UNLV, Thomas & Mack erasing near $5M athletic department deficit

UNLV is giving new athletic director Desiree Reed-Francois a fresh start, with the university and Thomas & Mack Center/Sam Boyd Stadium contributing about $3.7 million to nearly eliminate the athletic department deficit.

Gerry Bomotti, university senior vice president of finance and business, said the extra funds will bring the deficit to less than $500,000.

“We hope it will be well below that, but at least we can verify we will meet the or exceed the $500k level,” Bomotti said in an email.

He had projected in February a deficit of nearly $5 million, but also noted at the time steps were being taken to narrow the amount.

“We traditionally have used revenues from the Thomas & Mack Center and other facilities to help balance Athletics’ annual budget and continue to evaluate strategies that will help stabilize the department’s long-term finances in the ever competitive landscape of college athletics,” UNLV president Len Jessup said in a statement.

The additional money will help ease the transition for Reed-Francois, who begins on Thursday.

“I really need to evaluate and understand revenues and expenses and dig down deep on that,” she said.

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Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.