UConn’s plan for cutting $10 million from its athletic budget will be presented Friday and could shape the department for years to come (Amore) | The Boneyard

UConn’s plan for cutting $10 million from its athletic budget will be presented Friday and could shape the department for years to come (Amore)

Athletics aside for the moment, the changes coming to higher education will be very significant. It was clear pre-pandemic that higher education operated with a cost structure that did not work in todays world. COVID may actually drive some much needed change that will hopefully expand access to affordable higher education over the long term.

That all said, athletic departments are in an awful spot right now and I honestly don't know what they do to fill these gaps over the next 12-24 months. Could be some very heart rendering decisions made.
 
Just be prepared for more hit pieces why Football will still be played at UConn while other sports get cut.
 
Article makes a good point about Central Florida only having 16 varity sports. Clemson went to 16, now 17 a few years ago; and they have a lot more $ coming in through the ACC and won a college football championship (so you know where the money is going and coming from) UConn cannot sustain it's current level of number of sports team, coaches salaries (yes women's basketball - the highest in the country) and spending and operating like they are in the Big 10.
 
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Maybe announcing cuts will motivate alumni and fans to donate more to UConn athletics. Nothing like a crisis to motivate action.
 
Big Fan said:
Article makes a good point about Central Florida only having 16 varity sports. Clemson went to 16, now 17 a few years ago; and they have a lot more $ coming in through the ACC and won a college football championship (so you know where the money is going and coming from) UConn cannot sustain it's current level of number of sports team, coaches salaries (yes women's basketball - the highest in the country) and spending and operating like they are in the Big 10.
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Are you saying that UConn should cut Geno's salary or replace him?
Is he earning more than Dan Hurley? Who has won more NCs?
I am not a womens basketball fan, I am a huge mens basketball fan, but to address his salary and not mention Dan Hurley's is a bit disingenuous
What sports would you cut? UConn has a storied history in both mens and womens soccer so that would make little sense (plus the new facilities), field hockey has been ultra successful, mens ice hockey has ECAC affiliation which is so important, golf has been given close to financial independence.....................
 
gtcam said:
Are you saying that UConn should cut Geno's salary or replace him?
Is he earning more than Dan Hurley? Who has won more NCs?
I am not a womens basketball fan, I am a huge mens basketball fan, but to address his salary and not mention Dan Hurley's is a bit disingenuous
What sports would you cut? UConn has a storied history in both mens and womens soccer so that would make little sense (plus the new facilities), field hockey has been ultra successful, mens ice hockey has ECAC affiliation which is so important, golf has been given close to financial independence.....................
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Men’s hockey has ECAC affiliation?
 
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gtcam said:
Are you saying that UConn should cut Geno's salary or replace him?
Is he earning more than Dan Hurley? Who has won more NCs?
I am not a womens basketball fan, I am a huge mens basketball fan, but to address his salary and not mention Dan Hurley's is a bit disingenuous
What sports would you cut? UConn has a storied history in both mens and womens soccer so that would make little sense (plus the new facilities), field hockey has been ultra successful, mens ice hockey has ECAC affiliation which is so important, golf has been given close to financial independence.....................
Expand ...

Hockey East, not ECAC. Agree that those sports should be last on the list, along with Baseball, where we have also had considerable success.
 
gtcam said:
Are you saying that UConn should cut Geno's salary or replace him?
Is he earning more than Dan Hurley? Who has won more NCs?
I am not a womens basketball fan, I am a huge mens basketball fan, but to address his salary and not mention Dan Hurley's is a bit disingenuous
What sports would you cut? UConn has a storied history in both mens and womens soccer so that would make little sense (plus the new facilities), field hockey has been ultra successful, mens ice hockey has ECAC affiliation which is so important, golf has been given close to financial independence.....................
Expand ...
If each coach cuts 10% of salary that’s a large chunk of deficit for year 1. Golf and track fundraised enough for probably 1-2 years. Gives athletic department time to fix budget issues
 
Other schools in larger conferences- or I should say conferences with much larger payouts- have already cut coach salaries for the short term and reduced staff. Rutgers and Louisville IIRC. We knew about this large $40 mil deficit for a while now and nothing has been done yet? Some sports will have to be cut to get to 16. There is no reason to have more sports than other schools when we are independent . Alumni donating money is nice but does this keep their favored sport in business forever or is it a short term stay of execution? Structural change is needed and cutting sports no one watches or attends and involves players competing as individuals is the place to start. So for me tennis, golf, cross country, track and field, and swimming are to ones to let go.
 
I sure hope that Dave cuts Athletic Dept. overhead as a part of this package. Our administrative costs are too high.

FWIW, cutting $10M over three years is a start, but when you are $42M in the hole, more is needed.
 
jdb50 said:
Other schools in larger conferences- or I should say conferences with much larger payouts- have already cut coach salaries for the short term and reduced staff. Rutgers and Louisville IIRC. We knew about this large $40 mil deficit for a while now and nothing has been done yet? Some sports will have to be cut to get to 16. There is no reason to have more sports than other schools when we are independent . Alumni donating money is nice but does this keep their favored sport in business forever or is it a short term stay of execution? Structural change is needed and cutting sports no one watches or attends and involves players competing as individuals is the place to start. So for me tennis, golf, cross country, track and field, and swimming are to ones to let go.
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JDB you are entitled to your opinion. I would counter and say that by moving away from the AAC, UConn started the steps to close the gap. I ask, when you are the state university, do people expect to have more sports because it represents a diverse universe of athletes? Other than Lacrosse and Wrestling, what not new sports don't we have? B-T-W, I agree some sports need to go but there is lots of administrative overhead and people keep forgetting the key phrase- cut the deficit by $10M over 3 years. That means the administration has 3 years to make these cuts to get down that number. Lots of plans, contingencies, etc will take place here to make that happen.
 
If you stop treating education like a business and more like an essential societal function that also drives the economy, brings communities together and sparks entertainment in many forms from performance arts to sports, the ludicrous nature of the “deficit” becomes obvious. Simply put, the legislature has pissed away so much money stupid stuff and bloated bureaucracy they refuse to prioritize higher education. The legislature has financed state education on the backs of tuition increases that are out whack with many peers.
 
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hardcorehusky said:
JDB you are entitled to your opinion. I would counter and say that by moving away from the AAC, UConn started the steps to close the gap. I ask, when you are the state university, do people expect to have more sports because it represents a diverse universe of athletes? Other than Lacrosse and Wrestling, what not new sports don't we have? B-T-W, I agree some sports need to go but there is lots of administrative overhead and people keep forgetting the key phrase- cut the deficit by $10M over 3 years. That means the administration has 3 years to make these cuts to get down that number. Lots of plans, contingencies, etc will take place here to make that happen.
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I do not see how spreading out a cut over 3 years will will save the money quickly enough to deal with revenue losses in tuition from on campus students, declines in ticket revenue, a possible reduction in State contribution due to tax revenue declines affecting the budget. Now you have lawyers suing university's for lack of delivery for services charged. The economic fallout from covid is way beyond the response so far that people in institutions are planning for. How many out of country full tuition students that keep university's afloat are going to be able to travel back? Things are going to be thrown overboard in many areas that people have not realized yet to keep ships afloat.
 
Personally, I think the football (and baseball for that matter) budget needs to be increased not trimmed! We need to have one of the best coaching staffs in the US with lots of money for recruiting! Beyond that, are there any long-term projections on which sports may be among the most popular in the coming decades nationally (lacrosse)? Also, what sports could benefit wildly from a minor budget increase (such as sailing where UConn could be in the top 10 in the USA if they had decent boats and well-attended regattas?)
 
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Cutting overhead is fine and I am sure there is a lot that can be trimmed. I am sick of the reference to 42 mill deficits. The accounting is misleading. Also, ask yourself if University of Connecticut would look like it does today without the athletic successes it has had. When I went there it was kind of a shithole (loved it anyway). To me the notoriety and advancement that successful sports teams drive is worth a cost.
 
All options, best as I understand, include cutting at least four sports, asking the university to assign a reduced price tag to scholarships, taking measures to reduce operating expenses and perhaps riding recent fundraising success to the preservation of some sports that otherwise would have been axed.

Hmm seems like Dave has been reading the Boneyard.

Reducing the way the scholarship cost is listed makes a lot of sense. That is essentially an intra-company accounting figure. Likewise "reducing operation expenses" may include restructuring the cost of the use of the XL and the Rent, which I have long argued for on the board. Our above market lease rates masks the CDRA's inability to run those venues efficiently and makes the athletic department losses look worse then they are. Personally, I like Auriemma's suggestion that UConn and the CDRA split the profits of having UConn play in Hartford rather than having UConn lease the venue.
 
Dooooooomed said:
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It really is a shame that sports may be cut. But the reality is UConn can't financially field 24 teams -- the fact that almost every P5 team is in the 18-20 range on average is a sign that we have been punching above our weight even when we had ~P5 cash.

Again, it's an unfair reality especially to current and former student-athletes that will be impacted, but it's adapt or die. It just dumbfounds me that critics (like the hack Forde) don't understand how most P5 teams field fewer varsity teams than UConn, yet when a team above the average cuts they get criticized. HUGE double standard if you ask me.
 
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