Balancing the budget would be a big accomplishment for [the head of sports at University of Hawaii], who has wrangled with deficits every year since becoming athletic director in 2002. The worst year was 2003 when the deficit hit $2.4 million.

The department has operated with a deficit the past four years — three years under Frazier — and has accumulated a $5 million deficit during that time, according to auditors. The department still needs to pay off a $1 million loan from the Manoa chancellor's office.



...This is the second year of the department's five-year plan to eliminate the deficit through increasing ticket prices, private gifts through its fundraising arm, 'Ahahui Koa 'Anuenue, and corporate sponsorships.

Cash flow remains a "top concern" for the department, which does not have sufficient cash reserves to cover operating expenses, according to the audit.

"To fund recent losses, the department has been forced to adopt deficit spending policies, including the use of advance ticket sales, loans from the university and working capital advances," the audit said.

The department still owes Aloha Stadium $341,000 in rent for the 2005 Warriors football season, according to Debbie Ishihara, the stadium's administrative services officer.


…Last February, UH took back from football fans 660 seats in the Aloha Stadium loge area and repackaged them. The seats are now sold at the face value of the ticket plus an additional premium, which was as high as $15,000 in 2005 and could go as high as $20,000 by 2007.


…[T]he department lowered 2005 UH football revenue projections from $4.6 million to $4 million following a subpar season in home attendance. This past season, UH football — the engine that drives the multisport train that is UH athletics — averaged 28,136 fans per home game, the smallest average in coach June Jones' seven years.

"I think everyone knows we did not have the financial windfall we thought we could get in football," Frazier said. "We've gone back and reflected on that already."