•••
With an athletic budget deficit that reached $4.2 million—almost double what it was a year ago—Florida A&M University is working hard to generate revenue and shore up its losses. That includes making more money off the school’s new state-of-the-art arena by selling the naming rights. Cuts include limiting how far teams may travel to non-conference games to a 400-mile radius. The school is also asking coaches to cut costs by restricting their orders for new uniforms.

FAMU President James Ammons told the Tallahassee Democrat that it's possible the school will increase ticket prices for the upcoming football season—but it's not a certainty at this point.

“We have to solidify the financial base of the athletic program if we’re going to compete at the highest level and become champions," Ammons said. "We’ll have to have a financial base in order to do it."

•••
Even the big boys (and girls) have had to adjust how they do business in reaction to the current economic fallout. For example, in mid-December, when the University of Tennessee men's basketball team went to Philadelphia it flew on a commercial flight instead of taking a charter. The change saved almost $40,000.

"Travel's one area that's a major expense at a major university," Tennessee Athletics Director Mike Hamilton told the Tennessean. "We're always looking at how we can manage that."

In another move, Hamilton had the Vols' football team travel by bus to its every-other-year game at Georgia, instead of flying to and from Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport and going by bus the rest of the way to Athens. Though the team flies back to Knoxville on a chartered plane, the move still cuts expenses.

"We not only save significant dollars by doing that, but we save significant time by doing that," Hamilton said. "It was a creative way to manage our budget that was beneficial both from a time and a dollar standpoint."

Tennessee State Athletics Director Teresa Phillips said team travel isn't the only expense targeted by her staff.

"We still want our people to go and get educated, go to conventions," she told the Tennessean. "But do we really have to go to all our conventions, the Final Four, things like that? We're cutting back on that kind of travel."

•••
There is similar belt-tightening at the University of Missouri where travel methods and schedules have been drastically altered and the department is considering scheduling more non-conference road games closer to Columbia and eliminating coffee and donuts at staff meetings.

For example, the women’s soccer team will forgo its usual spring trip to California or North Carolina, instead remaining in Missouri to play exhibition games. And when the team hits the road in the fall, there might be three players to a hotel room.

“Anything that’s not related to competition or recruiting will be scrutinized pretty heavily,” Tim Hickman, the Associate Athletic Director who oversees the budget, told the Columbia Daily Tribune.

•••
The Southern Conference has approved cuts for the 2009-10 academic year that include trimming one day off baseball trips and reducing the number of teams eligible for postseason league tournaments in six sports. Next year, only four teams will qualify for conference postseason tournaments in volleyball, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, and softball.

A Southern Conference news release reported that next season's football and basketball media days have been canceled and the league will not print league media guides. Also curtailed will be staff travel to regular-season games, televised contests, as well as participation in conventions and professional development seminars. Teleconferences will replace on-site meetings for head coaches and some administrative committees. Southern Conference Commissioner John Iamarino estimated the moves would cut approximately $120,000 from its current budget, which will then be distributed back to the athletics departments.

The conference will review economic conditions in January 2010 prior to determining strategies for 2010-11.

"It's important to know that all these measures are being undertaken for one year, with the understanding that we will review the economic climate early in 2010 before proceeding," Iamarino said in the release. "These steps are not pleasant ones. Our presidents and athletic administrators approved them reluctantly, but these actions became necessary as they considered the heavy financial challenges we're all facing."

•••
High schools in Florida face similar budgetary problems and the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) recently announced a plan to cut back regular-season schedules for all sports except football. Pending approval at the FHSAA's next board of directors meeting in April, the proposal eliminates 20 percent of varsity games and 40 percent of JV and freshman contests.

The proposal drops the number of varsity games allowed for major team sports like basketball, volleyball, soccer, baseball, and softball from 25 to 20 during the 2009-10 school year. Many coaches have a hard time accepting the proposal's ramifications.

"If you make that cut, you're eliminating at least three or four guys on a roster," said Dave Wheeler, Head Baseball Coach at Bishop Moore High School in Orlando, Fla. told the Orlando Sentinel. "Because if you're only playing two games a week, there's no sense in carrying that 16th, 17th, 18th guy. You're not going to be able to give him any playing time.

"They're ruining high school baseball in a state that has weather that is conducive," he added. "They're going to cut games because of travel costs? Well, then put them in cars and don't take the bus."

•••
In New Hampshire, playoff formats in all four classes of the state's boys' and girls' high school basketball tournaments will be altered to save money. For the first time, only the semifinals and finals will be held at a neutral site.

•••
Coaches and athletes in Minnesota are breathing sighs of relief after the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) board of directors decided not to cut the number of games and scrimmages played by MSHSL teams. The board agreed such action would not make enough of a financial impact to make it worthwhile.

"I think it's good for all the sports that we won't be cutting back," said Eden Prairie (Minn.) girls hockey coach Tim Morris, Executive Director of the Minnesota Girls Hockey Coaches Association told the Twin Cities Pioneer Press. "Our job now is to put our money where our mouths are, literally and figuratively, to come up with ways to help our schools with expenses. Our work certainly isn't done."

The board will continue its discussion on cost-saving measures at an April 9th meeting where it is expected to address:
• Scrimmages and games.
• Sectional and state playoff formats—ideas include eliminating games between the No. 1 vs. No. 8 seeds, using home sites versus neutral sites, and possibly cutting the double-elimination and true-second formats.
• Membership fees and reimbursement structures.
• Length of seasons.
• A blackout date during each of the three seasons (fall, winter, spring).
• Ways to maximize revenue.

Three other issues up for debate at the league's summer workshop are:
• Reclassification of sections.
• State tournament venues.
• Change in tournament coverage, from the number of officials to game personnel and transportation.

"We covered a lot of information that was really in depth," said board member Dave Alto, Activities Director at Spring Lake Park. "We came up with some great potential cost-saving measures for down the road, which will benefit not just a few schools, but many, many schools."

•••
John Johnson, Communications Director for the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) says his state has yet to discuss cutting sports or games to save money. Instead, the MHSAA wants to see each school district take steps to better monitor finances and make the appropriate concessions.

For example, Johnson suggests that schools schedule more games closer to home.

"Some people have developed over time stalemates with neighboring schools about playing them, and then a natural rivalry gets dropped for some reason," Johnson told MLive.com. "Now is the time to work through those issues and get that natural, local game back on the schedule. Maybe that means playing above or below your class in some sports, but it's worth it in terms of saving money."

R.J. Anderson is the Online Editor at Athletic Management.