From the Raleigh News & Observer:
East Carolina University intends to cut one or more of the 20 sports it offers in an attempt to correct a $10 million budget deficit, the interim chancellor and athletic director confirmed at a special board meeting Monday.
ECU interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson gave a report of a 10-person working group’s “Review of Athletics Fiscal Sustainability” at the virtual meeting. Reducing the number of sponsored sports was among the reports 10 recommendations, but athletic director Jon Gilbert would not say what sports would be cut or how many.
“The financial model is not sustainable,” Mitchelson said.
East Carolina last dropped a sport when it discontinued men’s soccer in 2005. It added women’s lacrosse as its 20th sponsored sport in 2016. The minimum number of sponsored sports in the American Athletic Conference is 16.
“This decision is really gut-wrenching for me personally,” Gilbert said. “It’s not something an athletic director wants to do. I understand the financial realities of where we are both athletically and as an institution. But really to respect the process as we go down that path, the individuals who are affected need to hear from me first.”
Other recommendations included a 10-20 percent across-the-board cut in expenses, less team travel via more regional scheduling and permanent institutional support of more than $4 million. Not considered: Leaving the AAC, which East Carolina joined in 2014.
“I am absolutely a fan of the American Conference and we need to be a member of the American Conference,” Mitchelson said. “It is clear to me it will take some level of institutional support so we can enjoy the benefits of rubbing elbows and being associated with some of the best universities in this country. I see value in that.”
In April, Gilbert said the department had a “fragile financial picture” and COVID-19 made matters worse. In a letter to ECU Pirates fans, he said they were “severely impacted” with the cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournament and spring sports schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gilbert said they anticipate revenue shortfalls in NCAA and AAC distributions, Pirate Club donations, corporate sponsorship, baseball and softball ticket sales, concessions and licensing revenue. And because of those losses, their deficit would grow by at least $5 million and they’d be forced to “reduce expenses significantly” this upcoming fiscal year, according to Gilbert.
The department had been working with the university to make ECU athletics more sustainable for the future and will continue to do that, which will be a “very painful process at times,” Gilbert said in the letter.
While in-person classes and spring sports were canceled because of the coronavirus, it’s unclear what the fall semester and season will look like at ECU. But the university has plans to bring students back to campus in the fall.
In fiscal year 2019, East Carolina’s athletic budget was $40.8 million. One key factor in the deficit: the poor performance of the football team and its impact on ticket sales. Season tickets declined from 19,050 in 2016 to 12,908 in 2018 and 14,063 in 2019. East Carolina has not made a bowl game since 2015.
East Carolina University intends to cut one or more of the 20 sports it offers in an attempt to correct a $10 million budget deficit, the interim chancellor and athletic director confirmed at a special board meeting Monday.
ECU interim Chancellor Ron Mitchelson gave a report of a 10-person working group’s “Review of Athletics Fiscal Sustainability” at the virtual meeting. Reducing the number of sponsored sports was among the reports 10 recommendations, but athletic director Jon Gilbert would not say what sports would be cut or how many.
“The financial model is not sustainable,” Mitchelson said.
East Carolina last dropped a sport when it discontinued men’s soccer in 2005. It added women’s lacrosse as its 20th sponsored sport in 2016. The minimum number of sponsored sports in the American Athletic Conference is 16.
“This decision is really gut-wrenching for me personally,” Gilbert said. “It’s not something an athletic director wants to do. I understand the financial realities of where we are both athletically and as an institution. But really to respect the process as we go down that path, the individuals who are affected need to hear from me first.”
Other recommendations included a 10-20 percent across-the-board cut in expenses, less team travel via more regional scheduling and permanent institutional support of more than $4 million. Not considered: Leaving the AAC, which East Carolina joined in 2014.
“I am absolutely a fan of the American Conference and we need to be a member of the American Conference,” Mitchelson said. “It is clear to me it will take some level of institutional support so we can enjoy the benefits of rubbing elbows and being associated with some of the best universities in this country. I see value in that.”
In April, Gilbert said the department had a “fragile financial picture” and COVID-19 made matters worse. In a letter to ECU Pirates fans, he said they were “severely impacted” with the cancellation of the NCAA basketball tournament and spring sports schedules due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gilbert said they anticipate revenue shortfalls in NCAA and AAC distributions, Pirate Club donations, corporate sponsorship, baseball and softball ticket sales, concessions and licensing revenue. And because of those losses, their deficit would grow by at least $5 million and they’d be forced to “reduce expenses significantly” this upcoming fiscal year, according to Gilbert.
The department had been working with the university to make ECU athletics more sustainable for the future and will continue to do that, which will be a “very painful process at times,” Gilbert said in the letter.
While in-person classes and spring sports were canceled because of the coronavirus, it’s unclear what the fall semester and season will look like at ECU. But the university has plans to bring students back to campus in the fall.
In fiscal year 2019, East Carolina’s athletic budget was $40.8 million. One key factor in the deficit: the poor performance of the football team and its impact on ticket sales. Season tickets declined from 19,050 in 2016 to 12,908 in 2018 and 14,063 in 2019. East Carolina has not made a bowl game since 2015.
