Fresno State Pulling Back on Financial Support for Athletics Department Amid Budget Crunch

Fresno State president Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval this week said the school can no longer subsidize athletics at current levels, as the entirety of the 23-school California State University system struggles with a budget crunch. 

Fresno State currently supports 18 athletics programs at competitive levels as the school is set to join a rebuilding Pack-12 Conference in the fall of 2026. 

“We can’t go there,” Jiménez-Sandoval told The Fresno Bee of past subsidy levels. “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.’

“Within that then, the plan, not just the hope, is to have a plan in place so we can leverage all of the assets athletics has to their maximum capacity. How can we use facilities more? How can we move forward with multimedia? And, what other areas can we come up with that we can really leverage the revenue needed to sustain athletics?”

Fresno State covered $19.7 million in athletics subsidies last year, but Jiménez-Sandoval made it clear that funding this year will not be anywhere near that amount. 

Some of the shortfall will be covered by an increased mandatory student fee approved in April for the 2025-26 academic year. Athletics is expected to receive $5 million of the $11.4 million the fee is expected generate. 

Athletics director Garrett Klassy said his department will do its best with the resources available. 

“The level of (university) support is what it is. We’re going to control what we can control and we have a unique opportunity in athletics that the rest of campus does not have, where we can go out and find some unique revenue opportunities. 

“I’ve said since Day One that we have to run this enterprise like a business and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re reviewing every revenue contract. Quite frankly, as attendance has gone up, revenue in some of those important areas has not gone up. We need to have some look-ins in all those contracts to make sure we’re maximizing those pieces of revenue. We can’t leave any stone unturned.”