NCAA President Myles Brand will deliver the keynote address at the College Athletic Business Management Association convention June 6-9 in Dallas. Brand, who will speak at 8:30 a.m. June 7, is expected to focus his remarks on the Division I dashboard indicator project to be rolled out later this spring as a more accurate analysis of athletics spending trends.

Hamilton

Founded in 1950, CABMA is composed of more than 600 athletics business and financial managers from more than 200 institutions throughout the country. The organization’s purpose is to uphold the highest integrity and efficiency in the management of athletics business operations.

CABMA has played an integral role in the development of the dashboard indicator initiative, but many NCAA members may not be familiar with CABMA’s other functions on campuses. CABMA first vice president, Colorado Associate Athletics Director Clayton Hamilton, answered a few questions about what the organization brings to the management and oversight of intercollegiate athletics.

What distinguishes CABMA from the National Association of College and University Business Officers?

NACUBO involves primarily the university business officers, while CABMA members are athletics administrators. More and more, we are seeing athletics departments align tightly with other campus units, being more integrated and transparent. In these cases, there is a very close working relationship between the athletics business managers and the university administration. So while NACUBO and CABMA members serve different campus units, they strive to reach similar goals.

How does CABMA benefit its members as an association?

As an organization, our members excel in professional networking opportunities and sharing of information and best practices through channels such as our annual convention and e-mail listserve. Over the last three years we have partnered with the NCAA on various initiatives, which is a role we certainly value. As an example, with the revised financial reporting tools and the agreed-upon procedures that have led to the development of the dashboard indicators project, the NCAA has relied more on CABMA as a resource to review the overall reporting process and provide feedback on the proposed improvements. The NCAA is realizing the benefits of CABMA as a resource – we are the ones carrying out the agreed-upon procedures, and we are the ones completing the financial reports. The NCAA is reaching out to those who manage the process.

What role do business managers play in advising the decisions presidents and chancellors make regarding the financial investment in their college athletics programs? Are CABMA members intended to influence those decisions or simply help inform them?

Roles and functions of our members vary in scope from campus to campus, but typically involve managing the department’s financial resources and business operations. Traditional areas include the business processes of accounting and reporting, budgeting and forecasting, contract management, human resources, purchasing, travel and ticketing operations. Presidents, athletics directors and other campus leaders rely on business managers a great deal for athletics budget projections, comparisons with peer groups and other trend analyses that give those leaders more information on which to base decisions. In that way, CABMA members certainly play a key advisory role on campus.

While college sports is not a business in the traditional sense, there certainly are business aspects to the enterprise that must be managed. How does CABMA help in that regard?

Athletics departments, like universities as a whole, have many of the traditional functions of a business operation. These functions most often are integrated within the framework of the overall university. As an organization, we embrace our purpose of managing these operations, and doing them well.

The dashboard indicator project that provides more accurate and comparable data regarding college athletics spending should help presidents and chancellors be more fiscally responsible as they manage their investment in athletics. How does CABMA feel about the dashboard initiative?

The CABMA membership is excited about the availability of comparative information and reports. Our members are the ones most often responsible for completing the data reporting requirements. We have welcomed the opportunity to work with the NCAA in various focus groups to better compile and present this financial information. Personally, I applaud the effort as one that is needed to better inform decision-making. Various outside sources often make assumptions on athletics finances based on anecdotal evidence, so it’s nice to have this information available to counter – or at least better inform – those assumptions.

The NCAA Presidential Task Force has noted that the rate of growth in athletics spending has outpaced the rate of growth in overall university spending over the last several years. While not at a crisis stage, the Task Force said that rate of spending in athletics cannot be sustained over the long haul. What’s the CABMA perspective on the pace of spending in intercollegiate athletics?  

Division I athletics budgets are typically less than 5 percent of the university’s annual budget. The athletics enterprise is expensive to operate – the cost of scholarships and travel and game expenses is real, and these are significant challenges CABMA works to address. The focus in fact is to control these costs, while providing new opportunities and better opportunities for student-athletes. Much of the growth over the last decade is from institutions investing in facilities that have reached the point where they need to be replaced or renovated, but at the same time, that growth in athletics is often reflective of the growth on campus as a whole. I don’t see the pace in athletics as one that will continue indefinitely, however. I expect it will level off at some point.

What’s on the agenda for this year’s CABMA convention?

CABMA is holding its annual convention June 6-9 in Dallas. We use this annual convention as an opportunity for members to come together to participate in presentations and roundtable discussions on many topics relevant to intercollegiate athletics. This year’s convention will be highlighted by President Brand’s keynote address to the membership. We will also hear presentations on the Presidential Task Force initiatives, including the dashboard indicators project; an auditor’s perspective of the NCAA agreed-upon procedures; tax issues related to college athletics; current market for sponsorship agreements; and facility construction and financing. In addition, breakout sessions will focus on the use of the Special Assistance and Student-Athlete Opportunity Funds, cost-control issues, fund-raising, budget and financial reporting solutions, and the NCAA professional-development initiative.

Information on the CABMA convention can be found at www.cabma.com.