Oregon’s Small College Athletics Could Be Devastated By Governor’s Proposed Change To Lottery Money

December 11, 2012 /
The Oregoniano, Paul Buker

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2012/12/oregons_small_college_sports_w.html

Buried in Gov. John Kitzhaber’s proposed 2013-15 budget are two sentences that could fundamentally change college sports at Oregon’s smaller public schools.

“The distribution of lottery proceeds to the Oregon University System in support of intercollegiate athletics and scholarships is discontinued,” reads the line on page B-7, which frightens athletic directors from La Grande to Klamath Falls. “The funds are re-directed for other programs in the education outcome area.”

Although the budget process is just beginning, if Kitzhaber’s proposal were to go through it would hammer the five smaller schools — everyone but Oregon and Oregon State — that depend on the money to keep their teams afloat.

“My reaction?” said Oregon Tech athletic director Michael Schell, whose Owls could take the worst hit, proportionally, seeing 14.5 percent of their budget evaporate based on this year’s lottery profits.

“Stunned.”

At Portland State, where the Vikings could lose 5.6 percent of their budget, athletic director Torre Chisholm put it another way.

“This proposal is potentially devastating to PSU athletics,” he said. “We use lottery funds exclusively for scholarships, primarily for our women’s teams. … I don’t know how — or if — we can replace those dollars.”

Elsewhere, Eastern Oregon, Southern Oregon and Western Oregon would face 9 to 11 percent cuts based on 2012 lottery profits.

Ben Cannon, the governor’s education policy advisor, said there was no intention to devastate sports programs at the state’s regional colleges with two sentences in an $8 billion budget. But he said economic reality dictates that the lottery money, which totals $3.84 million this year, go elsewhere in the future.

“I understand their concerns,” Cannon said. “This is not meant to be a signal from the governor’s office that we intend to, or prefer to, end athletic opportunities for the regionals, which would clearly be most impacted by losing this dedicated source of funding.”

“We do think athletics should compete for funding alongside the other missions and other functions of the university, including academics and research.”

n Klamath Falls, Schell said, one or two of Oregon Tech’s sports programs, which compete at the NAIA level, might have to be cut if the money vanishes. In Ashland, Southern Oregon athletic director Matt Sayre said it would “crush” the Raiders’ NAIA programs, calling the money a lifeline.

At Oregon and Oregon State, where the Division I Ducks and Beavers have $87.8 million and $56.6 million respective sports budgets, the blows would be much less, falling between 1 and 2 percent. Still, the loss of any income resonates.

“It was always welcome money,” OSU athletic director Bob De Carolis said. “You never knew what you were going to get but it was, and is, a significant amount.”

A growing dependence
 

Sports and the lottery go back 23 years.

The Oregon Lottery introduced Sports Action, the first successful sports wagering game offered by any U.S. lottery, in 1989. It kicked in much-needeed revenue for Oregon, Oregon State and the regional schools when the Ducks and Beavers were both losing the athletics arms race. Scoreboard, another game based on NFL football, was introduced in 2003.

Both games were discontinued in 2007 in the face of the NCAA’s refusal to consider Oregon venues for NCAA championship events as long as Sports Action and Scoreboard continued. The NCAA subsequently allowed Portland to host prized NCAA men’s basketball regionals in 2009 and 2012 with a promise it will return in 2015.

Over time, even after the two sports wagering games were discontinued, the lottery payouts increased to the point where they now represent a significant portion of some athletic department budgets. The seven schools each receive four payments a year, with the State Board of Higher Education adjusting the allocation based on lottery profits. The more the state’s residents gamble, the more the state’s schools receive.

Thus, the hang-wringing over that money suddenly disappearing — especially beyond Oregon and Oregon State, which recently got an influx of new revenue from a new Pac-12 television contract. The state’s smaller schools are far removed from such a lucrative spotlight and hard pressed to imagine ways to make up the difference.

“For us, and I guess all of the regionals, it’s going to be a pretty huge impact…” said Schell, who has a athletic department budget of just more than $2 million. “We just don’t have a lot of revenue streams like (Oregon and Oregon State). We’re not going raise that money, not consistently every year.”

He called it ironic that while Kitzhaber’s proposed budget for education is aimed at increasing student opportunities, the loss of lottery dollars would have the opposite effect at the regional schools.

“We run a program here with students that are here to be students first,” Schell said. “Some of that (lottery money) is scholarship money.”

Anji Weissenfluh, acting athletic director at Eastern Oregon, realizes money is tight for education but thinks other solutions are possible.

If not, she said, the NAIA Mountainers of La Grande would have to find a different way of doing business.

“It’s going to hurt us. … We would have to roll up our sleeves and see if it could be done without cutting sports.”


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