August 7, 2003
TO: Fans, Friends, and Supporters of LSU Athletics
FROM: Skip Bertman, LSU Director of Athletics
This Week:
Over the course of the past weeks and months that I have written to you about our need to improve facilities, many of you have inquired about our departmental budget and where money goes on an annual basis.
We all face rising costs, whether it is at home or at work. The cost of food for our families, gasoline for our cars and clothes for our children have all risen over the course of time, and we have to manage our budgets to adjust to the cost of living.
This week I want to give you a little insight into what is happening with the financial realities facing college athletics in general, and LSU Athletics in particular. Just like our lives at home, we have rising costs in our athletics program that include paying for scholarships, food, utilities, equipment, academic support, etc.
Consider that just 10 years ago, LSU’s athletics budget was $19 million.
Today it is over $42 million.
This increase in the cost of doing business is in no way unique to LSU. According to a study by the Chronicle of Higher Education, the average school of our size has seen its budget increase by $20 million in the last five years. Ours has increased by $18.9 during that same time period.
Why such a dramatic increase for all of these college sports programs? Let’s take a look at those last five years. Since the 1997-98 athletics year, the cost of athletics scholarships at LSU has risen 51 percent. The cost of team travel has risen 42 percent. The cost of equipment purchases has risen 52 percent.
And as I have said repeatedly in these Cyber-side Chats, people are what make an athletics program successful. We have one of the finest collections of coaches and support staffs in America, but it comes at a price. Personnel costs have risen 42 percent in the last five years. Contributing to that number is the fact that, as a self-sufficient auxiliary of the University, LSU Athletics pays the full cost of health benefits to our employees.
All of these costs will continue to rise, and we regularly analyze our financial future based on projected cost increases. Considering the fact that our cost of business has more than doubled in just 10 years, we have to face the hard fact that we are likely facing a comparable escalation in the next 10 years.
At LSU, we make every effort to contain costs, to be fiscally responsible while trying to remain competitive with our peers in the SEC. But we must give our coaches the opportunity to have the same resources as their competitors, whether it is in recruiting, travel, equipment, or any other facet of their programs.
We fund a full allotment of coaches and full allotment of scholarships as allowed by the NCAA. It is our philosophy that if we are going to play at the Division I-A level, we are going to fund our program at a level to be successful.
If we are going to bring a young man or woman to campus to compete for LSU, we have a responsibility to give that young person every opportunity to succeed on and off the field, regardless of the sport.
We don’t have the biggest budget in the SEC, nor do we strive to. We are in the upper half of the league and we can be successful if we stay at that level. But we cannot afford to fall much lower than where we are now compared to the rest of the SEC.
We have 20 varsity sports at LSU and the athletics program pays for all of its own costs. LSU Athletics uses no state tax dollars and it takes no student fees. We will continue to utilize every possible avenue to generate revenue, including ticket sales, SEC revenue distribution, radio and TV contracts, concessions and merchandising, corporate sponsorships, private fund-raising and a few other areas.
To secure the financial future of our athletics program, we have to maximize each one of those areas of revenue. To “maximize” does not mean to “overprice.” We are sensitive to our fan base and know that, next to our student-athletes, our fans are the lifeblood of our program.
We must also remain vigilant in our quest to contain costs wherever possible. As you can see, many of our costs are controlled by external factors. But, where possible, we maximize the use of our available resources.
I thank you again for taking the time to read these Cyber-side Chats, and I encourage you to continue to send your feedback to us at LSUvision@etigers.net. Although I cannot guarantee a response to every e-mail, please know that they will all be read.
Thank you for your continued support of Tiger Athletics.
P.S. — The first shipment of LSU football season tickets will go out on Monday, Aug. 11. All season ticket holders should have their tickets in hand no later than Wednesday, August 20. We’ll see you in Tiger Stadium!
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