The president of the University Iowa says the Iowa athletic department budget will be cut by 300-thousand dollars — less than what a university committee recommended. Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby says that will allow the department to maintain sports.Bowlsby says they “don’t anticipate any reduction in sports opportunities.” While the budget cut is less than the committee had suggested, Bowlsby says it adds to what’s an already tight budget situation. He says the reduction comes from the general education fund, but that’s on top of an 800-thousand dollar increase in athletic department costs to cover scholarships that pay for student athletes tuition and room and board. Both tuition and room and board are going up in the fall. Bowlsby says they’ll absorb the cut the best they can. Bowlsby says they have several retirements in which the position won’t be filled, they’ve made some other changes in personnel, too. Bowlsby says they knew reductions were coming, so they made some initial plans. Season ticket sales in football are off to a good start, but Bowlsby says they’ve already planned for some increase. Bowlsby says they’ve already budgeted most of the money from the increase in ticket sales, but he says they hope to have some more “upside” from increased sales of football and basketball tickets. Ninety-four percent of the Iowa athletic department revenue comes from those two sports. He says it’s too early to tell how much ticket sales might swell. The budget cut to the athletic department is part of two-million dollars in cuts announced university wide.
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