UMass McGuirk Stadium (pre-expansion)
Hard to say if the initial 12 game football season that resulted in 11 losses made a major difference in the whopping financial losses this year for UMass football, but it certainly did not help.
At $8 million dollars in red ink (at least it's somewhat in the spirit of the holiday season) that comes out to $727,000 in losses per loss. That a lot of loss. Not to mention the hit Amherst businesses have taken ("intangible costs") now that "home" games are 100 miles away.
Earlier this evening the UMass Faculty Senate barely beat back a challenge from members wishing to vote on an motion to have the flagship University football program withdraw from the Mid-American Conference (MAC). The motion required two-thirds support just to get to the point of being allowed on the floor for a discussion and vote, but failed.
Only narrowly, however, as it received 60% support.
While the Athletic Department only wants to acknowledge $715,068 in losses due to lousy attendance, the watchdog Ad Hoc committee casts a wider net, bringing up all the hidden costs. Advertising alone was another $700,000 -- all of it paid for by External Relations using taxpayer money.
Throw in the $2 million for renovations to McGuirk Stadium, and Title 1X mandated gender equity scholarships of $260,105 plus the original FY13 Football budget of $7,160,339 and your grand total comes to just over $10 million spent on BIG time football. Offset by gate receipts and sponsorships of almost $2 million, leaving a loss of $8,220,461. On a football team with a 1-11 record.
Or ... many, many scholarships for a bevy of deserving students -- the serious ones who keep partying to a minimum.
The Boston Globe reports
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