The UW athletic department announced $1.6 million in budget cuts today as 13 more employees got the axe. The staff cuts project to save roughly $600,000, while the other $1 million will come in across the board reductions impacting existing programs.
Translated, this likely equates to reduced travel squads for all sports, including football. Further, this cut may mean the possible elimination of the traditional hotel stay the night before home football games. However, don't expect the football and basketball teams to be impacted too heavily, as they bear much of the financial burden for the Department of Athletics.
Bob Condotta has the complete story in the Seattle Times.
While examining the newspaper message boards, note how the uninformed readers ask why the President of the University, other staff members, and coaches themselves haven't taken pay cuts.
The answer is simple: President Emmert and many staff members took voluntary pay reductions earlier this year. The football coach and his assistants actually don't cost the University as much as one might think, as the bulk of their salaries come from private donations.
Simply put, if you are a Husky fan and are concerned about budget cuts there is only one answer: purchase season football tickets. Support the football team and you are supporting the non-revenue producing sports at the University.
The cuts at UW are tough medicine but almost every school in the country is considering the same tyoe of measures. If you think it is tough at UW just look across the mountains toward WSU.
The Cougars are scrambling to stay in the Pac 10 right now. As I previously wrote, they may have won the battle last month but they really screwed themselves in the future. The only reason WSU is a member of the Pac 10 is because UW has always insisted on it. They are unlikely to receive such support in the future.