Gasoline has zipped past $4 per gallon, and diesel fuel is approaching $5 a gallon. Airfare is climbing and some airlines are even charging for checked luggage. The tab for charter flights is shooting beyond reach.

But as much as fuel prices are denting collegiate athletic budgets across America, that's not the No. 1 concern to Marshall athletic director Bob Marcum. He hopes the revenue side won't get hammered.

"There's no doubt you have to be concerned about it, because you have to be concerned about people traveling to your ballgames," Marcum said.

Being a one-time executive at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Marcum has no doubt noticed how the economy has taken a chunk out of NASCAR's former invincibility at the box office. The Thundering Herd's fan base is, in some respects, more regional than that at West Virginia, Ohio State and similar schools.

But then again, a season-ticket holder who lives down the street from the stadium might be sitting beside a similarly loyal fan who makes the haul from Charlotte, N.C. MU expects to maintain its season-ticket level of 2006, but there is concern.

"As fuel prices increase, and as football season approaches, you get concerned about people saying, 'Well, I don't think I can make it to every ballgame, so maybe I'll just select some games and drive down,' " Marcum said.

Then there are walk-up sales, which can add a few thousand on a good day.

"You know, we depend a lot on walk-up sales," Marcum said. "We really do. So yeah, you have to be concerned about it, and you hope what people would do is carpool and things like that, share the expenses of coming to the ball game.

"Anyone that says that they're not concerned about it, I just don't think they're being a realist."

Any ticket sold will help MU officials deal with jolts of reality from the travel tab. In college athletic departments nationwide, the full effect of higher gas and airline prices may not have sunk in just yet.

MU's travel tab for 2006-07 was $1,947,172, up from $1,698,153 in 2005-06. The budgeted figure for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, was $1.95 million. MU budgeted $880,109 for travel in its final year in the Mid-American Conference, 2004-05.

The expenses from the spring sports season are still being tallied, but associate athletic director David Steele thinks the budgeted figure will pretty much hold up. For 2008-09, the budgeted figure is $2,081,700.

"I think we're seeing some, but I don't think we've got the full impact," Steele said. "We're not any different from anybody else and it's something we're watching close. I think it's only natural to expect some increases."

Travel has been an adjustment for Herd teams, even before the price of gasoline shot up. That was expected, as Marshall moved from the MAC to C-USA.

Gasoline has zipped past $4 per gallon, and diesel fuel is approaching $5 a gallon. Airfare is climbing and some airlines are even charging for checked luggage. The tab for charter flights is shooting beyond reach.

But as much as fuel prices are denting collegiate athletic budgets across America, that's not the No. 1 concern to Marshall athletic director Bob Marcum. He hopes the revenue side won't get hammered.

"There's no doubt you have to be concerned about it, because you have to be concerned about people traveling to your ballgames," Marcum said.

Being a one-time executive at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Marcum has no doubt noticed how the economy has taken a chunk out of NASCAR's former invincibility at the box office. The Thundering Herd's fan base is, in some respects, more regional than that at West Virginia, Ohio State and similar schools.

But then again, a season-ticket holder who lives down the street from the stadium might be sitting beside a similarly loyal fan who makes the haul from Charlotte, N.C. MU expects to maintain its season-ticket level of 2006, but there is concern.

"As fuel prices increase, and as football season approaches, you get concerned about people saying, 'Well, I don't think I can make it to every ballgame, so maybe I'll just select some games and drive down,' " Marcum said.

Then there are walk-up sales, which can add a few thousand on a good day.

"You know, we depend a lot on walk-up sales," Marcum said. "We really do. So yeah, you have to be concerned about it, and you hope what people would do is carpool and things like that, share the expenses of coming to the ball game.

"Anyone that says that they're not concerned about it, I just don't think they're being a realist."

Any ticket sold will help MU officials deal with jolts of reality from the travel tab. In college athletic departments nationwide, the full effect of higher gas and airline prices may not have sunk in just yet.

MU's travel tab for 2006-07 was $1,947,172, up from $1,698,153 in 2005-06. The budgeted figure for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, was $1.95 million. MU budgeted $880,109 for travel in its final year in the Mid-American Conference, 2004-05.

The expenses from the spring sports season are still being tallied, but associate athletic director David Steele thinks the budgeted figure will pretty much hold up. For 2008-09, the budgeted figure is $2,081,700.

"I think we're seeing some, but I don't think we've got the full impact," Steele said. "We're not any different from anybody else and it's something we're watching close. I think it's only natural to expect some increases."

Travel has been an adjustment for Herd teams, even before the price of gasoline shot up. That was expected, as Marshall moved from the MAC to C-USA.

The MAC was almost exclusively a bus league. The football team would fly to Northern Illinois, Buffalo and the directional Michigan schools, but most conference road games brought players up close and personal with the cornfields of Ohio.

In the C-USA era, the Herd football squad has taken exactly one bus trip per year, to Virginia Tech, WVU and Cincinnati. The nearest conference game is in Greenville, N.C., 455 road miles away, and the Herd has flown a much as 1,420 air miles, to El Paso, Texas.

Those are charter trips, by necessity. For the most part, the other teams fly commercial. Not all sports play a full conference schedule, but men's and women's basketball, volleyball and baseball do play a full slate.

When the schedules roll out, MU officials go bargain hunting.

"The thing that really hurts us is, compared to some of the other places in the conference, a lot of places have major airports to work with," Marcum said. "So there's more competition, and you get better prices.

"You have to give our athletes credit, give our coaches credit, for saying, 'Yeah, we drive to Columbus and fly out of there, or Cincinnati or in some cases, Lexington.' You hope you get flights out of Huntington and Charleston, but that's not always true."

Money-wise, the hope is that the increase in travel costs will be covered, and then some, by the increase in television revenue. That has held up so far, with Marshall expected to net a share in the $1.6 million range this fiscal year. TV money in the MAC was closer to zero, often in the low five figures.

The toll on the athletes can come in missed class time and fatigue, which are compounded by misadventures such as delays, missed connections and cancellations. The men's basketball team was especially plagued in the 2007-08 season.

Even charter flights went awry. A flight to Dallas got scrubbed, and the Herd had to book a commercial flight out of Louisville, Ky. The Herd took a charter to the C-USA tournament in Memphis, Tenn., but had to bus to Charleston at the last minute to board it. The delay cost the team its pre-tournament practice slot.

Most charters are funded, at least in part, by private donations, Marcum said.

"It's, one, what you can afford, and two, weighing what's beneficial to you," Marcum said. "When the conference schedule comes out, then you start looking at it and saying, you know what, it would be advantageous for us to do it. If you could do it for every away game, you know what, that would be terrific. But that's not realistic for us."

Reach Doug Smock at 348-5130

or dougsm...@wvgazette.com.