Few specifics on LSU ticket hike

LSU’s athletic department has $11 million in reserves and stands to gain millions more in a new TV contract slated to begin next year. Despite the seemingly sound financial footing, Athletic Director Joe Alleva is asking for more money from fans.

Alleva told the university system’s Board of Supervisors that LSU needs to boost sports ticket and parking prices to keep up with rising costs for salaries, benefits, travel and athlete scholarships, while also making needed upgrades to facilities.

Alleva is proposing 150 different changes to prices for tickets and parking across university sports events, including a ticket hike for the 2014 football season and for the 2015 baseball season.

His proposal would boost football season ticket prices on average by 6 percent next year, though 5,000 seats in Tiger Stadium would see a decrease. Ticket prices would vary depending on the opponent and demand for the game.

The proposal also would increase the costs of reserved car and RV parking places, allow sales taxes to be charged on tickets and would raise prices across a list of athletic events.

The price hikes are estimated to raise about $2.3 million in the current 2013-14 budget year and grow to $4 million a year later, according to information provided to the LSU Board of Supervisors.

The board is expected to consider the ticket policy changes in December. Alleva made a presentation about the overall finances of his department to the board in October.

Nearly $62 million of the $101.5 million in annual revenue the athletic department expects to bring in for the 2013-14 budget year comes from ticket sales, “seat donations’’ that are required to buy some tickets, and parking payments.

The athletic department didn’t outline a specific budget hole it was trying to fill with the increased ticket and parking revenue, instead generally saying that costs continue to rise.

When questioned by reporters about the department’s finances and the need for ticket increases, Alleva got testy and offered few details about whether a budget shortfall exists.

“Our expenses have gone up $20 million in the last four years, so that’s got to come from somewhere,’’ he said.

The price hike request comes even as LSU is in line for a new multimillion-dollar annual payment for its participation in the SEC Network, a TV network set to launch next year.

LSU board member Stephen Perry, of New Orleans, said he’s heard estimates that the university could bring in anywhere from $18 million to $28 million annually in the new TV deal.

Alleva said he didn’t know what his department will earn from the new network, and he said money from the TV deal isn’t calculated yet into the budget.

So why raise ticket costs if the athletic department doesn’t know how much it stands to gain from a TV deal expected to be lucrative for the conference and its schools?

Alleva said without the increased prices for fans, his department would have to cut back on the money that it gives to the academics side of campus each year.

“We need the money to make the budget for next year, or we will be in the red and we will not be able to give the university $7 million,’’ he said.

But when asked if the athletic department would face a $2 million budget gap if the price hikes didn’t pass in December, Mark Ewing, chief financial officer for the athletic department, suggested the department had other options.

“We would find a way to cover it,’’ Ewing said.

Alleva told the board that he’d like to use some of the increased funding generated by the SEC Network deal to build up the athletic department’s reserves and pay down debt.

The price hikes seem on track to pass in some form. Board member Rolfe McCollister, of Baton Rouge, summed up his position with this assessment: LSU can charge more because people will pay it.

“We have a great product, and in free enterprise in America, when you’ve got a great product, you’re rewarded and people buy your product,’’ McCollister said.