For the first time ever, the director of the Athletic Department presented a public accounting of the department's finances to the University Board of Regents.
Athletic Director Joe Roberson addressed the regents at Friday's meeting and provided them with a detailed description of how sports are funded.
At the heart of the presentation were the issues of ticket prices and television revenue.
Thirty-nine percent of the department's revenue comes from the sale of football tickets. Last year, football ticket sales brought in just under $13.6 million. The department's overall revenue stood at $32.6 million.
"We're committed not to raising prices again until the year 2000," Roberson said. "We are anxious to increase annual funds - we're not going to do it with ticket funds, but we do need to do it."
Ten percent of the department's revenue comes from television and radio contracts, and 14 percent comes from licensing royalties.
Roberson said television contracts are pooled in the Big Ten and divided among the 11 schools of the conference.
Regent Deane Baker (R-Ann Arbor) said television deals are not highly profitable for the University.
"It's a misperception that television revenue is a great income-builder for the University of Michigan," Baker said.
Roberson said the department's revenue base is hurt in some ways by its association with the Big Ten. Thirty-five percent of its ticket sales are pooled into a Big Ten general fund, and then distributed among the 11 schools.
Roberson said three schools - the University of Michigan, the Ohio State University and Pennsylvania State University - provide a financial crutch to the other Big Ten schools.
Salaries and wages account for 33 percent of expenditures, grants to student athletes account for 21 percent and sports programs receive 19 percent.
Regent Andrea Fischer Newman (R-Ann Arbor) requested a public accounting of the department's budget at July's regents meeting. She called Roberson's presentation "excellent."
"I'm still on this soapbox trying to explain to people that the Athletic Department is self-sustaining," Newman said.
Regent Philip Power (D-Ann Arbor) warned Roberson that the University needs to guard its handling of athletics.
"Nationally there is increased tension between sports programs as an appropriate activity ... and sports programs taking on an independent existence as fodder for the entertainment industry," Power said. "Over time, this tension will become greater, not lesser, around the country."
Roberson conceded that athletic departments are under "tremendous pressure" to achieve financial equilibrium without compromising their values.
"It doesn't have to get worse if we're attentive to it," Roberson said.