Without fall sports, University of Minnesota faces millions in lost revenue
01 SEP 2016: Minnesota Golden Gophers mascot Goldy Gopher during the NCAA Division I matchup between the Oregon State Beavers and the Minnesota Golden Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via ((Photo by David Berding/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) / Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The postponement of fall sports at the University of Minnesota will be hard on the teams and the fans, but the financial impact of no games is potentially devastating to the university.
Lou Nanne, a major fundraiser for the U of M athletic program explains the loss of major revenue from sports, like football, will be a hard financial hit for all of the university’s athletics.
“There’s 25, 26 teams we have there and the non-revenue sports are very dependent on the success of the fundraising and the revenue amounts of money we get from revenue sports,” said Nanne.
Leaders at Stanford University already announced they are cutting 11 sports programs because of lost revenue. There’s no word from U of M leaders on if that could happen at Minnesota and there’s still no official estimate on how much money the program could lose, but Nanne says it’s significant.
“I would say conservatively $55 million budget shortfall and if they don’t get spring football, I’m sure it will be $75 million to $100 million,” said Nanne.
He explains this goes far beyond sports since athletics can be considered a major benefit for institutions as a whole. This includes attracting students who want to go to schools where there are successful sports programs.
“There’s a lot of things that are entwined with this and it really is affecting a lot of people,” said Nanne.
Meanwhile, fixed costs of coaches’ salaries and the upkeep of buildings will still cost the program even when TV and ticket sales revenue isn’t coming in.
“At some point the financial implications will get real for everybody,” said Gopher Volleyball Coach Hugh McCutcheon during a Zoom call Wednesday.
Some schools, like the University of Wisconsin, have emergency funding to respond to a situation like this. In the U of M’s budget, there is $55 million in a fund to be used to insulate the university from major financial risks, including temporary revenue declines. FOX 9 reached out to the U of M to see if the university could use that money to help the athletic program, but so far officials have not yet responded.