The UH Athletic Department is projected to have made a $322k surplus during FY2010-2011, only the second surplus in 10 years

Abotu how they expect to have a $322k surplus in their fiscal year tha closed on June 30, JD said:
"We highly suspect that we'll be in the neighborhood of $300,000 to $400,000 (in the black), and our best estimate today is $322,104." (HSA)


HSA Note: "The surplus would be only the second finish on the plus side in 10 years. The last surplus, $295,243 in 2008, was bolstered by $4.4 million in Bowl Championship Series money from the football team's Sugar Bowl appearance."


Pleased to hear that the UH Athletic Department will end with a surplus, UH President M.R.C. Greenwood said:
"I have not seen the official figures but I am delighted to hear that the program is doing as well as it appears to be. Jim Donovan and his team have worked very hard to control costs and being 'in the black' is a validation of their efforts." (HSA)


HSA Note: "The $322,000 would be the biggest surplus since 2000 when the athletics department produced a $721,752 windfall. Since then, the department's budget has grown by more than $10 million to $28.7 million. The latest surplus will go toward paring down the $9.58 million accumulated net deficit the department had amassed since 2002, according to the last auditor's report."


Greenwood said that when JD took over the Athletic Department in 2008 he:
"obviously came into a situation where there already was a pretty significant budget deficit and we've had the very bad luck of tough financial times, which makes it really hard to (retire) the deficit." (HSA)


HSA Note: "UH's reversal of fortunes for the just-completed fiscal year was aided by $816,142 from the first installment of student-paid athletic fees, which began in January; $132,256 in Western Athletic Conference payouts Boise State forfeits by jumping to the Mountain West Conference this year; and spikes in ticket revenue for baseball, men's basketball and football; plus cost containment. In addition, UH has realized about $200,000 in savings from salary reductions, and Aloha Stadium has worked with the department to trim expenses."


JD gave credit to associate AD Carl Clapp and assistant AD-business Tiffany Kuraoka:
"for watching the budget on a daily basis for the whole year. Obviously, we could not have done it if it wasn't for the corporate culture and the coaches and staff doing everything they could to help with the budget." (HSA)


About how they didn't cut the budgets of individual sports for competitive reasons, JD said:
"In retrospect these last three years, with no budget cuts, should help us from a strategic standpoint." (HSA)


About how avoiding a deficit in the coming year will be difficult because UH is giving up over $1 mil in WAC revenue and paying Tulane $400k to come to Aloha Stadium, JD said:
"We'll enjoy this and we're real proud of this, but now the reality is we're going to work hard to put two years in a row in the black. But it is certainly going to be challenging this upcoming year because we lose over $1 million in estimated WAC revenue (plus) the cost of bringing in Tulane." (HSA)


HSA Note: "When Boise State announced its departure from the WAC for 2011, UH was left to scramble to fill an 11th-hour puka on the football schedule and will pay the Green Wave nearly $400,000 to fill the Nov. 26 vacancy. UH's own departure from the WAC in 2012 means forfeiting its share of TV and most other conference revenue in June 2012."


HSA Note: "Beginning in 2012, UH faces uncertainty with its local TV agreement and the necessity of underwriting an estimated $1.2 million annually in travel costs by its opponents in the Mountain West and Big West as a condition of conference membership."


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