Football, baseball spend most on travel in 2014-15
Nearly $2 million was spent by Central Michigan University's athletics department in travel expenses for all of CMU’s varsity teams during the 2014-15 academic year.
CMU’s football team spent the most on travel with $540,527 followed by the baseball team's $191,465. The men’s basketball team was third with $176,804. The women’s basketball team spent the most for any women’s sport at $133,589.
Travel costs include air and ground travel, meals and incidentals for preseason, regular season and non-bowl postseason competition. Food before each home game, housing and transportation on the road is also included.
The baseball team’s trips to Arizona and Florida on Feb. 25 and March 8 of this year will factor into the travel expenses for next year’s report.
Another factor in the expenses was the team's spring break trip to Florida to compete in the Snowbird Baseball Classic. The cost for a Division I school to compete in this tournament per game is $500 for four umpires and $400 for three umpires. That money goes toward umpire fees, field rental, scheduling and maintenance costs. The team played in five games in the tournament, totaling $2,000-$2,500 for those five games alone.
The men's and women's track teams traveled the most miles during the 2014-15 academic year at 22,782 miles. While the football team had the largest traveling budget, they traveled the fewest miles at 4,158. The football team spent $130 per mile traveled in 2014-15.
Total expenses and miles traveled (organized by total expenses)
Football: $540,527, 4,158 miles
Baseball: $191,465, 13,044 miles
Men’s Basketball: $176,804, 11,444 miles
Women’s Basketball: $133,589, 12,692 miles
Softball: $113,769, 12,059 miles
Field Hockey: $87,571, 8,651 miles
Gymnastics: $82,086, 11,414 miles
Soccer: $75,710, 7,658 miles
Men’s Track/Cross Country: $71,825, 22,782 miles for Track, 4,282 for Cross Country
Women’s Track/Cross Country: $71,811, 22,782 miles for Track, 4,282 for Cross Country
Volleyball: $55,058, 6,469 miles
Wrestling: $44,392, 7,944 miles
Golf: $26,194, 9,218 miles
The biggest expense that goes into the traveling budget for the football team is the number of players that travel with each team, according to Director of Football Operations Reed Schuitema. Another factor is food costs for the athletes on the road.
“With football players, it’s different than (other) athletes just in terms of their size,” Schuitema said. “When you’re feeding a 320-pound man compared to a 140-pound field hockey player or whatever, it gets a little bit different. They obviously need more calories, so we need to make sure that they have the proper nourishment to compete at a high level.”
There were 102 players and 21 coaches, coordinators, videographers and graduate assistants involved with the football team during the 2014-15 season. Schuitema said only 70 players travel with the team during Mid-American Conference play, and they typically take no more than 74 players in non-conference games.
“If we have a flight and there’s 147 people on it, 70 of those seats are going to be primarily players, 20-to-25 are football staff and coaches and support staff,” Schuitema said. “Then you’re going to have the various members of the administration and the athletic department and any other potential donors of the program.”
Assistant Athletics Director for Communications Rob Wyman said each football trip has to be a “very large venture,” — even though the team only has about six per year.
“A lot of the stuff comes down to things that are done in the offseason," Wyman said. "We’ve gone to bowl games seven of the last 10 years. Being prepared to go to the Bahamas, to go to Detroit doesn’t just happen in two or three weeks. You’re preparing for those things a lot of the year.”
