The University of Oregon is one of only 17 universities nationwide that has “self-sustaining” athletic departments, meaning those that essentially pay for themselves. The revenue brought in by the University’s football and men’s basketball programs, along with significant contributions from notable alumni and other donors, make ours one of the most financially sound athletic programs in the nation.
However, financial pressures have put in jeopardy a service many students take for granted: free tickets to football and men’s basketball games. How is this possible, considering the seemingly endless supply of funds the athletic department has at its disposal? The answer is simple: The tickets aren’t actually free.
The total ASUO program budget for the 2008-09 year is about $10.5 million, and the money allocated to the athletic department for student tickets is just under $1.4 million. The student incidental fee per student for the 2008-09 year is $195 per term, or $585 per year (three terms). Thus, athletic department fees account for approximately 13 percent of the student incidental fee, which means students pay about $76 per year to get “free” tickets.
Budget concerns have led some in the ASUO to propose ceasing purchasing student tickets and using the $1.4 million for student tickets elsewhere. But the ASUO should not have to worry about financing the student tickets at all; instead, the athletic department, which prides itself on being self-sustaining, should keep tickets truly free by donating them to University students at no cost.
To some, $76 per year may not seem like a significant number, as it costs the general public more than this amount to attend two football games. But the number of students who use the allocated tickets is a fraction of the total number who pay the fee (on average, roughly 20 percent per football game [only about 7.5 percent of total attendance] and 7 percent per basketball game), and students who don’t use or want to use the tickets simply should not have to pay for them. What’s more, those who do use the tickets should not have to worry about losing the ability to do so because of budget concerns, while the athletic department enjoys the ability to construct a brand new $227 million basketball arena.
“I think it’s very important for this athletic department to take pressure off this University,” said Renee Baumgartner, an associate athletic director, of the department’s sustainability in a 2007 MOSAIC article. “We’re the most visible department on campus and I think we have an opportunity, with football, men’s basketball and our fundraising tactics, to balance the budget every year.”
University athletics owes much of its success and notoriety to its student fans, some of the most dedicated in the country, and should treat them accordingly. In 2006, a Sporting News columnist named Autzen Stadium the most intimidating college football stadium in the nation. Lee Corso of ESPN College Gameday has said Autzen is, per person, the loudest stadium he’s ever attended. Put simply, University athletics would not receive the sort of revenue it does without student support for its programs.
With such support should come consideration for the students themselves. As Athletic Director Pat Kilkenny has said, “‘student’ comes first in ‘student athlete.’”
“Pat is as committed to the academic mission of the institution as he is to the athletic mission,” former Senior Vice President and Provost Linda Brady said after Kilkenny’s $1 million donation to academic programs last year.
If this is the case, then funding for student tickets should be provided by the athletic department itself, which has no lack of funds from which to draw. For example, funding for the $80 million renovation of Autzen Stadium was derived almost entirely from private gifts and stadium revenue. Gifts such as Phil and Penny Knight’s $100 million donation in 2007 to found the Oregon Athletics Legacy Fund and Kilkenny’s $5 million donation for the new basketball arena give the athletic department a financial stability the University itself can only hope for. The Emerald editorial board would like to see the athletic department repay students for their support and enthusiasm by taking away the ASUO’s burden of funding and distributing student tickets upon its own shoulder pads.
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Students deserve free tickets
Daily Emerald
February 16, 2009
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