The NCAA Executive Committee approved budget allocations for the next fiscal biennium at its August 5 meeting in Indianapolis. The plan includes record budgets over the next two years -- $485.7 million for fiscal-year 2004-05 and $521.1 million for fiscal-year 2005-06, more than a 7 percent increase each year.

The Executive Committee began approving the Association's operating budget on a biennial basis four years ago. In this process, Executive Committee members approve the total budget for the first year of the biennium and only new initiatives for the second year of the biennium. The inflationary budget for the second year will be approved in August 2005.

About 90 percent of the revenues in the 2004-05 budget are derived from the television and marketing rights contracts. The upcoming year is the third of the NCAA's 11-year bundled-rights agreement with CBS Sports and ESPN. 

Of the 2004-05 budget allocations, about $338.5 million represent Division I allocations and expenses. Divisions II and III allocations and expenses total $21.2 million and $15.4 million, respectively. More than $24 million will go toward student-athlete programming, and youth programs and services.

The projected expenditures adhere to the agreement reached by the membership and the Executive Committee after finalizing the bundled-rights agreement. Distribution increases to the various divisions range from 7 to 7.7 percent each year of the biennium.

The resources available for allocation by the Executive Committee are relatively limited. The Executive Committee allocated 4.25 percent to offset the effects of inflation, particularly in travel, insurance, and salaries and benefits. Other major inflationary items include increases for Division I championships, transfer of $500,000 of student scholarship programming from the old NCAA Foundation that was disbanded two years ago, and $1 million for an increase in legal costs.

Committee members also allocated $2 million for presidential and strategic-planning initiatives, including professional development and increased support for information technology. The increased IT resources will allow the Association to hire contractors to assist with the strategic-planning initiatives and increase access to information via technology.

Some of the allocations in the 2004-05 budget are structured to allow flexibility in how they are used. Because a number of budget requests from various committees within the governance structure relate to specific themes of the strategic plan, the Executive Committee is recommending that the NCAA president and the national office staff allocate a limited amount of dollars to those specific themes. For example, allocations will be determined for summits, sportsmanship and fan-behavior initiatives, diversity programs and student-athlete programming. In each case, staff will determine the specific requests that can best move the organization to accomplish the strategic-planning goals. 

In that vein, the Executive Committee is recommending $396,000 to provide base funding for the minority and women coaching academies. 

Several reallocations also were necessary to accommodate the 2004-05 budget. For example, funds were reallocated to support increased media needs due to a format change in the preliminary rounds of the 2005 Division I Women's Basketball Championship. First- and second-round games will be held at eight predetermined sites rather than at 16 campus sites, which requires increased funding for media and uplinks at each site.

A more complete breakdown of the 2004-05 NCAA operating budget is provided in the accompanying chart.

New initiatives in the second year of the biennium are focused on similar programming. Major allocations include grants to affiliate organizations, coaches' academies, diversity, student-athlete programming, summits and former NCAA Foundation student-athlete programming.

Other highlights

Executive Committee
August 5/Indianapolis

• Approved a recommendation from the Executive Committee finance committee to increase the deductible in the Association's catastrophic-injury insurance policy from $65,000 to $75,000 beginning with the 2005-06 fiscal year. The deductible was at $65,000 for the past three years, during which time medical costs have increased by 52 percent. Executive Committee members approved the increase for fiscal-year 2005-06 to give institutions advance notice so they can budget appropriately.

   

• Approved a recommendation from the Executive Committee Subcommittee on Gender and Diversity Issues to charge the NCAA staff with creating and distributing self-study materials for member institutions currently using an American Indian mascot, nickname or logo. Results will be provided to the Executive Committee at its August 2005 meeting.

   

• Received an update from NCAA President Myles Brand Brand and Senior Vice-President Bernard Franklin on an initiative under way to examine and make more efficient the NCAA committee structure. 

   

• Received an update on legislative packages from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association that were introduced into the Division I legislative cycle. NCAA President Brand noted both were among efforts to engage membership organizations to find creative methods for meeting the objectives of the strategic plan. No decisions on these proposals have been made; they will go through the normal legislative process.