I'm curious as to how big of an expenditure these things were and what you'd have to sell them for to break even. I used to grab about 5 to give to some of my fellow alums to hang in their cubes and so forth. At 25 or 50 cents each, I'd probably keep on doing that and that might be enough to keep people from taking more than they need. At $2, I'd probably just buy one for myself. I know we ask the Athletic Dept. to do a lot with a little, but this seems like something that can be done. In one of the worst economic periods of our country's history, maybe it's OK to take a break from doing stuff like this and tighten the financial belt. Hope it comes back though.
In actuality there would be no cost at all because there are businesses willing to finance these. I inquired about doing volleyball and got the Title IX deal - do it for one, do it for all. As for staff time to prepare them, whatever happened to getting an accomplished OU student designer to do the work. Heck, I work with high school yearbook kids who could do it. Like borna said, think outside the box - innovate and create.
IMO, there would be a cost, because that 'willing business' may front a few thousand dollars for some posters, but it would likely pull dollars back from the U in other areas (IE one less radio spot, no space in gameday program, OBC etc). So they could, and likely would, effectively be a money loser. If someone came on here and offered to pay for WBB/VB/MBB/FB posters, my guess is that it might be at the loss of whatever they planned to give OBC that year.
On one hand, I miss the nice posters, as I like to put the new ones up each year in my Bobcat room with the new teams as they come out. But on the other hand, I try to respect the decisions made by a department that has made cut after cut after cut and is struggling to make ends meet. As someone that supports this department with their wallet, it is semi-refreshing knowing that they're making the tough decisions to try to do the right thing with the funds they receive. I'm not saying doing this is right or wrong, but you can tell that they're managing down to the penny (or few thousand dollars) if they're pulling back on things like this.
Sidenote, I did a little (very little) research on what it would cost to make some 24in by 18in posters. I'm sure there are plenty of options and deals out there, but it looks like if you ordered a fair amount, you could do it for around .50 each. If they decided to sell the posters like they do the programs for a small fee, I think the people that really appreciate them would still be buyers.
ben