The department saved money by not having to travel for the NCAA women's basketball tournamentgetty images
Univ. of South Carolina AD Ray Tanner said that despite the financial impacts of the coronavirus, his department "finished the year in the black," according to Ben Breiner of the Columbia STATE. Tanner: "We did stay in the black once again. For 2021, it's a daunting task." Tanner notes the "pieces of how that came together won’t be publicly clear for a while, but there are a few hints one can find." At the start of last year, the school had projected a surplus of more than $12M based on $125.4M in projected revenue and $113M in expenses. The "loss of the NCAA winter and spring championships, notably the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, took a bite out of the distribution from the SEC." The NCAA's overall distribution was cut down from $600M to $250M, but that "still filters through the SEC and would not account for revenue possibly lost by the SEC Network." The department "actually saved a little money with the cancellation of spring sports and not having to travel on what projected to be a long run in the NCAA women's basketball tournament." Tanner said that the budget "has already been cut by 15%," and a set of university-wide furloughs is expected to affect "more than 50 highly-paid athletic department employees" (Columbia STATE, 7/9).
