University of Minnesota Gophers athletic director Mark Coyle warned back in April the coronavirus pandemic could cause his department to lose $75 million. A month later, he acknowledged cutting sports was one of many options "on the table" for dealing with that revenue plummet.
On Thursday, those forewarnings came to fruition. The Gophers announced they will cut three sports: men's gymnastics, men's track and field and men's tennis.
The Gophers said they will honor existing athletics scholarships for those athletes and allow them access to the same athletics services or help them transfer. A department release stated Title IX compliance was also a motivation behind cutting these men's sports.
A department release stated there wasn't a realistic fundraising goal for saving these sports. The department expects to save $3 million in fiscal year 2022 and an annual savings of $2.7 million once all the athletes in those sports with aid have graduated.
This is one of several cost-saving initiatives the department has undertaken during the pandemic. The Gophers also announced a personnel cost-reduction plan that will begin in October and run through the end of the fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The University already has a furlough and pay-reduction plan in place. But now academic professional and administrative employees will have a 10% reduction in appointment, and civil service and labor represented employees will be furloughed for 17 days. Employees making $40,000 a year or less are exempt.
The department will eliminate eight jobs in addition to the ones already cut because of the discontinued programs. This plan will save the department an anticipated $1.3 million this fiscal year. Coyle, football coach P.J. Fleck, volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon, men's hockey coach Bob Motzko, men's basketball coach Richard Pitino and women's basketball coach Lindsay Whalen already volunteered for a 10% salary reduction in April, which will now extend through the fiscal year and save an additional $1.2 million.
The department also already reduced its 2021 budget by $5 million and instituted hiring and spending freezes.
The Gophers are not alone in their financial struggles or their solutions for it. Iowa announced on Aug. 21 it would cut men's gymnastics, men's tennis and men's and women's swimming and diving.
The elimination of men's gymnastics by the Gophers and Iowa leaves only 13 programs in men's college gymnastics. The Gophers are scheduled to host the 2021 NCAA championships April 16-17 at Maturi Pavilion.
"Once we determined that we simply are no longer able to sustain 25 sports financially, we reviewed our overall sport offering with an eye toward a sports sponsorship model that would provide sustainable, competitive and equitable participation opportunities for our remaining programs," the Gophers said in their announcement. "Due to recent shifts in our female and male undergraduate demographics, we also needed to take steps to ensure compliance with our commitment to provide gender-equitable participation opportunities for our students consistent with federal law requirements.
"We also considered community impact, local and national interest, competitiveness, and sport sponsorship at the Big Ten and NCAA Division I level."
