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April 30, 1998

Coaching turnover part of reason for financial losses of 1996 football program

Pitt football suffered a losing season in 1996 financially as well as on the field.

Thanks largely to coaching staff turnover and a weak home schedule, the football program — supposedly one of the two revenue-producing NCAA sports along with men's basketball — cost Pitt either $2.1 million more (in "unrestricted actual" dollars) or $3.4 million more (in "total University support") than the program generated.

The lower, unrestricted actual figure represents the athletics department's directly attributable revenue and expenses. Athletics administrators argue that unrestricted actual numbers more accurately reflect Pitt financial support and are the equivalent of academic units' educational and general (E&G) budgets.

Total University support includes additional, indirect costs that Pitt attributes to athletics, such as building depreciation and administrative overhead.

Overall, Pitt's athletics program cost the University either $7.6 million more (unrestricted actual) or $11 million more (total University support) than it produced during the fiscal year that ended June 30, 1997.

The year before, those subsidies were only $4.9 million and $8.1 million, respectively.

Joseph Phillips, who was associate athletic director for Business, Finance and Personnel during the 1996-97 fiscal year (he recently was appointed Pitt director of Auxiliary Finance) reported on last year's athletics revenues and expenses at closed-door meetings this semester of the University Planning and Budgeting Committee and the University Senate's budget policies committee.

In an interview, Phillips attributed athletics' FY 1996-97 budget losses to "a number of unusual one-time factors": * Unexpected turnover at the top. Oval Jaynes was forced out as athletics director in July 1996; Steve Pederson replaced him five months later. Also, head football coach John Majors resigned in November 1996; Walt Harris was hired to succeed him the following month and replaced most of Majors' assistant coaches.

Pitt does not release salaries except for top officers. But salaries, wages and fringe benefits for the athletics department during FY 1996-97 totaled $5.8 million, up from $4.1 million the year before.

"Because of the way contracts were paid out, we ended up paying two complete football coaching staffs for six months, and two athletics directors' salaries for eight months," Phillips said.

* A weak home football schedule. "During the 1995 season, we had a marquee visitor in Ohio State. In 1996, we didn't have a big draw of that calibre," Phillips said. Ticket sales dropped from $3.4 million during the 1995 season to $2.8 million in 1996. TV and radio income plummeted from $1.5 million to $469,000.

* Doing without two Civic Arena basketball games because of Arena scheduling conflicts and Pitt's own preference for the home court advantage of smaller, louder Fitzgerald Field House. Despite the lost Arena games, the men's basketball program generated a surplus of $594,083 (in unrestricted operating dollars) or $321,374 (in total University support) during FY 1996-97.

* Increased travel costs and scholarships for women's sports, largely to comply with federal Title IX requirements. In unrestricted dollars, women's teams accounted for nearly $4 million of Pitt's $6.2 million subsidy of non-revenue producing sports during FY 1996-97. In total University support, women's teams accounted for $4.8 million of Pitt's $7.8 million subsidy of non-revenue producers.

Phillips projected that the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, will reflect a more "normal" year for Pitt athletics department finances.

–Bruce Steele


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