The NCAA News - News and Features

March 9, 1998

Cabinet requests prioritization

Business/finance group defers recommendations until June

The Division I Business/Finance Cabinet has asked other Division I bodies to establish priorities that will assist it in making funding recommendations.

At its February 23-24 meeting, the cabinet developed a balanced preliminary budget for Division I, but it deferred until June making any recommendations for certain funding increases requested for the 1998-99 fiscal year.

Instead, it asked the Strategic Planning and Championships/Competition Cabinets to prioritize their new funding requests.

The requests from the Strategic Planning Cabinet came from the Association-wide committees that report to it. Requests were made by the National Youth Sports Program Committee, Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, and Committee on Women's Athletics.

The Championships/Competition Cabinet request involved proposed bracket expansions in five sports (baseball, women's softball, women's soccer, women's volleyball, and men's and women's cross country). It also included a request from the Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports.

The Business/Finance Cabinet serves as a filter for the Division I Management Council for reviewing committee recommendations that require funding.

The cabinet will review the prioritized requests in June, at which time it may make recommendations for any funding allocations to the Division I Management Council.

The cabinet also looked at two other issues with major financial ramifications.

First, it reviewed negotiations that are underway on the Association's catastrophic-injury insurance program. The NCAA currently pays about $3.6 million annually in premiums for the program. However, the claims experience has exceeded what was projected when the current program was put in place in 1992, which means that premiums for the next cycle will increase.

Second, it looked at current litigation facing the NCAA. In one case, a federal district judge has ruled against the NCAA in a case involving compensation for restricted-earnings coaches.

That ruling was upheld by an appeals court. The NCAA, which is currently is in mediation with the plaintiffs, has asked all of the judges of the the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear the appeal.

Another major case, a lawsuit against the Association by basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, will take place this spring. Results that favor the plaintiffs in either case could have significant budget implications for the Association.

The cabinet also looked at the financial impact of the NCAA Initial-Eligibility Clearinghouse and recommended that modifications be made that would restore its cost to the Association to original estimates (about $500,000), either through streamlining service or through increasing the application fee, which has remained at $18 since the clearinghouse was created. The current cost of the clearinghouse and other initial-eligibility initiatives to the NCAA is about $2 million annually.

The cabinet also considered a referral from the Management Council to assess whether the special assistance fund could be made available to nonscholarship student-athletes.

The cabinet recommended that the program be evaluated after being administered as is for the 1998-99 calendar year.

Marketing

The cabinet's Marketing Committee noted that the agreement that the Association has with its corporate partners extends to all championships. It was noted that local sponsorship of some championships was being affected because certain local sponsors were in the same field as corporate partners. The committee, however, affirmed that the corporate-partnership contract assures the partners of exclusivity in their particular field.

The committee also heard an NCAA Basketball status report from the Taylor Research & Consulting Group on research being made for the Association. That firm has completed its focus-group work and hopes to have its research phase complete by mid-March. Press conferences outlining selected findings will be conducted at the Men's and Women's Final Fours. After that, the next step will be to put a promotional plan in place.

Also, the committee noted that it should have the authority to determine which promotions are permitted at NCAA championships.