Athletics facing a nearly $817k budget deficit under first-year AD Sykes

Despite winning on the football field, FAMU Athletics faces a projected $816,912 budget shortfall for the 2023-24 academic year, according to documents Athletic Director Tiffani Dawn Sykes presented to Trustees last week.   
 
Nearly halfway through the year, athletics has spent, or encumbered, about 83 % of its overall budget, and has overspent its operating budget by $146,752 (108 %) the documents show.
 
Skyes was selected as AD on October 22, 2022, and began work on January 4, 2023.  The current budget year began on July 1, 2023.
 
The first-year AD has opted to forgo opportunities to maximize football revenue on two separate occasions this season first by deeply discounting tickets for FAMU football's home opener against the University of West Florida with a “Youth Day” promotion and again by taking 2,500 tickets out of inventory to give to FAMU students for the SWAC Championship game (at a cost of $198,000 to the department).  Her staff advised against the move.

 
FAMU Athletics has balanced its budget for the past seven years, including 2021 when COVID wielded a big blow to its revenue forcing the cancellation of all fall sports programs and a limited men's basketball season during the winter.  Florida doesn’t allow deficit spending in athletics.
 
The projected deficit is significant, as athletics is in the midst of repaying an estimated $8.7 million multi-year loan it owes the university to cover operational expenses.  The Florida Board Governors (BOG) has ordered FAMU Athletics to repay the university’s auxiliary units for the inappropriate use of funds from those departments dating back more than a decade to cover deficits in previous athletics department budgets.

Former BOT Chair Kelvin Lawson, had been working behind the scenes with the BOG to allow FAMU to forgive its athletic deficit in light of the university successfully balancing its athletics budget and adhering to its repayment plan for several year.

BOG members, last year, said they would give the idea “thoughtful consideration”. To-date, the debt has not been forgiven.

Last week, FAMU Trustees voted to provide the athletic department with an additional $1,250,000 in budget authority to provide for "essential operational expenses, including personnel costs, promotions, administrative expenditures, and team travel."  These funds are expected to be offset by funds generated by the SWAC Championship game and the $600,000 expects to earn from its participation in the Celebration Bowl.