Schools may be forced to cancel Olympic sports like wrestling if there is no football season this yearGETTY IMAGES
Several ADs and college sports officials in interviews last week acknowledged the "distressing reality" that a canceled football season "would cost the industry billions, forcing athletic directors to consider layoffs, drastic pay cuts and potentially canceling so-called Olympic or nonrevenue sports," according to Hobson & Giambalvo of the WASHINGTON POST. Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard said, "Everything is on the table. It's hard today to wrap your head around how challenging that would be if we can't play any football games. ... We'd essentially be bankrupt." Pollard said Iowa State's annual athletics budget "hovers around" $90M, and about 75% of its revenue "comes from football." A struggling economy also "probably would affect donations," and several schools have "delayed deadlines for donations required to secure football season tickets." Tulane AD Troy Dannen said, "It's borderline immoral to be soliciting money from people, given what some folks in our country are going through." Meanwhile, Hobson & Giambalvo noted a "handful of the wealthiest programs have substantial reserve funds saved that could help mitigate the financial pain." A Univ. of Georgia spokesperson said that the athletic department has more than $100M in a "reserve fund." However, "few schools have rainy day funds at all, let alone reserves as large as Georgia's" (WASHINGTON POST, 4/12).
TAKING IT DAY-BY-DAY: Northwestern AD Jim Phillips said of a college football season this year, "There's absolutely a possibility it may not happen -- or any of our fall sports. Maybe we'll play 12 games, maybe you won't be able to play any. Maybe there's a reduced schedule you can have. Everybody's trying to figure this out as we go along." He added, "There will be a college football season only if and when the medical experts, CDC, state regional and national leaders declare it to be safe. And it won't be made by a football coach, an athletic director or a university president" (WBBM780.RADIO.com, 4/10).
OTHER SPORTS TO CONSIDER: In Minneapolis, Patrick Reusse writes there are "already dire predictions of a financial fate that will befall college athletic programs." The Univ. of Minnesota has "suggested a minimum" $10M "decline in athletic revenue." But the first $10M cut in expenses "should not come in low-revenue sports; it should come from football." There is an "obligation to continue to present valid sports opportunities for a wide spectrum of students" (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/13).
