Universities all over the country are cutting non-revenue sports to save money, and they are also asking boosters to give more money to athletics. What universities aren’t doing is engaging in serious soul searching and, then, changing the way they do business.
I know that a newspaper headline isn’t always reflective of the article. However, today’s headline caught my attention. It read: “UNC athletics raising money for COVID-19 revenue losses.” The article described how the state flagship university expects to lose $30 million from lost ticket sales, reduced television revenue, and related pandemic woes. Another newspaper reported that the losses could be as much as $50 million.
Courtesy: Tar Heel Times
To fill the gap, UNC has turned to athletic boosters, asking them to contribute to a new fund, called The Carolina Victory Fund. Bubba Cunningham, the school’s athletic director, asks Rams Club members to make unrestricted gifts to help the university’s 28 varsity sports programs. Unrestricted gifts are administrators’ favorite form of giving. With no strings attached, dollars go into a common pot.
In 2019, UNC had $107.8 million in revenue due to many years of financial growth. Now, that run is over. Coaches and administrators have been furloughed or given salary reductions, and other cost-cutting measures have been imposed.
In 2017, when UNC felt that Tennessee would lure its head football coach away, the school’s board of trustees extended his contract through the 2022 season: The new deal paid the coach “$1.95 million this season, including a base salary of $400,000, and supplemental income totaling $1.55 million. Those amounts increase to $600,000 in base salary and $2.4 million in supplemental income — for a total of $3 million — in each of the final three years of the contract.” His incentive clauses ranged from “$50,000 for a bowl berth to $200,000 for winning a national title.”
In 2018–and after a 2-9 season–the coach’s contract was bought out at a $3 million cost for each of the remaining four years.
Universities use the budget knife on non-revenue sports (photo, USA Today)
The bottom line here isn’t hard to locate. And it can’t be papered over by starting a ‘Victory Fund,’ either. Sloppy, irresponsible management of public monies at a large, state-funded school must stop. And if only the situation applied to one state school in one state. It does not.
Athletic programs are operating like drunk workers who have cashed their paychecks and feel as though they are rich. And the NCAA hasn’t imposed curbs and limits on spending as many pro sports do. Now, caught in a bind, athletics directors ask for (drum roll, please) MORE MONEY!
Let’s face it. Trustees who approve such contracts (like the one given at the UNC football coach) wouldn’t manage their own companies in like manner. And they wouldn’t tolerate reckless managers overseeing their departments.
The stark reality is that schools all over the country are cutting non-revenue sports to save money and, at the same time, asking boosters to give even more money to athletics. But they aren’t engaging in serious soul searching. Perhaps that’s because college sports has lost its soul.
The pandemic has been revealing, often in ways that we had not expected. We should be learning valuable lessons about our beliefs/habits and applying that learning to craft a new business model. But there’s little evidence that’s happening in the realm of collegiate sports administration.
Three weeks ago today I received a phone call from my incredibly upset 18 year old son, a freshman swimmer at Michigan State University. They had just been told that the program would be eliminated at the end of the season, which is its 99th year in existence. The athletic director has lied constantly to the public claiming non-regulation facilities, and when proven untrue added cruelty to his inherently flawed logic by telling the team they aren’t competitive and he doesn’t see a path forward. This is a team filled with kids with the highest GPA on campus and in the country. A team with scholastic all Americans, Olympic trial qualifiers, US Open qualifiers, in other words talented kids. In the classroom and the pool, but as an Olympic sport- to Michigan State – expendable. When you read the hundreds and thousands of stories just like this one happening this year, it is disgraceful and disgusting. A mandatory halt on the elimination of non-revenue programs should be implemented by the NCAA and then the university and at risk teams given a minimum of a year to explore opportunities to solve the financial issues utilizing an outside consultant or arbitrator since University Athletic Directors can only see importance in 2-3 revenue sports. The NCAA, The US Olympic committee and the Universities need to do better for these athletes!
From the TSC Editorial staff: Ms. Gore, we are very sorry to hear what has happened to your son and to the swimming team at Michigan State. To your recommendation–about the NCAA taking action…. For some time on these pages, we have argued that the NCAA needs to take leadership for matters like this. At the same time, we have acknowledged that the NCAA is a membership organization that exists primarily to serve its members. With that in mind, the NCAA prefers to delegate leadership responsibility to conferences and schools–even on issues that affect all conferences and schools. We predicted that once a school here and a school there began cutting non-revenue sports, that other schools would follow. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what has happened. It is a curious example–not of leadership– but of followership. In taking this action, we believe that schools are positioning money before mission. What gets lost (hardly ever discussed) is this: What is the purpose of athletics within the context of the higher education mission? That question is no longer at the center of conversation and decision making. Instead, maintaining a pro-like athletic architecture is, which privileges football and men’s basketball, primarily. The prevailing athletics business model aligns with that priority. We endorse your recommendation–it’s relevant and sensible. Will it happen? Local activism has reversed or modified decisions at several schools (William and Mary is an example), but we believe Federal oversight of the NCAA is the ultimate answer. That option has been under discussion in DC for a number of years, most recently under the auspices of Sen. Christopher Murphy (D-CT). Yes, good adjustments may (and will) be made at some institutions, but the only way to get systemwide reform (that is, to better align athletics budget and other decision making with higher ed’s mission) is to regulate it — for the public good. It’s sad–very sad–that it has come to that option.