YAIAA revenues hold steady in down economy

While at least one District 3 league deals with a financial crisis of sorts, it appears the economic downturn has had a minimal effect on the YAIAA.

Herb Schmidt, the league's executive director, said Tuesday the YAIAA's finances remain in good shape.

"We are moving along as usual," Schmidt said. "We may be off a little bit, but nothing that's drastic. We have contingency plans to take care of any economic problems we have so we stay on a nice even keel."

A little more than a week ago, the Lancaster Sunday News published a story detailing the Lancaster-Lebanon League's staggering drop in revenue, and the league's attempts to offset those losses. According to the article, the L-L League lost $32,898.68 during the 2009-10 school year.

Like the L-L League, the YAIAA draws its revenues from two sources: Dues from member schools and the gate from league playoff games. Because the dues are fairly static from year-to-year, the biggest factor in determining the YAIAA's revenue stream is attendance at those playoff contests.

Schmidt said the turnout at those games has held steady in recent years.

"If for some reason the economy got that bad that attendance would drop drastically then that would be something we have to deal with," Schmidt said.

Just in case, Schmidt said the YAIAA also has a reserve fund available to absorb an unforeseen drop in income. He declined to say exactly how much was in that fund.

Schmidt said he wasn't sure why the YAIAA has remained relatively immune to the economic downturn compared to some other leagues.

"I don't know if they lost gate receipts or something they do has increased in costs," Schmidt said. "We haven't experienced it so we haven't had to worry about it."