CSULB Athletics Budget Facing Another Potential Squeeze Play : Finances: Ongoing state fiscal crisis clouds the future of all 14 CSULB intercollegiate teams. Administrators anticipate more tough times ahead.

These are nervous times for Dan Radakovich.

The fiscal officer at Cal State Long Beach usually has the athletic department’s annual budget prepared by now. But because the Legislature and the governor are at odds, Radakovich has only been able to guess what next season will be like for the university’s 14 intercollegiate teams.

Further, a task force is expected to make public today its annual recommendations on how the university should cope with the state’s worsening budget crisis. If history is a barometer, sports is likely to be targeted once more.

Then there are those nasty budget-slashing rumors as the battle for shrinking state revenues intensifies in Sacramento. Even in an election year, Radakovich expects the state to curtail spending on higher education, perhaps by as much as a third.

But his worst fear is that a state budget will not be ready until after the November election. That would mean that Cal State Long Beach and other state colleges and universities would begin playing intercollegiate sports this fall without a dime in the coffers to pay for them.

“There is a cloud of uncertainty at the CSU campuses by virtue of the state government’s inability to pass a state budget,” Radakovich said.

The 49ers’ projected 1992-93 budget is $3.595 million--more than a million dollars below last season--a 28% cut that includes a 15% drop in state funds.

Interim Athletic Director Dave O’Brien says he can live with that cut because most of it came from dropping football last December, which the university task force had recommended.

It even freed up a bit of money for sports such as men’s golf, which had raised its own financing since the spring of 1990.

But if the university task force persuades CSULB President Curtis L. McCray that bigger cuts are warranted, or if the state trims allocations more harshly than 49ers officials have anticipated, it will be back to the drawing board. Options would included laying off athletic personnel, shifting dwindling private dollars usually spent on scholarships to operating expenses or dropping more sports.

“This is the worst situation I have seen,” said McCray of the budget woes. “It’s as near a disaster as has ever been.”

O’Brien, appointed by McCray in September, says that even the savings incurred from dropping football won’t help if things get much worse. He pointed out that 95% of state funds for athletics goes for salaries.

“Anything more than a 15% cut means people (losing jobs),” O’Brien said. “The only option available to us would be to take a good, hard look at ourselves administratively and try to make cuts in that way.”

The state’s sluggish economy also has hindered ambitious fund-raising plans. O’Brien hopes to push on with a $1-million renovation of the baseball field and a fund drive seeking $6 million for a new gymnasium that will be built as part of an $11-million campus events center that has already been funded by the state.

But private donations to CSULB sports programs have fallen as much as a third and could drop by 50% next year. Some of that can be blamed on the decision to drop football, O’Brien said, because traditionally it attracted the biggest donors. Still, the 49ers have never raised more than $500,000 in a single year.

Associate Athletic Director Kay Don said bigger would shortchange students who also attend college to play sports. She said she hopes the budget crisis won’t be used as an excuse to cut women’s athletics at a time when gender equity is a hot topic in collegiate sports.

“We have to look at the total structure of the (athletic) department and see where some more cuts could be made without affecting the competitiveness of our programs,” she said.

Don said she has had discussions with administrators at other state schools about the formation of a conference that would remain at the Division I level but would not offer scholarships. It would be difficult to put together on short notice, but it may come down to “one year or five, to survive so we don’t lose our total being.”

McCray suggested that if both private and state dollars do not start rolling in, perhaps Cal State Long Beach will be forced to follow in the footsteps of Chapman University in Orange, which recently dropped from Division II to Division III, in which scholarships are not offered.

“I think we are looking at a return to more amateur sports,” he said. “Maybe we’re even looking at doing club sports (again). When I’m laying off administrators--and I’ll be laying off top administrators and tenured faculty--I’ll be looking at what can I continue to do.

“Can I afford to maintain sports competition at (their current levels)? Maybe it does make sense, but clearly, those are the questions that need to be asked.”

McCray said that if he is forced to make additional cuts, he will look at trimming both personnel and entire departments. The fallout from those cuts could hurt athletics.

For example, a $15-million universitywide cut last year eliminated enough classes to reduce enrollment by about 2,200 students, McCray said. A worst-case scenario for this fall calls for cuts of up to 33% that would eliminate classroom space for an additional 5,600 students out of a total enrollment of about 31,000.

Fewer classes could make it difficult for athletes to get the NCAA-required 12 units they need to be eligible to play. It could also hurt coaches in the recruitment of prospective athletes, put a crimp in hours available for practicing and drive successful coaches in high-profile sports like basketball to look for other places to work.

The budget wrangling comes at the conclusion of one of the most successful athletic seasons in 49er history. It started drearily enough, with the football team being dropped after a dismal 2-9 season last fall.

But then the women’s volleyball team, which set a school record with 36 wins, advanced to the NCAA championship game last December. That was followed by a National Invitation Tournament appearance by the men’s basketball team and an 11th consecutive appearance in NCAA postseason play by the women’s basketball team. The men’s volleyball team, ranked No. 1 all season, was upset in the playoffs but finished 27-4. This spring the baseball team won its first conference title in 22 years and advanced to NCAA regional play. The softball team went to the College World Series.

Administrators are not ready to surrender that success easily.

“At this point in time we’re bracing ourselves, saying, ‘Let’s take a look at what we may have to do if we get further athletic cuts,” O’Brien said. “Our first priority is to maintain our Division I status. The second priority is that we don’t want to do anything that negatively affects our six strategic sports (that did so well this year). We want to maintain and even enhance our national status there.”

Still, without much money, it is nervous time for the 49ers.

Athletic Department Budget

The Cal State Long Beach current budget for athletics is compared with the projected budget for 1992-93. The figures do not include playoff expenses or guarantees.

Sport Salaries Operational Scholarships Total Men’s Baseball 1991-92 $108,401 $90,000 $68,441 $266,842 1992-93 120,804 59,400 82,420 262,624 Women’s Softball 1991-92 79,378 57,000 57,077 193,455 1992-93 89,400 40,300 69,740 199,440 Men’s Volleyball 1991-92 58,176 31,883 17,848 107,907 1992-93 79,128 27,500 28,530 135,158 Women’s Volleyball 1991-92 115,003 55,000 92,781 262,784 1992-93 100,836 53,150 91,560 245,546 Men’s Basketball 1991-92 163,597 248,546 82,602 494,745 1992-93 157,272 232,000 98,100 487,372 Women’s Basketball 1991-92 143,208 124,869 103,650 371,727 1992-93 143,208 129,000 98,100 370,308 Men’s and Women’s Track and Cross- Country (four teams) 1991-92 60,906 49,500 26,302 136,708 1992-93 78,264 51,670 41,210 171,144 Men’s Water Polo 1991-92 70,272 22,810 17,459 110,541 1992-93 70,272 34,000 6,340 110,612 Women’s Tennis 1991-92 36,468 20,023 10,021 66,512 1992-93 36,468 14,000 12,680 63,148 Men’s Golf 1991-92 0 20,000 6,300 26,300 1992-93 0 20,000 6,500 26,500 Women’s Golf 1991-92 10,943 11,303 8,319 30,565 1992-93 10,943 13,000 6,340 30,283 Football * 1991-92 330,368 498,220 338,170 1,166,758 1992-93 70,272 0 84,030 154,302 Training Room 1991-92 106,956 107,227 0 214,183 1992-93 106,956 52,500 0 159,456 Sports Information 1991-92 78,302 80,427 0 158,729 1992-93 64,824 75,000 0 139,824 Administration 1991-92 723,140 409,928 **7,000 1,140,068 1992-93 640,000 399,500 0 1,039,500 Totals 1991-92 $2,085,118 $1,826,736 $835,970 $4,747,824 1992-93 1,768,647 1,201,020 625,550 3,595,217

* Although football has been dropped, continuing expenses include the salary of the head coach, who is in the second year of a three-year contract, and players whose multi-year scholarships are still being honored.

** Graduate assistant position not being renewed.

Source: Cal State Long Beach