Gary Barta isn't sleeping much these days and with good reason. Once the Big Ten postponed the college football season for the conference, the Iowa athletic director knew he would have to make some tough decisions. That included cutting four sports last week. Barta met with the media via Zoom on Monday to discuss his decision to cut four sports at Iowa, the possibility of football in January, and much more.
OPENING STATEMENT
I know there was interest in talking on Friday or earlier regarding Big Ten football and other issues around that. I am going to say a few words about the cancelling of four or our sports, talk about our finances, and then just address where were are at as far as the Big Ten.
Starting out, Friday was maybe one of the most difficult days of my career. I have had to deal with the death of student-athletes and now the dropping of sports. I think those are the two most challenging issues that an athletic director can deal with. It was a tough day.
Historically when you look at those sports and the number of years that they have been around and the former coaches and athletes, then the current athletes and coaches to deliver them this news was tough. We met with the coaches and then the student-athletes in a bigger room. That was just gut wrenching tell them that we would be cancelling their season. Then the future Hawkeyes in those sports, I talked to them over the weekend. Young people who dreamed of being a Hawkeye in a particular sport and now knowing that wasn’t going to be an option.
One of the things we tried to do, we tried to anticipate any questions and any student-athlete that decides to stay even if they can’t compete beyond this year, we would honor their scholarship like we did when they came to Iowa.
Although Covid has created all kinds of hurdles, we are going to offer them the opportunity to compete this year if they can and honor the coaches’ contacts.
It was a horrible day and it was 100% determined and driven by Covid-19. The financial fallout that led to the postponement of fall football, were it not for that, we would not have been dropping those four sports. August 11th was a day we had to start putting a plan into action and have conversations with my staff, President Harreld, and to make sure the Board of Regents understood what we were needing to do.
We have also made several other cuts before this and we are also cutting in other areas, but we had to cut sports and had to get to the decisions of which ones. I have no plans to cut additional sports. I think this is the last that we will have to do that.
Now we are in the process of securing and borrowing what we think will be about $75 million and then having to pay that back.
Why these four sports? There’s no good answer. We did look at all the options and as soon as you look at this sport or that sport like softball or baseball or something like that, should it be men’s gymnastics, or track or any of the different roads. Whatever we came up with, you could always make a case that we shouldn’t have cut this one or that one instead. We ended up cutting the sports that we felt would best position us coming out of this pandemic once it is all over. I knew we couldn’t move forward supporting 24 sports at the level we would expect, so now we are at 20 and we are going to come back strong and we are going to have to come back and pay back that loan.
As it relates to finances, you all heard me talk about phase 1, 2, and 3. Phase one was playing football with some fans. Phase two was playing football less football with less fans. Phase three was not playing in the fall and even if we are playing in the spring, which we certainly want to and plan to, the numbers are just staggering in terms of coming back.
Before Covid-19, we had a very strong financial model. We had been funding great facility and competitive in salary and budgets. We had grown our endowment up to 50 million and we have been self-sustaining since 2007. We had every indicator showing that we were going to continue that. One of the flaws in the model of college sports is it’s a not for profit. I know some roll their eyes when they hear that because we do generate millions and nationally, billions of dollars through college football and men’s basketball. But, it is a non-profit. If it wasn’t we would only have two sports. College sports are Iowa are funded by football and to a less extent, college men’s basketball. Now that funding model is in serious jeopardy and decisions are being made other schools and it will change college sports for years to come.
We have created a path forward. We have been working on this plan. It’s ugly and it’s hard. It includes more difficult decisions, but we have a plan to move forward. We are going to have to pay back that loan and if it is 75 million dollars then we are going to do that and continue to compete at a high level at the 20 sports we have and build back our reserve fund.
Then finally there has been a lot of talk about the Big Ten and where it stands in postponing fall sports and perhaps starting up after the first of the year. August 11th was a difficult day for all sorts of reasons. It has been talked about and documented that I supported a model that waited longer. We had a schedule that could be pushed back for several weeks if we weren’t ready. I was a supporter of continuing along that path.
That doesn’t mean I had certainty on the pandemic or that we were going to be able to play sports soon. At the end of the day, the Presidents did have a vote and it occurred on August 11th. I wasn’t in the room, so I am not prepared or qualified to say who voted which way and I don’t think there is an intention to make that public. Even though I disagree with some of the tactics, I am proud to be part of this conference, so immediately we start talking about how soon can we get back to playing sports safely, as quickly as possible. That has been my focus. Not tactically why it went that way. It’s not going to change so I am focusing my energy on getting back as fast as possible in a safe way.
Barry Alvarez and some of the AD’s have created a sub group that have come forward with some really thoughtful approaches that would start sometimes after the first of the year. One of the principles would be that it doesn’t impact the 2021 season so we can play a full year next fall and also accommodate the players who want to be a part of the 2021 NFL Draft and also making it work for our television partners. That is still being discussed and worked on.
At the end of the day, I might not always agree with what is determined by the Big Ten, but I love the conference and we are going to fight through all this. We are going to come out of this on the other end, but the uncertainty makes it uncomfortable. I feel most sorry for our student-athletes. Whether it was back in March when I stood in front of the basketball team when they cancelled the NCAA Tournament or the spring sports or the fall sports like football, volleyball and soccer and now standing in front of these student-athletes and telling them their sport would be discontinued. I have went on long, but it’s difficult times. Now we have to fight our way through it and find a way to play sports safely.
Q: When you are cutting a sport, what are you looking at and what keeps a sport from getting cut?
BARTA: What I am not going to do is discuss every thought process. We considered several sports before we settled on the four that we did cut. We looked at our 12 criteria’s and national sponsorship and the state of Iowa support and sponsorship. We looked at what has happened at Iowa in the past with those sports and what does the future look like. Certainly dollars were discussed and we have to make sure we were in compliance with Title 9 as well. When you add up all of that, we came up with the sports we felt were best to move forward with know there would probably be disagreements. I could make a case for some other sports and not these sports. These were the sports that gave us the best path forward.
Q: What is the probability of the sports returning sometime down the line?
BARTA: We have thought about that. I don’t want to create any false hope. The decision to cut these sports is final. What I mean by that is the hole that has been dug in our current financial situation is very deep. We do have a plan forward, but we aren’t going to flip a switch overnight. Paying back 75 million dollars, we have a plan, but it’s going to take a while.
When I look nationally, there are a few exceptions where sports have been dropped and then come back, but in most cases, it’s most likely not going to come back. Looking at history and looking at the hole we are facing financially, I just don’t want to create false hope.
Q: Have you heard from anyone directly who has offered to donate the money to keep the programs going?
BARTA: The answer is no. I have received some email feedback from one person who said what if 100,000 people gave $100, that would generate ten million. That’s about the closest we have come. The financial hole is so deep and the numbers are so large that the reality of changing the decision is just not feasible.
Q: There are people who say they want to put together an effort. Are you saying it’s final? Any way to change that?
BARTA: I don’t think so. The numbers are so big. One of the things we have worked hard on is endowing our scholarships so we take pressure off our fundraising. Paying back this 75 million dollars, even by cutting the sports, is probably a 15 year process. It is something where the numbers are off the charts. I know people want to help, but the dollars are so large that there’s really no path forward to change the decision.
Q: Do you expect any more temporary or permanent pay cuts in addition to the one’s you already have in place?
BARTA: The answer is we made our first wave of pay cuts. We will have more in that area moving forward, but I don’t want to talk about those yet because we are still working on those. I want to make sure it’s know we have no more plans to cut more sports. We will have cuts in other areas and in addition personnel.
Q: How do you weigh cutting football and their expenses versus the cuts to other programs?
BARTA: We are cutting into football. They are experiencing cuts to expenses. We are going to build our way back. There will be an end to the pandemic. Football pays for the entire operation. Football and men’s basketball pay for the operation of this department. It’s not a moral question, but a business question. We are a non-profit business in the way we are set up and as football experiences success, so too does our athletic department. It is a balancing act. How much do you cut from the sport that generates your income? There will be cuts, but we also have to be a positon to come back strong.
Q: You said earlier that you disagreed with some of the tactics regarding ending the football season. Could you share some specifics? Did you feel the AD’s had a voice in the decision?
BARTA: What I am willing to share is what I have shared so far. I was in the camp that said, we created a schedule that started on September 5th and it probably could have been pushed to the first week in October to wait longer and see if we could solve the issues related to Covid and the things we didn’t have answers to yet. That is the tactic that I am referencing. I wanted to wait and see if we could push back and solve some of those issues.
What I am not willing to do is discuss interactions between the Presidents and Commissioner and the AD’s. Every one of those groups wants to find a way to play as soon as we can, but I am not going to go into details about exactly how they flowed as far as communication. I wanted to wait. The vote came out with the majority of the Presidents saying we were going to cut it off now. I am now spending all of my energy getting us to come back as soon as we can.
Q: What are the terms of the loan and what can you share? Is there anything with basketball and a bubble?
BARTA: The loan has not be finalized. The terms are generically the rates are low now which is good. There are laws about who can borrow money and I have been in conversations with President Harreld and our CFO with the University along with the Regents. I have made some assumptions about the loan and it’s probably going to take 15 years to pay it back.
As it relates to basketball, Fran and Lisa and I have talked. Nothing has been finalized. The only conference that has pushed to January so far is the Pac 12. The national coaches association has talked about January 1st, but there has also been some talk about a bubble tournament where four or six teams get invited to a city and all stay in one place and play against each other. That has been talked about since the size of the team is smaller. What is not controllable is that they are college students and they have classes and things like that.
Q: Were you personally in favor of playing this fall?
BARTA: What I have said was on August 11th I was still in favor of pushing back the season until a later date. I still don’t know if we will be able to play or not, but I was in favor of pushing back to the 26th or October 3rd, but at no time did I claim to have the answer that it was safe to play sports. We need medical teams to handle testing and the heart questions. There has been some discussions about testing breakthroughs and things of that nature and if sports will be able to play in college this fall. I was not in the room when the decision was made and once it was made, then I am focusing on what we need to know so that we can play again as soon as possible.
Q: As a state agency, you cannot borrow as for individuals, right? What about the damage to say wrestling where it might be a sport that shrinks nationally?
BARTA: I have been talking to President Harreld about these things for a while. You are right, the athletic department cannot just go out and find a lender and borrow money. There are some ways that we are looking at within the system and finding a way to bring out those lines of credit. I am not comfortable discussing those until they are finalized, but there are avenues that we think will work.
As it stands now, there are 60 or so college wrestling programs and I don’t know what it will look like when this is all said and done. I want to make sure that we are able to compete for championships. We will have to wait to see where the fallout ends. Whenever our new normal is established, then we will know. Once the dust settles and we see what remains elsewhere.
Q: What concerns do you have about playing two seasons in one year?
BARTA: A lot of discussion has centered on that. I think you have heard that one of the models that we are looking at is playing a lot earlier, perhaps as early as January and February. That wouldn’t be at Kinnick Stadium. That is one where we would float around to different venues. One of the things we are talking about is the number of games and to make sure there is time between the last game and start of the 2021 season.
We want make sure our student-athletes are healthy and that we are able to play a full 12 game schedule along with a bowl game. That is one of the reasons we are looking at the earlier schedule.
Q: There are so many variables that are out there for spring football. Have you been able to put pencil to paper and figure out what the percentage of revenue you might be able to get?
BARTA: Have I put guesses on paper? Yes. They are just placeholders. We are in conversations with our TV partners so the schedules there vary. We have looked at it from a safety perspective too. We want to see what it might look like for our TV partners and what value might be placed on them by our TV partners. I have to wait and let the experts tell me what it should be worth. I have one in mind, but I will wait to see what the experts come up with.
Q: What kind of fallout would you expect if the other conferences play and the Big Ten doesn’t play?
BARTA: If they do play, it remains to be seen, but every Saturday, if they do play, would be gut-wrenching as a student-athlete, coach, or athletic director or a Hawkeye fan. I don’t wish ill on anyone. I wish we could play as soon as possible. But, we will have to wait and see what happens.
Q: Were you and Bruce Harreld aligned in your desire to play football this fall?
BARTA: Yeah I don’t want to speak for him, but he has been a terrific President on every front. We have a great level of communication and he relies heavily on me to run the athletic department. He was working side by side with me to see if we could push this thing back. There are still medical questions we all have, but we wanted to push it back as much as we could.
