McNeely seeing only red

Athletics Director Michael McNeely told the board of trustees Thursday that his department is facing a deficit of about $1 million, citing greater student-athlete scholarship costs, post-season competition costs and rising sports program costs. It's the department's first ever deficit.\n"We have a current negative fund balance in parts of the main office," McNeely said. "We have a trend of declining ticket sales in football, which is one of our largest sources of support, the cost of athletic programs is going up and scholarships have also gone up."\nMcNeely proposed an operating plan that covers the implementation of a five-year operating budget plan, a five-year capital improvement budget plan and an intermediate term restoration plan. McNeely proposed a number of preliminary revenue sources that are already going into effect.\nAmong them, the department began an aggressive telemarketing plan to sell football tickets, signed a team apparel contract that will raise approximately $300,000 to $400,000, and initiated a new catering and concessions program that will raise approximately $500,000 to $600,000.\nMcNeely said in a summary of his plans the new revenue initiatives are "to enhance revenue support, to streamline costs of operations and to ensure our goals of national competitiveness of our sports programs."\nIU spokesman Bill Stephan attended the meeting and said it's important to keep in mind how small the deficit is relative to the annual budget of the athletic department. \n"That million dollars is out of an annual budget of $30 million," Stephan said. "Those are manageable numbers and we're already making strides to shrink that."\nStephan said he was optimistic about the plan and the department's future.\n"I think it's good news," he said. "We have a very comprehensive and proactive plan to address the revenue shortcomings. We're all very optimistic and there are already steps in place that are going to realize cost savings."\nTrustee Patrick A. Shoulders said he was impressed by McNeely's proposal. He added that a successful football program would spur fan interest and ensure the department's financial stability. \n"I think it shows Michael McNeely and his staff are addressing the deficit and putting in place revenue sources and expenditure cuts," Shoulders said. "I have great confidence in what he proposed. What I heard is that we need to build a successful football program."\nThe athletic department is entirely self-supported and McNeely said that there will be no financial assistance from the University involved in the operating plan.\nMcNeely said he was confident the operating plan would eventually restore financial stability to the athletic department.\n"I'm optimistic about our future," he said. "We have a lot of work to do, but I'm optimistic. We have high aspirations and that can be a conflict -- high aspirations and needing to improve your resource base. But we have high aspirations and we're developing an operating plan"