A Board of Regents subcommittee is requesting a full financial audit of the sports teams within four Nevada institutions in response to Chancellor Jim Rogers' memo last week that was critical of the struggling UNLV football program.
Nevada System of Higher Education auditors will examine how much money each competitive sports team earns or loses each year and how they stack up against the earnings and losses of other teams in the conference.
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Audit Committee Chairman Steve Sisolak, who requested the audit, said it would have "nothing to do with personnel whatsoever."
"I want to know how we are fiscally handling our responsibilities compared to the rest of the conference," Sisolak said.
Regents have yet to determine the scope of the audit, but the five-member committee voted unanimously to look at the finances of the sports teams at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; the University of Nevada, Reno; Western Nevada Community College and the Community College of Southern Nevada over the last four years.
The presidents of UNLV and UNR said they had no objections to the audit.
"I think that's a fair oversight role for the board," UNLV President David Ashley said.
The audit did little to curb the fears of some people about the future of the UNLV football team, which Rogers targeted in a five-page memo sent to regents next week.
The football team finished its season at 2-10 and was ranked among the worst teams in Division I-A football by several outlets.
But Sisolak and Regent Mark Alden said they didn't think any programs would be eliminated, even if the audits paint a dire financial picture.
"There's no possibility that's going to happen," Alden said. "None whatsoever. Operating in Division 1-A is very difficult. It's expensive. Coach's salaries are expensive."
"I don't think there's any appetite to eliminate any programs," Sisolak said. "But we do need to manage state funds and make sure we're using them efficiently."
Sisolak said there wasn't enough oversight of athletic programs, which have traditionally been left up to their respective presidents.
"A lot of states have cut off state funding" for athletics, Sisolak said. "At some point we're going to have to take a look at that."
If the state did cut funding for university athletics, the UNLV football program would not be able to support itself, according to a statement of the program's financial standing in the 2005-2006 fiscal year by UNLV Vice President for Finance and Business Gerry Bomotti.
The team made $133,611 last year after expenses. The team's single largest source of revenue, however, was state funding. It received $2.36 million in state funding. That was about 29 percent of the football program's total revenue.
UNLV football was barely profitable compared with the UNLV men's basketball team, which earned more than $4.21 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, while collecting about $690,000 in state funds. State funding made up only 7 percent of the men's basketball team's revenue.
Officials didn't have the figures available for the last three years of the football and basketball program.
Alden was skeptical of the report because it wasn't detailed enough.
"I'm not going to say it's right. I'm not going to say it's wrong. I'm going to wait until we get the audit," Alden said.
Most of the state funds ($732,600) came in the form of financial aid for players, according to the report presented to the regents.
The basketball team outperforms the football team financially in several areas.
The football team also collected $450,191 less from ticket sales than the basketball team did, despite playing in a larger venue than the basketball team.
The basketball team also garnered almost $1.45 million more from private donors than the football team did.
It is not uncommon for teams who don't win games to rely heavily on state funds, according to Glenn Wong, a lawyer who is also a professor of sports management at the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
"Overall, I think the chances of being successful (financially) in basketball are greater than being successful in football," Wong said.
Although there is the potential to have larger crowds at football games than at basketball games due to venue sizes, the cost of maintaining a football team is usually greater, Wong said.
UNLV trails most of its conference rivals in attendance totals, which doesn't help the program financially, he said.
But while winning games is important, it is not the only way to get more people to the games, Wong said. "One of the things that makes football interesting is you can make it an event instead of (just) a football game."
Sisolak said he didn't expect most teams at UNLV to make money. Many women's sports have to be offered, according to NCAA Title IX regulations.
In addition to UNLV and UNR, WNCC has a women's soccer program and a men's baseball program. CCSN has a men's baseball team. Neither of those programs are money-making ventures, regents say.
Fears about the state possibly cutting funding for university athletics are premature, according to legislative leaders.
"It hasn't made its way in the discussion circles with me yet," said incoming Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas.
Likewise, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he hadn't heard of any push to cut funding for athletics, and wouldn't support such a move anyway.
"I think they (athletic programs) are important and a benefit to students and athletes," Raggio said.
