Yet the directors of the state's three biggest athletic departments are taking hard looks at their budgets in anticipation of lean times ahead as the economy continues its freefall.
``I think it's something that everybody's got to look at because the economy is affecting everybody and everybody is involved in it,'' Southern Miss athletic director Richard Giannini said.
``The thing that we don't know about at this point is how it may affect us next year or this coming fall with football tickets, and I think everybody across the country in all sports, whether it's NASCAR or Major League Baseball, everybody is looking at a downward trend.''
Even in hard times, escapist fare like sports often survives and sometimes even thrives. But the state's biggest athletic departments rely mostly on income generated by fans and advertisers ticket sales, donations, marketing and conference revenue. So it's prudent to assume some downturn.
``Football season ticket renewals have just gone out and we've already added a number of new season ticket holders and a number of new Bulldog Club members, but obviously we've got a long way to go to the finish line on that so it's too early to tell,'' Mississippi State athletic director Greg Byrne said.
``Our hope is that we don't have any drop off and maybe an increase, but if somebody loses their job, they're not going to be buying tickets, so we're obviously sensitive to that.''
Athletic departments across the country are starting to see difficulties. Stanford officials recently said they were examining the idea of dropping some sports, while Ohio State expects to run a deficit.
Both have operating budgets much larger than those in Mississippi, where frugality is more a way of life. Ole Miss' budget is a little more than $38 million, while Mississippi State operates on the Southeastern Conference's smallest public school budget at just under $34 million. Neither department uses money from public funds.
Southern Miss' budget is $19.5 million. About 35 percent comes from public sources and student fees. Giannini expects to lose a piece of the $1 million the school gets from the state for gender equity because of a mandatory trim order from Gov. Haley Barbour.
He's beginning a line-by-line look at the budget to see where money can be saved in an effort to keep from losing personnel or holding vacant positions open until the economy rights itself. Travel for non-revenue sports and coaches and administrators attending conferences are areas he believes the department can save money. He's also looking at equipment and uniforms.
``We know what the national trends are and we're going to look at all that and see what we can save,'' Giannini said. ``That's across the board.''
One thing each school has going for it is Mississippians' love for football. With new coaches at each school and the expectations high, it's reasonable to assume football will continue to be a strong revenue source.
``We had 30,000 people go to the Cotton Bowl in the midst of this same sort of financial concern that everybody's got,'' Ole Miss athletic director Pete Boone said. ``So what we're hoping is that the momentum of our football team, which is our primary revenue source, is going to offset whatever economic issues might be out there. We'll just have to see if that's true.''
Mississippi quarterback Jevan Snead
http://accesswdun.com/article/2009/2/217620