ANN ARBOR, MI — The University of Michigan athletic department could lose $56.6 million if the university is unable to host any athletic events due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Tuesday.
And that’s without television and other media revenues factored in.
Officials from the Big Ten and college football leaders have reportedly canceled the fall sports season and will attempt to play in the spring. While there are still many unknowns — like whether other fall sports will be canceled — it would still be a massive blow to Michigan Athletics if they are unable to have any fans in the stands.
“In our last fiscal year, spectator admissions to athletic events totaled $56.6 million. That could theoretically go to zero without us hosting any events,” said associate athletic director Kurt Svoboda.
Svoboda was not able to provide how much revenue is made from spectator admissions at football games, but he said the $56.6 million could be more or less depending on what season ticket holders and donors choose to do with their existing tickets. Athletic Director Warde Manuel emailed fans Thursday and asked fans who previously paid for football tickets and a personal seat license to convert those payments to a tax-deductible gift to help the department navigate “an unparalleled level of financial uncertainty.”
Michigan athletics faces ‘unparalleled level of financial uncertainty’
Manuel presented a department budget proposal at a June 25 Board of Regents meeting that called for a $26.1 million deficit next year, impacted by an anticipated drop of more than $50 million in operating revenue from 2019-20.
The two primary sources of lost revenue are spectator admission ($29.2 million) and preferred seat contributions ($17 million).
Michigan athletics faces $26M deficit in 2020-21 budget proposal
Svoboda also said that there is no way they would know today what the impact on TV and media distributions would be without sports.
College football’s decision-makers are facing pressure from all over the country, including in the White House, where President Donald Trump has called for the season to be played. This comes after the Mid-American Conference — which includes Central Michigan University, Eastern Michigan University and Western Michigan University — canceled the fall 2020 football season.
Other major conferences have been reported to be on the verge of canceling, including the Pac-12, which was thought to be likely to follow the lead of the Big Ten.
Michigan State University Athletic Director Bill Beekman said Monday that if the Big Ten cancels the football season, MSU stands to lose between $80 million and $85 million in its fiscal year — more than half of the university’s $140 million athletic revenue.
Michigan State could lose $80-85 million if football season canceled
A reported concern for officials is centered around long-term health implications from COVID-19, specifically from myocarditis. The condition, which causes inflammation of the heart muscle, has been found in at least five Big Ten players, MLive and ESPN reported.
As of Friday, 35 student-athletes at UM have tested positive for COVID-19. That’s out of 1,440 tests administered, a 2.4% positivity rate.
Michigan Athletics said on Twitter that complete information and the resulting impact on fall, winter and spring sports is not known at this time, and UM will decide on organized team and voluntary student-athlete activities as soon as information becomes available.
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