More sports economy news from USAToday: Schools, conferences rush to contain costs

The latest came Wednesday in the Big Ten. Wrapping up three days of meetings in Chicago, league officials opted to suspend the traditional allotment of luggage, electronics and other gifts to players at the conference's annual basketball tournament and other events — saving a projected $500,000. They also froze the salaries of higher-paid league employees.

The Atlantic Coast, meeting last week in Destin, joined a growing movement to shrink the size of team's traveling squads, capping football's at 72. Before that, it scrapped a plan to take next year's postseason baseball tournament to the hallowed ground of Boston's Fenway Park.

Playing the eight-team event instead in NewBridge Bank Park in more centrally located Greensboro, N.C., will save an estimated $125,000.