Latest news with #FresnoState
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresno State defers chunk of Save Mart Center debt. Could students feel the pain?
The Fresno State Association made a reduced annual debt payment on the Save Mart Center, effectively pushing down the road some of the pain in owing more than $30 million on an aging arena in need of refurbishment and upgrades. The Association was facing a principal and interest payment of more than $10.2 million in 2024-25, but the university said it deferred more than $4 million to maximize cash flow and establish a consistent payment schedule over the next four years. In doing so, it increased pressure on other units within the non-profit auxiliary organization that capture student revenue, such as the dining hall, to cover capital lease obligations and operating losses. With the deferral, payments will increase by $1 million a year over the next three fiscal years and by $1.1 million in 2028-29. The revised payments on arena debt are now $4.8 million in 2025-26, $5 million in 2026-27, $4 million in 2027-28 and $4.1 million in 2028-29; interest accounts for between 18.1% and 24.2% of those payments, not including the deferral amount. The debt still is scheduled to be paid off Nov. 1, 2031. The Save Mart Center capital lease payments are a general obligation of all Fresno State Association revenues, which include student housing, the residence dining hall, campus bookstore and the student union. 'Auxiliary operations cover both the facility's debt service and ongoing expenses, assuming full liability for the debt,' said Bob Brown, interim vice president of administration and chief financial officer. 'As a result, the university's operating budget remains unaffected.' Fresno State students, already hit with a tuition increase across the California State University system and an increase in a mandatory instructionally-related activities fee approved last month, are likely to feel the pinch. Revenue generated by student housing rent, as an example, was budgeted at $7.6 million in 2024-25, up from $6.5 million the previous year, according to the Fresno State Association budget. In actual dollars, rent revenue was reported at $6.5 million in 2022-23 and $6.3 million in 2021-22. With the increase, stemming in part from turning some double rooms into triple occupancy units, rent revenue is expected to generate a net surplus of $1.5 million in 2024-25, according to the budget. The university dining hall has had a net surplus of as much as $1.6 million in recent years, and its surplus was budgeted at $1.3 million in 2024-25. Any net surplus from units within the Association is directed by board policy to reserve accounts that are used to fund long-term capital lease obligations, as well as things like facility improvements and deferred maintenance. The decision to defer payments was made by former vice president of administration and chief financial officer Deborah Adishian-Astone prior to her departure at the end of 2024, according to the university. Adishian-Astone, who served as chair of the Fresno State Association, retired from the university. The Association is due to make principal and interest payments of about $3 million in 2029-30 and 2030-31 and $6.4 million in 2031-32. After making its payment this fiscal year it still owes $30.3 million on an arena that was opened in 2003 at a cost of $103 million, and since has been a drain on Fresno State basketball and volleyball teams that practice and play there. The Bulldogs' athletics department receives no cut of revenue from suite leases, signage, parking or concessions sales, which go to pay off the capital lease and to cover operating losses. Athletics also is charged for its use of the building, paying for floor changeovers to put the basketball floor down or take it up for another event, as well as on game days security, housekeeping and liability insurance.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Fresno State notifies Mountain West it is departing the league, will join Pac-12
Fresno State has informed the Mountain West Conference that it will leave the league at the end of 2025-26, according to a university source, a next step in joining a rebuilding Pac-12. Boise State, Colorado State, San Diego State and Utah State also notified the Mountain West they would be departing the conference, according to reports. Oregon State and Washington State are holdovers in the Pac-12, which was decimated by conference realignment that started when UCLA and USC bolted for the Big Ten. Gonzaga, which does not have a football team, will also join the Pac-12 in 2026 in the sports that it sponsors. Fresno State and the other universities departing the Mountain West notified the conference just ahead of a June 1 deadline to avoid an exit fee doubling from $18 million to around $36 million. It also was something of a financially-driven formality. According to the term sheet Fresno State signed in September 2024, it could revoke its election to join the Pac-12 only if receiving an invitation to join a Power Four conference, then paying liquidated damages of $30 million. If Fresno State were not to become a member of the Pac-12 on July 1, 2026, for any other reason, it would have to pay the conference liquidated damages of $40 million. The Pac-12 must still add one more full member to get to eight schools, the number required to be recognized by the NCAA. The exit fee Fresno State and the other four Mountain West schools will pay remains unresolved. The Pac-12 and Mountain West are in mediation over exit fees and a poaching penalty that was part of a scheduling agreement between the conferences for the 2024 football season.
Winnipeg Free Press
2 days ago
- Sport
- Winnipeg Free Press
James Castagnola's 3-run homer sparks UC Irvine in 8-3 victory over Fresno State in elimination game
LOS ANGELES (AP) — James Castagnola hit a two-out three-run homer in the second inning and UC Irvine never looked back in an 8-3 victory over Fresno State on Saturday in an elimination game of the Los Angeles Regional. No. 2 seed UC Irvine (42-16) awaits the loser of the nightcap between top-seeded host UCLA and No. 3 seed Arizona State in a Sunday elimination game. Fresno State finishes 31-29. Castagnola's homer came after Fresno State starter Aidan Cremarosa (6-6) hit Jacob McCombs leading off before walking Blake Penso with one out. McCombs hit a two-out solo shot in the third and Alonso Reyes walked and scored on a double play in the fourth for a 5-0 advantage. Lee Trevino singled in an unearned run that Anteaters reliever David Utagawa (2-0) inherited from starter Riley Kelly in the fourth and Eddie Saldivar hit a two-out solo homer off Utagawa in the fifth to get the Bulldogs within 5-2. McCombs, who went 3 for 4, singled in a run in the seventh and Colin Yeaman and Anthony Martinez had RBIs in the ninth for UC Irvine. Justin Stransky had an RBI single in the eighth off Anteaters reliever Max Martin, who replaced Utagawa after he allowed a leadoff single to Saldivar. Kelly surrendered two runs — one earned — on four hits in 4 2/3 innings. Martin allowed a hit in two scoreless innings to close it out. Cremarosa yielded five runs in six innings. Drew Townson followed and gave up three runs while retiring four batters. ___ AP college sports:
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
James Castagnola leads UC Irvine baseball to win over Fresno State in NCAA regional
UC Irvine first baseman James Castagnola, shown here playing against Long Beach State in March, hit a home run in an 8-3 win over Fresno State in the Los Angeles Regional on Saturday. (Kyusung Gong / Associated Press) UC Irvine bounced back from an NCAA tournament regional opening loss, rolling to an 8-3 win over Fresno State on Saturday at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium. James Castagnola led the Anteaters at the plate, delivering a home run and three RBIs. Winning pitcher Riley Kelly tossed 52 strikes, allowing four hits and two runs during four innings. Advertisement Eddie Saldivar delivered a home run and scored twice in the season-ending loss for the Bulldogs. UC Irvine will face the loser of the late UCLA-Arizona State game in another elimination game at 3 p.m. PDT Sunday. If the Anteaters win, they would face the winner of the Bruins-Sun Devils game in another elimination contest. UC Irvine needs to sweep its next three games to win the Los Angeles Regional. Read more: UC Irvine baseball fails to capitalize on chances in NCAA regional loss Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Pedestrian struck by vehicle near Fresno State. He was at fault, police say
A pedestrian was seriously injured Thursday night after a vehicle collision near Fresno State. It happened at 9 p.m. at Cedar and Shaw avenues, outside the southwest corner of the university. According to Fresno police Lt. Marcus Gray II, the pedestrian was illegally crossing outside of a crosswalk when a vehicle going south on Cedar hit him. The pedestrian was taken to a local hospital. He was in critical but stable condition, Gray said. The driver of the vehicle cooperated with officers. DUI and drugs were not factors, Gray said. The roadway was closed for at least an hour.
