The start of the new school year brought a new partnership in the athletic department with the Anthony Travel company.

Anthony Travel is the leading intercollegiate athletics travel agency in the country with fifty-eight university partnerships including it’s home station in South Bend, Indiana at Notre Dame.

Lee De León, Director of Athletics, influenced the change this summer when he took note of the unexpected amount of money being used to cover fees.

The Wildcats’ athletic department was spending excess money on travel expenses and the previous system was not allowing for any savings. The increase of money expended wasn’t being wasted on luxury rooms or unnecessary meals, it was primarily because of the move to Div. I.

“The average trip for a Southland Conference game is twice as long as it was when we were in the Lone Star Conference,” said De León. “So our travel expenses really went through the roof.”

The average round trip at the Div. II level was 450 miles, but with the shift to Div. I, round trips add up to almost 900 miles. When De León saw the program went over budget in travel, he found Anthony Travel, who has been a leading travel company for athletics for twenty-five years.

“They get us a better price on our hotels, on our airfare, on our rental cars, on our buses and ground transportation,” said De León. “The other blessing behind this deal is that it frees up our staff.”

With the dozens of partnerships and many connections Anthony Travel already has, they can afford to require less fees per university. Instead of hiring staff members to find hotels, book rental cars and schedule flights, Anthony Travel covers for everything with just the one payment.

“They’re basically an extension of our staff without us paying their salary or their benefits,” said De León. “It’s really a great partnership. We’re excited about it and we think it’s going to save us a lot of money.”