WSU Athletics in the red past fiscal year

PULLMAN -- The Washington State Cougars lost $1.6 million on athletics for the past fiscal year, the Cougars said Wednesday. Gifts and pledges, however, were on the increase.

Most college athletic departments operate at a deficit, but the Cougars had reported profits for eight consecutive years before losing $200,000 last year.

Earlier this year, the Washington Huskies reported a $5.5 million loss. The fiscal year ended June 30. WSU had delays in finalizing some financial details.

The Cougars said they experienced a $1 million reduction in revenue from the Pacific-10 Conference due largely to a drop in nationally televised games. Football ticket sales were down, and a final payment of approximately $750,000 was made to former football coach Bill Doba.

The Cougars made $2,829,263 in football television revenue. That figure was bolstered by an unusually large payment of $542,000 for a nationally televised game with Notre Dame in San Antonio, Texas.

The WSU Athletic Foundation reported that gifts and pledges for the fiscal year increased $1.5 million to $9.8 million.

Membership increased by 81 to 5,990, and the number of donors increased from approximately 6,500 to approximately 7,200.