Scotty, the district athletic department presenter, told the Swain County Board the department faces rising costs for officials, equipment and travel that together could require budgeting roughly between $150,000 and $160,000 for the coming year. He identified officials’ fees, equipment and uniform price increases (citing a tariff‑driven jump in a basketball unit price) as primary cost pressures.

Scotty said half of the department’s major expense estimates are officials’ fees and highlighted several line items: Hudl (video/scouting service) estimated at about $11,000 annually; field painting estimated at $5,700–$6,000; and wrestling postseason costs that vary year to year. On the revenue side, he said gate receipts historically brought in $95,000–$100,000, with one recent year dropping to around $64,000–$65,000; the Merndevil/Maroon Devil Network adds roughly $12,000 in media revenue and banner sponsorships are targeted to bring in about $22,000 annually but the presenter said current commitments were about half that goal.

To close gaps, Scotty proposed modest increases to sports season‑pass pricing, concession‑product changes to raise profits and new fundraising strategies: benefit tournaments (golf and flag football), competitive team fundraising, and an athletics department online team store that uses drop‑ship vendors and can be rotated monthly. He said volleyball had launched a team store and that community sales could generate both fundraising and brand visibility.

Board members asked about year‑to‑year gate revenue variability and whether streaming (the Maroon Devil Network) reduced gate receipts; Scotty said he did not believe the network hurt gate revenue and that the network has been “helpful” in reaching audiences and revenue goals. Several members asked for per‑sport expense breakdowns and for clearer separation between central office transportation costs and high‑school transportation responsibilities; Scotty agreed the per‑team breakdown in the packet could help track costs across seasons.

Why it matters: The athletics budget affects extracurricular opportunities, booster fundraising, staffing and how the district allocates central office support; projected cost increases could lead to higher pass prices, altered concession offerings or new fundraising requirements.

Next steps: The athletic department will refine per‑team cost breakdowns, pursue sponsorships and launch planned fundraising and team‑store initiatives before the school year starts.