MINNEAPOLIS 鈥� The Gophers athletics department is cutting three men鈥檚 sports programs 鈥� gymnastics, tennis and track and field 鈥� at the end of the 2020-21 academic year, the school announced Thursday, Sept. 10.
This comes in response to the revenue shortfalls schools are experiencing during the coronavirus pandemic that has canceled Big Ten fall sports. University of Minnesota Athletics Director Mark Coyle estimated a $75 million loss on a $123 million budget to the university鈥檚 Board of Regents in May.
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鈥淲e are doing everything we can to try to mitigate that lost revenue and manage our expenses to the best of our abilities,鈥� Coyle said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been having conversations with campus about a loan that obviously the athletics would have to pay back as we move forward.鈥�
The Gophers鈥� longer-term expenses grow when factoring in private fundraising necessary for the $166 million Athletes Village complex, which houses the football and men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball programs and nutrition and academic services for the whole department.
Coyle made a point to regents that the school has the fourth-most programs in the Big Ten but the eighth-largest budget. With track and field being parsed out to indoor and outdoor seasons, the Gophers will go from 25 varsity sports to 21.
The Gophers said the decision affects eight staff positions behind cut and 58 total student-athletes, but the U will honor their scholarships until they receive their undergraduate degrees or help them transfer to keep competing.
鈥淲e have special, special kids,鈥� Coyle said in a video call with reporters Thursday. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e hurt. They鈥檙e angry. They鈥檙e confused. And I apologized to them. These are difficult, difficult decisions. I really do feel for them.鈥�
The Gophers said they anticipate $2 million in savings in fiscal year 2022 and an annual savings of $2.7 million when all student-athletes on sports scholarship aid have graduated.
In the U of M鈥檚 report to the NCAA for fiscal year 2019, it showed men鈥檚 track and field had a $1.8 million loss (including cross country), while men鈥檚 gymnastics had a $825,000 loss and men鈥檚 tennis was in red for $775,000. This report, which was obtained by a Pioneer Press data request, parsed out total revenue and expenses for each program.
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The cutting of men鈥檚 sports helps the Gophers become more Title IX compliant. In 2019, the Gophers listed 43 student-athletes accepting scholarship aid for track and field (including cross country), 19 in gymnastics and seven for tennis, school data showed. This is higher than numbers shared Thursday.
Coyle said the U will keep five total scholarships for the men鈥檚 cross country team, which are divided to fill out a roster.
In Coyle鈥檚 open letter, he wrote: 鈥淔or the past few years, we had forecasted future sustainability issues, both financial and Title IX related, and although we have directed our efforts to address these challenges while maintaining our current sport offerings, we knew we would be faced with a difficult sports sponsorship decision at some point.鈥�
The Gophers listed 295 male student-athletes received aid, compared to 234 females, per U of M data in 2019.
The Gophers said they have reduced their budget from $130 million in fiscal year 2019 to $123 million in 2020 and have reduced the budget $5 million in 2021 and have implemented hiring and spending freezes.
The University of Iowa was the first Big Ten program to cut sports, when it announced Aug. 21 it would be ending men鈥檚 gymnastics, men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 swimming, and men鈥檚 tennis at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
