Boise State to cut baseball, swimming and dive teams due to COVID-19-related budget cuts
Boise State announced Thursday morning that it will discontinue its swimming and dive and baseball programs, as a result of budget cuts.
The decision came after a “detailed review of Boise State Athletics’ budget” and comes as universities throughout Idaho continue to deal and plan for the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, a Boise State press release said.
“We’re obviously the in the midst of some tough times right now, and the decision to eliminate these sports was so that we can set up our department with a business model that can be sustained going forward,” Boise State Athletic Director Curt Apsey said Thursday afternoon during a conference call with reporters.
The athletic department anticipates reducing its budget by nearly $3 million, per the press release. According to Apsey, cutting the two teams will save the department about $2.2 million. He couldn’t specify what other cuts would be made, but he said more changes are on the horizon.
“I would be untruthful if I told you this was over,” he said. “I don’t know exactly what that looks like. I don’t know if that includes other programs or bigger cost savings or whatever that may be, but we’re anticipating more and I think it’s irresponsible to not anticipate that.”
Apsey said his department has spent the past four months searching for ways to cut costs and generate revenue, and every program has contributed to limiting expenses by reducing travel and equipment costs. He also said there’s no preparing for a decision to cut sports, but in this case, it was unavoidable.
“This is one of the hardest decisions athletic departments have to make, but it comes at a time when we are facing the most serious financial challenge we have ever seen,” Apsey said in Thursday’s release.
Apsey was the AD in 2017 when Boise State cut its wrestling team to pursue baseball, which had been dropped as a varsity sport in 1980.
How BSU players found out
Apsey informed baseball coach Gary Van Tol of the decision earlier this week, and the players learned about it Thursday morning via email before Zoom calls were held with both teams.
“We have some very unhappy kids, who are wondering what they’re going to do next,” Apsey said. “The only thing I can do is to give them a reason why and to make sure that they know we are there for them. We are going to spend every waking minute figuring out a way for them to take the next step in life.”
Apsey said baseball and swimming and dive were cut because travel, equipment and facility rental costs make them expensive teams to field. Neither program has a facility of its own, and the baseball team was scheduled to play 56 games this year.
Total operating expenses for the swim and dive program averaged $907,736 over the past three years, according to documents obtained by the Statesman through a public records request. In 2018-19, operating expenses were $971,283. The year before, they were $963,159, and in 2017 the team’s expenses were $842,767.
In the 2019 fiscal year, the team generated $476,548 in revenue — its most in the past three years. By comparison, the football team’s expenses were $19.5 million and it generated $24.7 million.
What about student-athlete scholarships?
Financial information and scholarship totals are not available for the baseball team, but swimming and diving had 12 athletes on scholarship and another 29 receiving some “athletic aid.”
The baseball team’s return this spring from a 40-year hiatus was cut short by the coronavrius after just 14 games. Two seniors — Michael Hicks and Cory Meyer — were planning to return after the NCAA voted to allow schools to offer an additional year of eligibility, but those plans are obviously up in the air. Hicks and Meyer declined to comment Thursday.
Van Tol’s contract was scheduled to run through 2022 with a base salary of $80,000. He didn’t respond to a voicemail left Thursday, but Apsey praised his response to the news.
“His parting words with me were ‘how can I help?’” Apsey said. “I thought he handled it very, very professionally. He’s a man of extremely high integrity.”
Boise State added swimming and dive as a varsity sport in the fall of 2006. This spring, the team posted 12 top-eight finishes at the Mountain West championships, and for the first time in program history, the entire dive team qualified for the NCAA Diving Zone championships.
Scholarships, including those for incoming 2020 signees, will be honored by Boise State. According to Thursday’s press release, support will be offered to athletes who want to transfer, and those who do will be immediately eligible to play at their new school, per NCAA rules.
Other expense issues
Thursday’s announcement marked the latest measure Boise State has taken to reduce expenses. After university president Marlene Tromp announced in April that canceled events had contributed to nearly $10 million is losses, Boise State required all employees — including coaches — making more than $40,000 to take furloughs.
The decision to shed sports comes in the same year that most of Boise State’s football coaches got raises, including defensive coordinator Jeff Schmedding, whose salary increased by almost $100,000. But those contracts were approved by the Idaho State Board of Education in late February — before the pandemic shut down much of the country.
Schools across the country have been cutting Olympic sports in anticipation of budget reductions due to the pandemic, including Akron (cross-country and golf), Appalachian State (soccer, tennis and indoor track), Central Michigan (track), Cincinnati (men’s soccer), UConn (cross-country, tennis and swimming), East Carolina (tennis and swimming), Florida International (indoor track) and Old Dominion (wrestling).
At Boise State, Tromp said several senior leaders were involved in the decision-making process.
“The university had already been working closely with athletics to create a sustainable budget,” she said in Thursday’s release. “The pandemic has made a challenging financial situation unsustainable. Ultimately, the reduction of the number of sports in which we compete allows Boise State a better chance of remaining competitive at the highest level and provides a more realistic roadmap to a sustainable future for the university and athletic department.”
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 9:34 AM.
