USU Athletic Department: Too big for its own good?

Last year I wrote an article on the Aggie Radio website about the fact that Utah State students pay more in fees to support the USU Athletics Department than any other school in the Mountain West Conference and in the state of Utah. A few weeks after publishing, I found out that the athletics department sought additional funding from the Utah State Legislature, amounting to $1.5 million. It is my thought that Utah State Athletics is being overly ambitious and that no good can come from their dependence on student fees and legislative kickbacks.

Next year, students will pay $278.28 in student athletic fees, accounting for about $5 million of the department’s budget. Additionally, athletics will receive $8 million from tuition and university programs. Boosters will give about $2 million, and taxpayers will give $1.5 million. All of this money will go toward scholarships for athletes, stipends, facilities, advertising, salaries and travel expenses.

According to the five-year plan for the athletics department presented in a 2014 Student Fee Board meeting, athletics plans to ask for an additional increase in student fees this year to fund additional budgetary needs. Even with all of these increases, the department was still reporting a deficit as of 2014.

What I fail to understand is why the department can’t realize its limitations. Obviously, the fact that they are nickel-and-diming taxpayers and students who already have strapped budgets is a sign of its inability to sustain itself.

After spending months last year studying the athletics department’s budgets, conducting interviews and emailing accountants, I’ve learned that this recent dependence on outside revenue sources can only mean one of two things; either athletics will keep increasing fees and seeking support from taxpayers, or they will have to realize that the level at which they want to compete just isn’t a possibility.

In spite of being more dependent on student fees and legislative support than most schools in the Mountain West Conference, Utah State had one of the smallest operating budgets in the conference in 2014. That means that if Utah State ever hopes to match the budget of San Diego State or Fresno, they are either going to have to increase student fees or ask for more money elsewhere.

I just have to point out that Utah State’s athletic program is growing. They are referring to the rise to prominence as “The Climb,” but if they ever hope to reach the top, our student fees and taxes with be “climbing” too.