“Realistically, we’re not going to see more money coming from the state or the university. We’re not expecting that.”
– Assistant Athletic Director Chuck Lang

At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee women’s basketball team’s home finale on Feb. 18, 361 fans watched the team beat Youngstown State 67-44 at the Klotsche Center.

And it’s that apparent lack of interest that fed into putting the Athletic Department into a debt of $683,000.

As a mid-major athletic department, balancing revenues with expenditures is difficult, said Assistant Athletic Director Chuck Lang. Even with the men’s basketball team’s unprecedented success last year, the Athletic Department did not generate enough revenue to decrease the debt further, he said.

“Going to the tournament is a break-even or a little bit more than that,” Lang said.

Most of the revenue gained from the Panthers’ Sweet 16 run last year went to the Horizon League, he said.

A need for increased ticket sales

The Athletic Department got into debt because revenue was not being generated from ticket sales. UWM has long been considered a commuter school, with low interest among students in Panthers athletics, said Lang and Associate Athletic Director Deanna D’Abbraccio.

According to Lang, funding primarily comes from three sources: program-generated revenue, state support and university support.

In the 2004-’05 fiscal year, 38.5 percent of the Athletic Department’s funding came from segregated fees, down from 45.7 percent in 2003. Segregated fees are charges included in student tuition for services, programs and facilities.

The department is asking for a $2.50 per student increase in segregated fees for the 2006-’07 fiscal year and an additional $3.40 increase for the 2007-’08 fiscal year, D’Abbraccio said. The increases are meant to cover the cost of inflation and perhaps additions to the Athletic Department staff.

Increasing budget

When Lang joined the Athletic Department in November 2002, the goal was to decrease the percentage of segregated fees the department used to below 40 percent, then to below 35 percent. He credits a dramatically increased budget for the lowered percentage in segregated fees.

The Athletic Department’s budget has increased over $3 million since 2002, due in part to increased coaching salaries and recruiting and travel expenses.

Lang expects the department to continue asking for increases of about the same amount to keep pace with inflation.

“Our department is growing a lot, and we still need the seg fees to increase in step with some of it,” Lang said. “Realistically, we’re not going to see more money coming from the state or the university. We’re not expecting that.”

Decline of state support

State support has stayed roughly the same in numbers over the years, but has gone down in percentage because the budget has increased. Similarly, tuition costs have not gone up as much.

State support amounted to 19.7 percent of the department’s funding last year, down from 21.7 percent in 2003. University support increased last year to 13.8 percent of the department’s total funding from 6.7 percent in 2003.

Lang said the goal remains to bring other revenues up, and selling more tickets is the ideal solution. Program-generated revenue increased from 25.9 percent in 2003 to 28 percent in 2004.

Ninety-five percent of the program-generated revenue comes from the “Big Five” sports — men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s soccer, and women’s volleyball — at UWM, according to Lang.

He said men’s basketball is responsible for 75 to 80 percent of that revenue.

Men’s basketball brought in $371,000 from ticket sales last season, and generates the most resources in terms of sponsorship revenue for the Athletic Department.

Ticket sales for women’s basketball amounted to $16,600; men’s soccer $13,000; women’s volleyball $3,400; and women’s soccer $2,800.

The latest data submitted by the Athletic Department through the Office of Postsecondary Education Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act of 2004 documents the distribution of revenue and expenses to individual sports for the 2004-’05 fiscal year.

Funds distribution process

According to Lang, distribution of finances to individual sports is handled administratively in a three-step process.

Lang first creates a baseline number for the overall department budget based on figures from the previous year and expectations for the upcoming year. Coaches and staff members from other program areas offer feedback on recruiting needs, travel schedules and necessary supplies.

After compiling the information, Lang checks how far off the requests are from the department’s baseline number and the two sides negotiate.

Once a budget is settled upon, ticket sales are still the biggest variable since revenue projection can change by March or April, Lang said. The department creates a second budget in late May or early June when the department has a better idea of ticket sales and travel costs.

“Can we survive the way we are? Certainly,” Lang said. “But if we want to go to the next step, we are going to have to have some additional resources available — mostly administrative, marketing (and) support service … and ticket sales (and) academic services.

“Hopefully, most of them would increase revenue,” he added.

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