Frazier vows UH will be profitable next fiscal year

By Stephen Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

University of Hawai'i athletic director Herman Frazier yesterday vowed that his school's 19-sport program will be profitable in the next fiscal year that ends June 30, 2005.

The UH-Manoa athletic department is projected to finish in the red this fiscal year, the third consecutive year it operated a deficit budget.

But Frazier yesterday announced: "Before it's all over, I think we'll be in a position where we will be in the black next year — believe it or not, next year. What that means is we'll have to chip away at the overall deficit that has been accumulated. But we will be in the black next year."

In the fiscal year that ended in June 2003, the athletic department received a $1 million loan from UH-Manoa chancellor Peter Englert's office after running a $1.4 million deficit.

Last month, Englert told The Advertiser, "I think we're looking at a deficit for the athletics department at this point in time."

The athletic department's expenditures are expected to be about $18.5 million for this fiscal year. Next year's annual budget will "be more than that," Frazier said.

Frazier said the department can pay for the expenses with increased revenue from pay-per-view telecasts of UH football games, football ticket sales and "marketing efforts."

UH's share of home and commercial pay-per-view sales for the 2002 and 2003 football seasons totaled $1,089,764, according to figures supplied by the school. That share almost compensated for the $1.2 million drop it suffered in television rights fees between its old and current contracts with K5.

Frazier said he does not plan to add another sport.

He said a five-year plan he crafted when he was hired, in August 2002, called for the annual budget to grow to $20 million. "We'll eventually get to $20 million soon," he said. "We're still on target for that."

In other UH news, K5 and Oceanic Cable have bid for the right to produce a weekly UH football show featuring head coach June Jones. Frazier had issued a call for bids, noting each proposal would be graded on a six-category, 100-point scoring system.

John Fink, president and general manager of K5, said he submitted his station's bid by yesterday afternoon's deadline.

Russell Shimooka, whose Portlock Productions produced the "June Jones Show" last year, submitted a bid on behalf of Oceanic Cable. That bid calls for Portlock Productions to again produce the show.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.