ray watts

UAB president Ray Watts will review the CSS report before making his decision. (Tamika Moore/tmoore@al.com)

UAB's athletic department would have an annual deficit of $3.165 million if it reinstated football, rifle and bowling, according to a school commissioned report, obtained by AL.com.

The report, produced by College Sports Solutions, was presented to the UAB Athletic Assessment Task Force on Friday and is scheduled to be released to the public on Monday. Watts has revealed that he will announce his decision about whether to reinstate football, rifle and bowling by June 1.

CSS deduced that both continuing to exist without the three sports and reinstating them were "viable options" for UAB. However, it also stated in the report that due to the strong desire throughout the community for the sports to return a decision to reinstate them would boost donations greater than current levels.

"It would foster much goodwill and stimulate a substantial amount of spiritual and financial support from alumni, donors, ticket holders, friends, students, faculty and the community," CSS wrote. "It could create a unique opportunity, not only through that support, but also through unprecedented positive national attention to the University."

The firm was hired to review the CarrSports Consulting report that revealed last year that UAB athletic expenses would grow to $38.5 million by 2019, but revenue would increase by less than $1 million. It determined UAB would need to spend $49 million over a five-year period to be competitive in football. Those findings were the impetus behind UAB president Ray Watts' decision to disband three sports.

Another report, paid for by supporters of UAB football and revealed on April 23, said UAB football would be profitable, but its projections were based on cost estimates because the firm wasn't afforded full access to UAB's books. OSKR recommended an annual $1.2 million commitment from private sources to better fund the program.

CSS' report, which included a review of UAB's financial records, portends a much more manageable deficit which could be closed by booster donations, increased student fees and corporate sponsorship, among other revenue sources.

Justin Craft, a former UAB player, has led private fundraising efforts and said Friday that he had raised $7.5 million in private donations. The Birmingham City Council recently pledged $2.5 million over the next five years, and the UAB Undergraduate Student Government Association passed a resolution to increase student fees resulting in a pledge of $550,000 annually if football, rifle and bowling teams come back.

The CSS report speculates that football could return in 2016 and that ticket sales and donations would increase in that scenario. Last year, UAB averaged 21,841 fans per game, an increase of 10,548 fans per game, the second-highest rise in the nation, according to recently released NCAA attendance figures.

Both Watts and the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees would look "favorably upon return of football, bowling and rifle if such a return were made with sound financial considerations and plans," CSS concluded, based on interviews conducted with Watts and trustee Finis St. John. Watts had publicly stated that all options were on the table when he commissioned the task force to review his decision.

In its process of assessing campus-wide interest in UAB athletics, CSS determined there was a strong consensus "that the elimination of the three sports, particularly football, has been detrimental to the university."

"We were struck by the near unanimity of these campus groups in their opinion that the elimination of the sports was damaging to the notion of a stimulating campus environment and detrimental to UAB's own self-respect," the report said.

Without football, UAB would still lose money until 2020 where it would make a $152,201 profit, according to CSS' projections.

The school would also incur additional expenses from the expected departure from Conference USA if football is not reinstated. Based on interviews with UAB staffers, it states that the Missouri Valley Conference, the Sun Belt and the Atlantic-10 are the three most likely conference options if UAB must leave CUSA. AL.com has reported that the Missouri Valley Conference was UAB's preferred conference if it were forced to leave CUSA.

Joining a new conference would not only likely result in less revenue generated through television rights and College Football Playoff payouts -- CSS estimates the figure at more than $2 million annually -- but UAB would also have to pay an entry fee of $2 million over three years to join the Sun Belt, and between $350,000 to $400,000 to join MVC.

The UAB administration is expected to review the CSS report before Watts announces his decision.