What Kaler has to say about the number of sports at the University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler talks to the Star Tribune about sports at the U:
Q: When you look at the budget and the struggles, Joel has been adamant about having a well-rounded, 25-sport program, and the non-revenue sports mean as much as the big sports. Going forward, do you still see this university being able to support 25 sports the way that it has?
Kaler: As we go forward, we're going to look with a microscope at everything we do. One thing we will look at is the scope of the athletic department. I expect to look carefully at what those revenue models look like for the full spectrum of sports.
Q: Does that mean you're open to cutting sports? Is that an option that's on the table?
Kaler: I think it's going to be important for the athletics department, just like every other part of the university, to critically evaluate what they're doing with the funds that they have available. If they can support 25 sports in the budget parameters that they have, that's terrific. But if they can't, then we'll need to go in a different direction, which means we need to have fewer sports.
He also talks about scandals, paying athletes and Joel Maturi, among other things.
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