, the Legislature and the community at large need to decide if UH athletics, and UH student-athletes in particular, are a vital part of what makes Hawaii special.
The answer is yes, and they should act accordingly.
