Buyouts, debt service leaves WSU athletics in $13 milllion hole

Uncommon expenditures on coaching salaries, buyouts and debt service left the Washington State athletic department with a $13 million deficit at the end of the 2014 fiscal year. WSU’s revenue grew from $45.7 million in the 2013 fiscal year to about $47.3 in 2014. However, WSU’s 2014 operating expenses of $59.7 million were nearly $10 million higher than the previous year. This is in large part due to increases in salaries, bonuses, and the buyout of former basketball coach Ken Bone’s contract for $1.8 million. The Cougars also added $1 million to the budget for football coaches and paid contractual bonuses to the coaches after WSU made its first bowl game in a decade. Furthermore, WSU created fulltime assistant coach positions in its golf programs. “We expected a sizable deficit as we put our numbers together and then we decided to make it even larger to take care of some things that we felt needed to happen, and with university president (Elson) Floyd’s blessing,” Moos said. “For example, the buyout of our men’s basketball coach and the hiring of the new one. Those are pretty big hits.” WSU is also paying debt service on bonds taken out to pay for recent construction projects. Moos said that the athletic department project to be solvent by 2019 and that WSU will not take on any additional debt for future athletic department construction projects. “The plan is that any additional facilities will be the result of major gifts,” Moos said. While WSU’s total contributions dipped from $7.7 million in 2013 to $7.2 million in 2014, Moos says that the number of Cougar Athletics Fund donors set a new record, as did their total donations, which exceeded the previous year’s giving by about $200,000. The contributions number is lower because of specific donations to Phase One of the Martin Stadium renovation that expired. WSU received about $2.5 million more because of the inception of the college football playoffs than it did in the old BCS system. Schools receive the playoff money regardless of whether or not a Pac-12 school is selected to participate. Moos said that all Pac-12 schools will see significant increases in television money from agreements the conference has with ESPN and FOX. The conference saw money, about $1.5 million per school, for the first time from the Pac-12 Networks, a figure that is also projected to increase in coming years.