The Boise State athletic department's budget cuts will be a year-long process affecting scheduling, staffing, recruiting and possibly travel rosters.

The Broncos will begin fiscal year 2010 on July 1 with an operating budget of $25.8 million - a $750,000 cut from fiscal 2009.

Included in that cut is an average reduction of more than 3 percent for each sport. Those cuts could get deeper if the economic picture worsens.

"This is more on what we had to do," athletic director Gene Bleymaier said. "If we get bad news, then we're going to have to make further cuts that we haven't taken into account now. This is based on what we know now."

The reductions were split into thirds, Bleymaier said:

• About $243,000 was saved by laying off three employees and eliminating two open positions. Boise State also decided not to add two positions that were planned. The seven jobs included three administrative assistants who worked with teams and staff, a custodian, a fund-raiser and two grounds workers.

• About $256,000 came from "department-wide reductions," which affected all of the support staffs. Cuts include not printing media guides, which are used as recruiting tools, too.

• About $251,000 came from the sports. Each team can choose its own cuts and they could fluctuate throughout the year. For example, if a team loses a player, a scholarship could be left open for the rest of the year. Or, a team might cut back the number of players taken on road trips.

Already, the football program has given up two interns who helped break down video. The gymnastics program pulled the landline phones out of its offices. And the basketball programs took a hit during the layoffs, losing their shared administrative assistant.

Boise State expects to spend $26.55 million in fiscal 2009. That number is different than what shows up in State Board of Education documents because of accounting differences. The State Board is scheduled to review Boise State's budget Thursday.

Bleymaier expects some long-term changes to come out of this year's fiscal restraint. He plans to send the football team to more big-money road games and has asked coaches to eliminate lengthy road trips in other sports.

"We're questioning any East Coast kind of travel arrangements," Bleymaier said. "A lot of (the games) have already been contracted for, but we've talked about going forward, you really need to look at regional matchups and figuring out how you can have the best schedule you can have at the lowest cost. And you need to be planning that now for the next year and the year after that."

Boise State is facing the same financial stress as many programs around the country. Expenses like scholarships and team travel are rising, state funding is dropping ($173,800 in Boise State's case) and donations and ticket sales are more elusive.

"We're in new territory - all of us," Bleymaier said. "Let's hope that the state economy levels out and starts improving, or else we will continue to break new ground."

Here are some of the other ways BSU hopes to create revenue.

MORE BIG-MONEY ROAD FOOTBALL GAMES

Boise State likely will be more aggressive in pursuing “guarantee” football games — one-time road games against powerhouse programs for which the Broncos are paid handsomely. Athletic director Gene Bleymaier has sprinkled those into his schedule sparingly in the past but recognizes them as an easy way to increase revenue in tight times. The Broncos have openings in 2010 and 2011 that could be filled by that type of game.

In recent years, the Broncos have cashed checks from Washington (2007, $550,000), Georgia (2005, $600,000), Arkansas (2002) and South Carolina (2001) — all games the Broncos lost. Bleymaier is considering a guarantee game for 2010, he said. The Broncos already have six home games next year.

“Right now, I’d go where I can make the most money,” he said. “If I can play at home and make that much money, then I’m going to play at home. But it’s difficult to make that much money in our stadium size. … I’ve tried to avoid those (guarantee games). Now they’re much more of a reality going forward.”

STOP THE PRESSES The era of the college media guide — an information guide that schools warped into tricked-out recruiting guides — is just about over. Boise State and Idaho State have joined a rapidly growing list of schools who will not print and distribute media guides this season. Instead, they will be created and distributed electronically, through Web sites, CD’s and possibly thumb drives.

Boise State, which will print a limited number of football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball guides to fulfill obligations to boosters, expects to save $25,000. Oregon expects to save a whopping $240,000, according to The Oregonian.

“The beauty of the Web site is you can update it,” Boise State athletic director Gene Bleymaier said. “… If you’re looking at a book that was printed in the summer, by the time you get, it it’s out of date.”

TICKET RENEWALS: 83 PERCENT Eighty-three percent of Boise State football season-ticket holders renewed their seats for 2009 — a much smaller percentage than normal, but a drop the school expected because of rising prices and the economy. Boise State usually renews about 94-95 percent of seats, ticket manager Anita Guerricabeitia said. The Broncos still have a lengthy waiting list (about 1,000 people wanting about 3,500 tickets) and those fans get to choose seats Wednesday through Friday. Season tickets go on sale to the general public Monday.

MORE BLEACHER BUMS Boise State has decided to double the bleachers in the south end zone, adding 1,500 seats to Bronco Stadium. The school will purchase the bleachers for $400,000, Gene Bleymaier said, and can just about pay for them by selling them out this season. Season tickets in the south bleachers cost $264 for adults and $198 for juniors. They will be offered to folks on the waiting list first. “I think we’ll have a lot of people on the waiting list taking us up on those,” ticket manager Anita Guerricabeitia said. The seats will increase capacity to about 33,500.

WAC LOWERS OVERHEAD The WAC will slice 5 percent off its operating budget, a total cut of $200,000, for fiscal 2010, commissioner Karl Benson said. Part of the savings will come from reductions in championship participation, with only eight teams eligible for the basketball tournaments and six for most other team tournaments.

The league also eliminated a 10-month internship, dropping the staff to 12 people. Only the Sun Belt Conference has a smaller staff in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

OTHER SCHOOLS ARE FEELING THE BUDGET CRUNCH, TOO

• Idaho: The Vandals had a $450,000 shortfall in fiscal 2009 and, after applying an existing balance, will finish with a deficit of $230,000, athletic director Rob Spear said. Spear plans to cut $300,000 from the budget in 2010, down to $14.6 million. Cuts include trimming the support staff (by eliminating open positions) and requiring teams to take ground transportation for trips of less than 400 miles one way.

• Idaho State: The Bengals expect to cut their budget by $51,765, or 0.7 percent, to $7.95 million. The school will save $13,000 by dumping printed media guides. Other cost-cutting measures include replacing a full-time coach with a graduate assistant in men’s and women’s basketball and not putting the football team in a hotel the night before home games.

• Hawaii: The Warriors expect a $2.5 million-$3 million deficit for fiscal 2009. They are addressing the situation in part by leaving some positions open, limiting non-team travel and signing new TV, radio, concessions and apparel deals.

• Nevada: The Wolf Pack will have a deficit for 2009, which is covered by an athletics foundation. The budget cuts for 2010 have not been finalized but could be severe. The state legislature cut higher education funding by 12.5 percent and Nevada gets about one-third of its $18.7 million athletics budget from the state, sports information director Chad Hartley said. That could mean a cut in the neighborhood of $1 million for the athletic department, depending on how the university distributes the reduction.

• Pac-10: The conference plans to ask the NCAA to ban printed media guides, hotel stays the night before home events and international team travel. Boise State is the only team in the WAC that does not stay in a hotel before home games.