Iowa athletics facing massive budget cuts

Even before the Big Ten made the decision to postpone playing fall sports, including football, this fall, every school in the conference was facing significant budget cuts.

Those cuts got even deeper last week when the Big Ten made it official that fall sports would not happen as scheduled and perhaps they would occur in the spring.

Iowa athletic director Gary Barta indicated that the pain was coming earlier this year. While the Hawkeyes had enough in their reserve fund to cover the costs this spring, once the new fiscal year arrived on July 1st, Barta instituted various salary reductions, generally based on the salary of the employee. The higher the salary, the higher the percentage cut was generally the rule for Iowa’s athletic department employees.

But, the worst case was always around the corner and that was if football isn’t played on schedule, then Big Ten schools faced not only losing the gate receipts for the season, but also the most valuable commodity, the television revenue checks.

For Iowa, last year the TV revenue amounted to $55.6 million and the football ticket sales generated approximately $23 million.

After holding an all staff meeting on Friday where Barta spoke directly to athletic department employees, the Iowa athletic director issued a letter on Hawkeyesports.com on Monday talking about the cuts to the Iowa athletic department.

This past week was in some ways a double whammy for many in Iowa as a horrific storm swept through the state causing pain at home for many who saw damage to their homes and some are still without power one week later.

Barta said in the letter to fans and supporters that those who purchased season tickets can now request a refund or they can simply apply that money to the 2021 season.

The most devastating news were the financial numbers that Barta shared for the first time.

“We recognize the conference’s decision will have a major financial impact on not only our athletic department, but the many businesses that rely on Hawkeye events to support their livelihoods. We anticipate lost revenue of approximately $100 million and an overall budget deficit of between $60-75 million and are working hard to find solutions. These decisions will be very challenging.”

In 2019, Iowa athletics had a budget of approximately $152 million and like most power five conference programs, they never really experienced a drop in revenue. In fact, nearly every year the revenue for Iowa continued to grow thanks to the TV deals, ticket sales, and contributions from generous donors. Last year according to the 2019 budget, Iowa had $35 million in contributions from individuals and corporations.

Barta told reporters in the spring that he and his staff were preparing for every scenario for the fall. The worst case has now arrived and the challenge ahead will be making some significant budget cuts to the athletic department and perhaps it may even result in the loss of some programs.