The Fresno State athletics department has been dependent on university support to keep up with the rising costs, receiving a record $19.7 million last year.
But in a severe budget crunch due to cuts in state funding that is impacting all 23 campuses in the California State University system Fresno State president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said it can no longer subsidize athletics at such lofty levels, which presents a challenge to athletics director Garrett Klassy and the community in funding 18 sports programs at competitive levels as the Bulldogs get set to join a rebuilding Pac-12 Conference in the fall of 2026.
“We can’t go there,” Jiménez-Sandoval said, in an interview with The Fresno Bee. “These are no longer the times in which the university will say, ‘All right, we’re going to cover athletics and it will be fine.’…