BOISE, Idaho — Officials from Boise State University went before the Idaho State Board of Education to request an increase in their spending limits of public funds on athletics at a regularly scheduled board meeting on Thursday.
The ISBOE limits the amount of public money that universities can use to support their respective athletics programs.
Two years ago, when the policy was updated in June 2019, Boise State passed on an opportunity to increase their own spending limits, something that was made available to each public four-year institution in Idaho.
At the time, Boise State Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Mark Heil, reported that Bronco Athletics were, "able to manage a competitive, yet not extravagant, athletics program under the current spending limit." As a result, their spending limit remained at $5,014,000.
Meanwhile, Idaho, Idaho State and Lewis-Clark State each saw an increase to their respective spending limits. Idaho requested a 22% percent increase at the time and saw their limit raise from $5,457,000 to $7,000,000.
During that same ISBOE meeting, Idaho State's petition was much more modest. Their limit increases just $12,000, pushing their cap to $4,754,600.
LCSC saw the largest increase, going from $1,284,800 in the 2019 fiscal year, to $3,200,000 in the 2020 FY.
"When you look at what we've received, I think there's opportunity," Boise State Director of Athletics Jeramiah Dickey said prior to the board meeting on Thursday.
Boise State's request was to bump their spending limit to $7,682,000 for the 2022 fiscal year, which still only accounts for about 18% of their total athletic budget.
The request unanimously passed 6-0.
"That's just one bucket," Dickey said. "No one individual bucket is going to get us there. We're going to have to unite. We're going to need every single revenue stream and we're going to create some new ones, and it's going to lead to us doing some really cool things that I think Bronco Nation will be proud of and excited for."
Watch more on Boise State Football:
See all of our Boise State football coverage in our YouTube playlist:
