Should University of Hawai'i football fans be disappointed about a proposal that would force them to ante up on pay-per-view to watch some Warrior road games on television this season?

Yes, of course. After getting something free for the better part of 35 years, nobody wants to suddenly be told they have to start paying for it.

Should they be upset? Perhaps, especially if they are already coughing up big bucks for seat premiums and mandatory donations to watch home games.

But shocked? Surprised?

No, not if they have been paying attention to something more than Tim Chang's stats these last few years. It was hard not to see this one coming. The inevitability of it being foretold by UH's financial situation.

Charging for road football games as well as the possibility of some home men's basketball and Rainbow Wahine volleyball games is what happens when you have an athletic department that has been wrestling with an accumulated $4.5 million deficit over three years — and could go higher depending upon the final numbers for the fiscal year that closed June 30.

This is what follows when the mandate is to reach a $20 million budget to be more competitive on the Western Athletic Conference level while salaries continue to grow, travel costs, principally fuel, skyrocket, tuition is set to rise and there is mostly a hollow echo in the piggy bank.

The money has to come from somewhere — and, in Hawai'i's case, a little bit of everywhere. Already the Manoa Chancellor's office has forked over an interest free $1 million loan, money that could have been used elsewhere on campus. And, now, the hat is being passed around for others to pay their share of UH athletics' freight.

A few months ago KKEA radio was tapped for more money on its contract renewal. Last month KFVE/KHNL dug deep into its corporate pockets, pledging $1.75 million each year of a three-year television rights agreement, and has come looking for a return on its outlay.

If Oceanic Time Warner Cable, the other bidder, had gotten the UH contract, you've got to believe it would have been a similar story, whether the charge was something tacked on to the monthly cable bill or exacted through pay-per-view fees.

While all UH's various initiatives — premium seating, an end to same-day free home football on TV, etc. — target higher revenues, there is a worrisome flip side to be watched for in the process.

That would be the result of forcing too many individuals and families to choose how much they can afford to follow the Warriors/Rainbow Wahine/Rainbow Warriors/Rainbows, either in person or in front of a TV set.

Hopefully, it won't come to that.