COLLEGE PARK -- The University of Maryland would consider eliminating sports teams if necessary to safeguard its athletic program's economic health, an internal report says.
The report, overseen by the athletic department and adopted by director of athletics Deborah Yow and a campus advisory group, outlines a series of goals and initiatives designed to guarantee the program's stability beyond the recession and a recent series of budget cuts. A section titled "Financial Stability" offers three methods for keeping the program on track during the next five years - cut expenses and find new revenue, scale back selected sports, or eliminate an undefined number of teams.
In an interview, Yow said dropping sports would be a last resort but that Maryland must examine all scenarios.
"This is a matter of due diligence, to look at every possible way to generate revenue or cut expenses, especially at a time of recession," Yow said. "There is no imminent decision to cut or tier sports, but we are going to study it."
The report also highlights establishing subscription Web video sites for some games and coaches' shows; improving the academic performance of men's basketball players and the graduation rates of athletes admitted under special circumstances; and new efforts to promote sportsmanship, including incentives to discourage students from directing boorish chants at Maryland opponents during games.
The document was released Aug. 28 at about the same time Yow, for the first time in her 16 years as athletic director, submitted a budget smaller than the previous year's.
The athletic department recently reduced the roughly $55 million budget by an additional $1.3 million because of a shortfall in football season-ticket sales and anticipated declines in men's basketball season-ticket sales, "which we attribute largely to the economy," Yow said.
With the university as a whole in a budget-cutting mode, the athletic department's large budget makes it an obvious target for some cuts. "There have been requests from students, faculty and staff that things within the athletic budget should be cut," said Steve Glickman, the Student Government Association president.
Some of those requests appear on a Web site established by the university to solicit suggestions on ways to save money.
But Glickman said "I can't imagine" teams getting axed. And Joel Cohen, the student government's press secretary, said that while he primarily attends men's basketball and football games, "all the sports are important."
