DEFICIT SHOWN IN ATHLETIC FINANCES FOR YEAR 1918-19

The resumption of pre-war athletics at the University has been made with a deficit of $30,208.10 for the academic year 1918-1919, according to figures prepared by Fred W. Moore '93, Graduate Treasurer of Athletics. The receipts for the year which started in the fall of 1918 and continued until June are necessarily small, as there was no University football season. This not only accounts for the big deficit, but had normal conditions existed, a good-sized sum would have been found available with the large box office receipts that gridiron performances roll up.

The football team of the service units at the University, sponsored by the government, was run at a small loss, with the receipts $2172.56 and the outlay $2647.11. Baseball was the only form of athletics to show a profit, although the tennis courts, through rental, showed a fair sum to the good. Harvard's weak baseball nine played to $16,351.72, winning seven and losing 13 games. To outfit the team and keep it going an expenditure of $10,659.75 was made. The profits were about $5500.

Major Sports Deficit Nearly $8000.

University crew demanded an outlay of $13,037,52, and the receipts reached only $5358, a deficit of more than 7000 showing. To maintain the hockey team $1042.04 was expended, and the University track team wants were heeded to the extent of $5143.25. The receipts respectively for hockey and track were $378.34 and $737.45. The deficit in the group of five major sports totalled $7531.60.

Those minor sports which showed not even one penny of return were soccer, general athletics, golf, lacrosse and boxing. A sum close to $10,000 was used to keep these sports flourishing. The total deficit in minor athletics was $3288.21. Freshman athletics also showed a similar financial loss, while more than $16,000 was paid for athletic construction, improving and maintenance.

Total Cost and Receipts.

In all, the cost of conducting the athletic program for the year was $62,419.88 and the receipts reached only $32,211,78, the difference showing a deficit of $30,208.10. The efficient handling of the athletic finances of the University is responsible for the comparatively small loss, and, unless judgment had been shown at the offices of the H.A.A., the deficit for the year would have reached a sum two or three times larger.