September 08, 2016 (Anchorage, Alaska) – Tough budget decisions are ahead for the University of Alaska; there is a very real possibility that cross-country skiing programs could be axed reports the News-Miner. Things do not look good for the Nanooks’ most popular and successful sports teams – rifle, hockey, cross-country running and skiing.

In an effort to trim the budget by tens of millions of dollars, one proposal is for the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) and University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) to end all sports. Although very unpopular, this proposal could provide immediate savings equalling about five percent of the university budget.

Another option is for the two campuses to concentrate on those sports where they have respective strengths. While it seems logical to keep basketball and volleyball in Anchorage – given the $110 million stadium there – while rifle and swimming would stay in Fairbanks, question marks remain about hockey and cross-country running and skiing.

A third option would see the end of programs for hockey, swimming, rifle and cross-country skiing, replacing them with other sports less suited climatically for Alaska: soccer, golf and/or track.

This dilemma is set in a bigger context of how a big state with a tiny population grapples with falling oil revenues. Not only has the price of a barrel of oil come down dramatically over the past two years, but oil production was declining in Alaska as major reserves are getting tapped out.

Newsminer report here.
Bloomberg here.