The UNM Athletics Department began last fall with a $1.5 million budget deficit.
This fiscal year, administrators have implemented several initiatives to reduce spending, but lower-than-expected revenues from football and basketball ticket sales have hampered their efforts to get back in the green.
Brad Hutchins, Deputy Athletics Director for External Operations, said football and men’s basketball are the biggest earners of the department’s 22 different programs.
“I will say that we’re not the only department experiencing the budget situation,” he said. “It’s true, the economy’s struggling. People aren’t renewing tickets (or) purchasing tickets. That’s why we’re evaluating everything we do and how we do it.