The University of Hawaii athletic department spent $1.5 million more than it budgeted for 2001-2002, the largest shortfall in the department's history. UH sports suffers
its largest deficitThe department is in the
red by more than $1.5 millionInterpreting UH budget
By Dave Reardon
dreardon@starbulletin.com
But outgoing athletic director Hugh Yoshida plans to hand off an even ledger to new AD Herman Frazier tomorrow because of a surplus the previous year.
UH's deficit of $1,533,934.38 will be covered by an unreserved fund balance or "rainy day fund" of $1,545,726.00, according to figures provided by Yoshida and associate athletic director Jim Donovan.
"Essentially, we used up our reserve," Donovan said.
Last year, UH president Evan Dobelle said the surplus might be taken from the department to be used by the entire Manoa campus, not just sports. But Donovan said yesterday that athletics still has the money from 2000-2001.
Frazier is outgoing athletic director at Alabama at Birmingham and is leaving a program with a multimillion dollar deficit of its own, which was there when Frazier arrived at UAB less than two years ago. He declined to comment on UH's financial situation yesterday.
Yoshida and Donovan said the shortfall was caused by economic uncertainty and cancellation of events due to the Sept. 11 attacks.
UH budgeted $750,000 in revenue from Stadium Endowment Funds, but received $310,000 instead. The endowment is from the owners of the land where the old Honolulu Stadium stood, and half the proceeds from it go to athletics and half to upper campus.
The department got $938,000 from the endowment the previous year.
"We took a big hit there," Yoshida said.
When it came to the bottom line, four sports brought in more money than they spent: football ($840,423 net gain), women's volleyball ($312,137), men's volleyball ($271,147) and men's basketball ($180,009). The men's basketball team also generated $490,763 from the Western Athletic Conference, including $50,000 for making it to the NCAA Tournament last spring.
Women's basketball spent $684,601 while bringing in only $96,744. But that sport met its budget of $750,529 in expenses and $90,000 in revenue.
Yoshida said the department could have come closer to its budget by making cutbacks during the year, but that he decided not to do so.
"That wouldn't have been fair to the spring sports," he said.
"Although certain things impacted us, we wanted to make sure everyone had an opportunity to share in what turned out to be a great year on and off the field."
Yoshida cited expenditures for renovating the baseball office ($33,308), a new baseball scoreboard ($199,988) and new boats for sailing ($52,900) as examples.
Also, UH spent an unbudgeted $141,000 on summer school and fifth-year scholarships for student-athletes to supplement the "Rainbow Fever" program.
"In the last three to five years, we spent a lot more on academics," Donovan said. "It turned out to make business sense in addition to being the right thing to do. When you bring in a freshman recruit and they flunk out or leave, it's a bad business decision. When you bring in mostly freshmen, they generally begin to contribute in their third or fourth year. So there's an underlying reason, getting them to that third and fourth year and, obviously, graduating them."
UH's second-worst budget shortfall was $1.3 million in 1998, when the football team went 0-12. Donovan said that was the only other year UH had an unintended deficit.
"In fiscal year 1993, we bought an instant-replay board for $1 million and that put us under," Donovan said. "But in Hugh Yoshida's 10 years, there were only two years of unplanned deficit."
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