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Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2009 > January > 20
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Could Ohio State be caught up in economic problems?
During the 2007-08 academic year, the Ohio State athletic department pulled in $117.9 million in revenues (including $65.2 million from the football program).
During the same period, the department spent $98.9 million, for an excess of about $19 million.
Those numbers, though, don’t make OSU impervious to the current economic issues affecting other parts of the country. Football coach Jim Tressel has said as much:
Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said athletics director Gene Smith talked with the staff in December about upcoming cuts.
“We have to tighten our belts just like everyone else’s in the midst of tightening theirs,” Tressel said at the American Football Coaches Association in Nashville, Tenn.
Could it go deeper, into the football program specifically, beyond the bottom line? That’s the suggestion from a recent New York Times story on recruits.
The story, in short, says that recruits could start turning to schools closer to their hometowns to cut down on family travel costs and other money issues when living far away from mom and dad. The main example is a player named Morgan Moses, a Richmond, Va., offensive lineman considering, among others, Alabama, Tennessee and Ohio State.
But the economy has begun to factor into his family’s discussions about how far he will go from their home in Richmond, Va. While his mother, Marion, said she wanted her son to choose the right university for him, she said the family’s ability to watch him play would “make a big impact on the decision.”
One reason for Ohio State’s decision to cut could lie in the debt tied to its massive facilities construction and upgrades of the past decade. OSU personnel have said the debt is well under control, but like with many companies, revenue and expenses aren’t the only major concerns. You can’t miss debt payments.
I doubt there will be a noticeable difference on the field, of course. But behind the scenes, the Ohio State bean counters are keeping a closer eye on their own action.
