CSAC said to be heading towards insolvency
Early on during the course of last Monday’s meeting for the California State Athletic Commission in San Diego, Executive Director…
Early on during the course of last Monday’s meeting for the California State Athletic Commission in San Diego, Executive Director George Dodd was pressed by a commissioner about a letter from the Department of Consumer Affairs (which technically oversees the CSAC) in which it said that the commission was on the path to insolvency.
In other words, broke.
Dodd was asked if the commission is already close to ‘overspending this year’ in terms of their budget, and he admitted that this was the case.
The CSAC’s fiscal year for budgeting is from July 1st to June 30th. Budgetary matters have to be taken care of before state legislators leave for Summer recess. According to the DCA, the CSAC is heading towards the Fiscal Year finish line on fumes and would not have money in the bank for the upcoming Fiscal Year.
George Dodd talked about how there are spending limits set by legislation and that he feels the commission is on target to still make it but the problem is what can be spent versus what they are taking in for revenue. He stated that the DCA observed back in March that the math was not adding up. Dodd said that the revenue projections were off by more than $500,000 because of decreasing revenues as compared to the last few years of business. He does feel that the commission can remain solvent, however.
Dodd noted that the commission has had to relieve some people of their duties and that more cuts were on the way. He said that they were looking to replace permanent positions with non-permanent workers, but that the purging would continue through August.
When pressed about why there are budgetary problems, Dodd put the bulk of the blame on the amount of inspectors the commission uses. He claimed that over half of the commission’s budget is based on paying for inspectors, who are paid hourly.
He pondered if California’s tax codes were driving away fighters from doing one-off bouts in the state. Then it was a question about venues perhaps not giving promoters the right kind of deals.
He then mentioned Zuffa buying out Strikeforce and how having a major promotion from California taken away has hurt. He stated that a big game plan is needed to bring back big-time promoters to California so they can prosper.
Other reasons Dodd cited for the bad gates in California, included the bad economy, pricing of tickets, venue & fighter issues.
He said that the commission was taking in $1.7M to $1.8M in yearly revenues for the last three fiscal years but that the numbers are way down now.
Linda Forster summed up what the other commissioners were feeling.
Do you know how embarrassing it would be to the state of California if we can’t put on boxing events?
You’ve got to come up with a plan to us for what we are going to do.
To which Chairman Frierson replied, It was really a complete surprise when we got that (insolvency) letter. I was shocked!
A lack of revenue/insolvency means the California State Athletic Commission would have to be shut down. If the commission gets shut down, that means all boxing & MMA events would no longer be allowed to take place in California.
