July 24, 2004

Long A Holdout, UNC Considering Permanent Ad Space

FROM THAT SLICK AND SLIPPERY SLOPE LEADING TO THE MONEY PIT comes word of emotional turmoil from the powers that be of the University of North Carolina athletics.

The reason? Long a bastion of limited commercialism, UNC’s program has begun to explore the installation of permanent signage in its venerated venues.

After six years of in-the-black operations (one of only a dozen or so legitimately profitable D1 programs), UNC has been stung by a $600,000 shortfall this past year.

The expenses associated with building and maintaining a nationally competitive (and Title IX compliant) program have escalated UNC’s athletics budget to $40 million, one of the biggest in all the land.

Not unlike politicians, the UNC brain trust seems bent on increasing revenues (but instead of raising taxes, it’s selling ad space) to bring its budget into line. Rarely is made a mention of reducing costs. Curious.

As the revenue generation plans were being debated, UNC leaders blubbered about the effect that signage would have on the revered non-commercial “culture” that has been developed at Chapel Hill.

Said chairwoman of the UNC faculty, Judith Wegner, "I worry about as time goes on whether increasingly people will see athletics as almost semiprofessional sports. You have to wonder, where does this all stop?"

Where indeed?

(this 212 word article—with attendant commentary—has been distilled from a 725 word article from the Durham [NC] Herald Sun of 7-21-04 and a 331 word article from WRAL.com of 7-21-04)