Right now, there is so much uncertainty in the world. Nobody knows when the economy or sporting events will resume. College athletic programs and other organizations are preparing for every possible scenario. Minnesota athletic director Mark Coyle has been collaborating with college administrators across the nation to develop a plan.
These leaders, including Big Ten officials, have no idea when athletic activities will resume on their campuses. All they can do is project what the future could look like when the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
Last month, Minnesota’s athletic department presented three scenarios for projected 2021 revenue losses. Coyle and Deputy Athletics Director Rhonda McFarland again discussed these estimates with the Board of Regents on Friday. During a Zoom call with media members, Coyle detailed potential revenue losses for the 2021 fiscal year.
The first scenario involves student-athletes returning to campus and playing sports in the fall. If this happens, the athletic department is projecting a $10 million loss in revenue.
“In that $10 million scenario, if we are playing sports, we do anticipate a decrease in ticket sales,” Coyle said.
In Minnesota’s second scenario, games would be played in empty stadiums without fans. Coyle and McFarland projected games without fans could lead to $30 million in lost revenue.
“When you go to scenario two, the $30 million loss, that’s not having any fans in your venue, so now you start to lose that ticket revenue, that scholarship seating revenue,” Coyle said.
The athletic department’s third projection assumes teams are unable to play fall sports, but can resume on Jan. 1.
“When you add that third scenario in, that’s where you don’t have the TV revenue, so that’s why it escalates so quickly,” Coyle said.
Minnesota’s athletic department has an operating budget of $123 million for the 2020 fiscal year, which ranks eighth among Big Ten schools. Prior to the pandemic, the athletic program projected a $1 million surplus. Now, the department could face a $4-5 million shortfall for the 2020 budget cycle.
“Before we went to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Basketball Tournament on the men’s side, we were projecting that we were going to finish a million to the good,” Coyle said. “And then when all of the events got canceled, we started to feel the financial impact. Obviously, the NCAA distribution I believe was a third of what it normally is.”
The athletic department initiated a spending freeze and found ways to trim expenses, including through voluntary salary reductions for coaches and senior staff members. Coyle said University leadership has been in constant communication with its coaches regarding these decisions.
“We’re working and we’re doing everything we can to get towards a balanced budget, but as each passing day comes this fiscal year, that’s going to be more and more unlikely. We feel like we’ve implemented the things we can implement. We’ll continue to be creative,” Coyle said. “And when you talk about the salary reductions, I want to be very clear. We talked with our head coaches and our senior staff about taking a voluntary salary cut. Those were in conversations with President Gabel and people chose to participate in that and that obviously helped us this fiscal year.”
Coyle noted there are so many unanswered questions regarding what the future will look like. He said the Big Ten Conference cost-cutting task force is developing methods to help departments save money. Coyle indicated schools are exploring ways to make travel more efficient and cost effective. His presentation highlighted a potential double-digit percent reduction in the overall operating budget. It is also possible additional salary reductions could occur in the upcoming 2021 fiscal year.
“We’ve been very open and honest with our coaches, with our staffs, with our assistant coaches, etc. that we fully anticipate there will be salary reductions next fiscal year that we will participate in and we will work closely with campus to make sure we are in alignment with what our campus peers are doing across the campus and the system,” Coyle said.
Minnesota currently offers 25 sports, which ranks fourth among Big Ten schools. Recently, the Gophers’ secondary programs have been very successful. For example, the Volleyball team qualified for the Final Four and Softball made a push to the College World Series last year. Coyle highlighted the fact Minnesota has finished in the Top-20 of the Learfield IMG College Directors’ Cup over the past two seasons. He is impressed with the consistency and success the athletic department is developing.
Right now, Coyle and his staff are discussing every possible option to maximize revenue and budget streams. This includes evaluating all of the athletic programs offered by the University.
“I would argue that we’ve been very efficient and we’ve tried to maximize our revenues to allow our teams to compete at a high level. So obviously, we’re going to have to look at that,” Coyle said. “And as we look at going into [the 2021 fiscal year], there is no doubt that everything is on the table and we’ll have to take a look at how we run our program and then have to make decisions as we move forward.”
Obviously, the biggest question is when the Big Ten Conference will resume athletic activities. Coyle said conference administration officials have been in constant communication with each other. Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren has launched an “Emerging Infectious Diseases” committee, which is led by Dr. Chris Kratochvil at the University of Nebraska. Coyle and athletic directors across the conference have been evaluating models and assessing data on a daily basis.
“The collaboration that we have right now in the Big Ten is unbelievable. I mean, literally, I am talking to the athletic directors I feel like more than I’m talking to my family right now. We are on the phone almost daily. I’m thankful for Commissioner Warren’s leadership. I don’t want to speculate [on a return], I can tell you, we are looking at all types of different models,” Coyle said.
“We are looking at models that are going to be driven by our medical experts, because ultimately, they are going to make the decision for us. We all have a core understanding that when we come back, we want to come back making sure we provide the safest possible environment we can for our student-athletes. And that’s at the center of every one of our conversations.”
Coyle said medical experts and data will determine when athletic activities can resume. University of Minnesota President Joan Gabel is consulting with professionals and relaying the findings back to campus leaders like Coyle.
“What we look at in terms of what it looks like when we can return, we’re going to be in alignment with campus, and obviously, we are going to follow President Gabel’s lead, who is relying again on the medical experts, who will provide us with the data and let us know when we can come back,” Coyle said. “The only thing I can tell you is we are going to follow campus’s lead and work closely with President Gabel and campus on when we can bring our student-athletes back.”
Coyle was asked what other athletic directors are thinking about the possibility of playing without fans this fall. The Gophers’ athletic director believes data and medical professionals are going to determine which method schools support.
“Early on, I think people were open to that concept. I think as this continues to play itself out, I think people are pausing a bit on whether or not you would play without fans,” Coyle said. “I think, ultimately, that again, we need to get the input and the advice from medical personnel on what we can and cannot do. Again, the center of our conversation is what is in the best interest of our student-athletes and making sure they have a safe environment for them to participate in.”