The return to football is unlikely to cause a dramatic dent in the losses that Pac-12 sports departments will eventually suffer as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the face of huge budget deficits, highs in the league have already resorted to layoffs, casualties and the general dismissal of some sports.
In Utah, football coach Kyle Whittingham and basketball coach Larry Krystkowiak agreed to pay cuts to compensate for up to $60 million in planned losses. Athletic director Mark Harlan said the Utes still face “significant monetary challenges. “
One reason: from now on, none of the Pac-12 football matches will have the presence of enthusiasts. That said, any help, like TV profits, is welcome.
“Obviously, we have the possibility of having more source of benefit than we had any idea a few weeks ago. So we’ll continue to stick to our budget and all the policies we’ve put in position to manage our trail through this, knowing there may be a soft one here at the end of the tunnel that we’ll have more profits than we don’t necessarily count on,” Harlan said.
The pandemic ended sports in March, adding NCAA basketball tournaments. In the absence of March Madness, the NCAA lacked $375 million to distribute to its member schools, which already faced questions about enrollment degrees and educational deficiencies.
After the cancellation of all spring sports, the league on August 11 will postpone all autumn and winter sports after the first of next year.
But an agreement with Quidel, a California-based manufacturer of physical health diagnostic services, for a fast-performing coronavirus testing program has helped the football season, by far the biggest profit generator in school sports, get back on track.
The league will open a seven-match conference season on November 7.
Arizona athletic director David Heeke insisted that discussions to revive athletics focus on athletes, not budgets.
“Without fanatics, there is a huge challenge. We are happy to play, pleased to have this opportunity, but we still lack a lot of profit and it will be a challenge for us in the long run as an organization,” Heeke said.
Arizona estimated $60 million to $65 million in lost revenue. Wildcats are a 10% budget cut for their sports systems and 15% relief on all administrative systems. The university has also implemented pay cuts and licenses throughout the school.
Oregon President Michael Schill, chairman of the Pac-12 group of CEOs, echoed that the return to football will in no way offset the deficit.
“The losses that our schools are suffering, that is, in our athletics branch, are enormous. The amount of cash to be paid as a result of the return to the game is minimal for losses,” Schill said.
In California, the sports branch projected a deficit of $55 million that fiscal year and had defined measures to mitigate losses while supporting athletes, adding hiring and freezing merit pay; voluntary pay cuts for coaches and administrators, and other budget cuts.
“Now that sports are on their way to resume, there will be some relief. I want to emphasize that while I am aware of the monetary implications of returning to competition, they played no role in the decision,” said Cal’s sporting director, Jim. Knowlton. ” We had a plan to meet our budget goals with a loss of $50 million to $55 million, so any new source of income will help us offset any deficits. We want to be very careful with our expenses and be as careful and effective as you can imagine this year.
The ultimate impressive action taken through Stanford, which finished 11 school sports systems at the end of the 2020-2021 educational year, adding male and female fencing, box hockey, soft rowing, male rowing, combined and female sailing, squash. , Synchronized swimming. , men’s volleyball and wrestling. Stanford officials refused to comment on the story.
In the state of Oregon, the sports branch fired about two dozen workers in June due to the coup d’etre of the football-free school, which will be re-released, sports director Scott Barnes said.
He said the prospective revenue from television is healthy, but it’s still unclear how all this will move.
“I’ll tell you this, when it comes to television, we’re about to be able to maximize the games we play, not there, but very close to the maximum for ESPN/Fox dollars, depending on the schedule we’re looking for. “, Barnes said, obviously, there are all sorts of profit gaps because we’re not going to have fans, we’re not going to have concessions, parking, donations. All this, I didn’t put a pencil on it. “
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