Wisconsin athletics, as is consistent with athletic departments around the country at all levels of collegiate athletics, are preparing to take massive revenue hits during an altered fall sports season. Wisconsin Athletic Director Barry Alvarez alerted Badger fans on the specific challenges that Wisconsin is facing during the COVID-19 pandemic in a release earlier today.
"The experience we love as Badgers and the legacy of our extraordinary athletic department is at risk.
"We will have two choices: remain at the head of the class or fall behind."
A message from Coach Alvarez pic.twitter.com/CRYkKzKlfj
— Wisconsin Badgers 😷 (@UWBadgers) July 23, 2020
A fall season that will likely be played without fans or with very limited fans, and has already been limited to only conference games, is in jeopardy and will leave universities trying to find money that simply is not there.
“To this point, we have taken many steps over the past few months to minimize the impact of a cancelled winter postseason and spring season,” said Alvarez. “We have instituted pay decreases for our top 25 earners and workshare furloughs for all employees, put a freeze on almost all hiring, restricted travel, limited to essential-only spending and announced the delay of the South End Zone renovation project. These steps have allowed us to avoid the tough decisions other schools have already had to make, like eliminating sports or laying off employees. We have taken many steps, but we will have to do much more.”
Alvarez laid out specifics in terms of the amount of money Wisconsin was preparing to lose this fall. “Our fall season will look nothing like we are accustomed to,” said Wisconsin’s AD. “Due to the current challenges, we are facing a potential financial revenue loss of more than $100 million from our $140 million budget.”
All we can do now is hope that schools at all levels around the country will find ways to keep programs alive this fall.