Athletic Directors Weigh In
An anonymous poll conducted by Stadium’s Brett McMurphy sent out to all 130 FBS athletic directors provided some insight into their thoughts. The poll was conducted on March 31 and there are 20 percent who say it is a toss up that the season will be impacted.
Most of the votes seem to be between the 70 and 80 percent mark that the season will go on as normal but overall they are all over the place but none are below 50 percent. So, the confidence level is not high that a season will be postponed but there is some serious concern.
About one-fifth of ADs believe there is at least a 50% chance that there won’t be a full college football season in 2020 according to @Brett_McMurphy. https://t.co/VKEzZbe4i5 pic.twitter.com/XCN5sLVuJr
— Kyle Ireland (@kyleireland) March 31, 2020
Here are some key quotes from the athletic directors.
“There better be (a season) or many programs will be out of business.”
“Quite simply, it would be devastating.”
“If there’s no season, we will be f*****.”
“This has been crazy with high anxiety,” a Power Five AD said. “The potential financial impact is starting to be understood.”
Added another Power Five AD: “As of right now, I have no clue if there will be a full season. But if we don’t, it will get ugly.”
“Most of the Power Five schools wouldn’t miss a beat,” a Group of Five AD said, “but it would be devastating to the rest of us.”
The quote by the Group of Five athletics director is sort of true. There are some Power Five schools that would be fine but if there is no season or zero revenue how can schools fund other sports.
In some cases, state schools have to spend all of the money or lose it so there is no way for them to hold onto unused money which is why having no revenue can really hurt even some Power 5 teams. Some of those teams might need to rely on athletic funds from donations they receive over the years or dip into the endowment from the university.
One of the best quotes from a Group of 5 AD is also a good thing to end on.
“There is still so much to be assessed over the next several months,” the AD said. “Concerns with finances, adequate practice for teams, potential looming restrictions in regard to travel to certain states, TV scheduling, the uncertainty of what the stadiums will be — what will be the fans’ perspective of sitting so close to another?”
There are still a lot of questions to be answered and some people want to be positive like Swinney but others are looking into alternative plans like Andersen. For now, anyone who claims they know how the 2020 season are just guessing.
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