Peter Likins, president emeritus of the University of Arizona and a former member of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, was interviewed by the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding the financial aspects of intercollegiate athletics during the current economic downturn. Notably, Likins also served on the NCAA’s Division I Oversight and Monitoring Group which has created dashboard indicators to better identify athletic revenues and expenses in relation to institutional budgets and peer institutions.
Likins refers to the instinct to cut athletic budgets, how payments for debt service on new facilities will affect athletic staffing, and the expenses for athletic team travel. He stated, “Virtually every athletic director, every university president, every board overseeing athletics at colleges and universities will be obliged to make changes in the finances of the athletics department — probably, in many instances, dramatic changes.”
Link here for the full interview.