When the fall college sports season begins in a few month, thousands of athletes, trainers, and coaches will be on the road each week.
As with most Americans, the spike in gas prices and inflation will likely take their toll on college athletic budgets. Increased prices of everything from football helmets, bus rentals, hotel rooms, foods, and game officials are sending athletic directors in to a state of high anxiety.
The new budget reality is forcing athletic departments, many of whom are still reeling from pandemic losses, to search for additional solutions that will save their programs money and prevent further disruption down the road.
"When inflation's taking us up 10, 12, 14 percent, then we kind of have to get creative," said Nick Morrow, athletic director at the University of North Florida. "We have to make sure that we're not wasting money and make sure we're getting the basic things that we need to run a first-class program.”
Will fans travel?
Many athletic programs in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), which FAMU is a member of, rely heavily on gate receipts. As departments put together their budgets this year, many may have to rethink their budgets as many of the fans they depend on see their own personal budgets are squeezed.
With the cost of gas, and the increased cost of renting buses, food and hotel rooms will SWAC bands travel as much?