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Economic Downturn Hits Scholastic Sports

SOUTH BEND, IN -- Shrinking endowments, funding reductions and fewer anticipated enrollees are forcing many colleges and universities to curb development plans and reassess operating budgets. From well-heeled Ivy League schools such as Harvard and Dartmouth to large public institutions such as the California State University system, many schools are facing difficult financial decisions stemming from the nation's economic standstill. But nowhere is the downturn being felt more acutely than in the world of university sports...At the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana--a school renowned for its football and other athletic programs--administrators are looking at fresh ideas to keep sports solvent. "We have been, for the last few decades, financially very stable in the operation of our sports programs" Notre Dame university spokesman Dennis Storin said. "But the landscape is changing, and we will need to adjust to the realities of the current economic climate"....

• Reduce operating costs of football game days. Notre Dame typically spends upwards of $10.5 million to host a Saturday football match. The cost of electricity and lighting alone is "significant" according to a university spokesman, "especially later in the game, when the skies darken and we need to turn on the more than 50,000 field spotlights." On the table is a proposal to move all game starting times to 11:00 AM on game day, so that they will finish in the daylight. An earlier start time would also be necessary to mitigate the increased number of "television timeouts" the department is planning in conjunction with host network NBC, another key source of revenue for the program....
• The school's marching band, the Band of the Fighting Irish, could be merged with the walk-on program, and band members/tackling dummies could be deployed for a dual purpose. "I don't see why we couldn't have the piccolo section also simulate, say, the Michigan defense for practice that week," said Weis. "They're about the same size."


Nice. Happy Belated April Fool's Day. Busy in DC - A massive Weekend Update may be coming. If you're lucky. Eat your vegetables.