School’s athletic budget faces $43.5M deficit
The UConn athletic department again operated at a significant deficit for the 2019-20 fiscal year, according to the financial report provided to the NCAA by the school.
The department showed a $43.5 million deficit, with the school giving $37 million in direct institutional support and $6.5 million in student fees. The deficit is slightly higher than the $42.3 million from the year before and remains among the highest among Division I programs in the country.
The school announced in June it was cutting four sports (men’s cross country, men’s swimming and driving, men’s tennis and women’s rowing) in an attempt to reduce institutional support by 25 percent annually by 2023.
The financial report runs from July 2019 to June 2020. It does not reflect the impact of the football program’s COVID-19 shutdown last fall, nor does it include $26.4 million in donations and pledges for the 2020 fiscal year.
The pandemic did impact revenue in the loss of the American Athletic Conference basketball tournaments, along with the NCAA Tournaments. The school received nearly $707,000 from the men’s and women’s NCAA Tour
naments in 2019, but there was no revenue in 2020.
Overall expenses were $78.8 million, slightly down from the $80.9 million the year before.
“UConn Athletics continues its work toward financial self-sufficiency, staying the course despite revenue and expense challenges posed to its programs and the University as a whole by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the school said in a statement. “It also continues to provide top-quality educational and athletic opportunities to its student-athletes and an exciting, uniting experience for alumni and Husky fans worldwide.”
All three revenue-generating sports saw a loss in revenue last year. Football’s revenue dropped from $3.3 million to $2.3 million, men’s basketball from $6 million to $5 million, and women’s basketball from $4.5 million to $4 million.
Meanwhile, expenses rose for all three programs — football from $16.6 million to $17.1 million, men’s basketball from $9.9 million to $11.2 million, and women’s basketball from $8 million to $8.2 million.
UConn moved from the AAC to the Big East last summer. The school will pay a $17 million exit fee to the AAC, with the payment due by 2026 and not reflected in the latest financial report.
The return to the Big East — UConn’s conference home from 1979 to 2013 — has sparked renewed interest and excitement among the fan base. Ticket revenue for basketball increased year-over-year ($3 million to $4 million for the men, $2 million to $2.4 million for the women), a boost that came after the Big East move was announced.
School officials have also attributed the increase in donations to the league shift, and there will be a decrease in travel expenses in the conference with more regional opponents. The department reported $6.3 million on travel in the 2019-20 report.
“Our return this year to the Big East will also play a positive role in our longterm fiscal future, particularly once college athletics can once again welcome fans to games after the pandemic and UConn can offer full schedules of competitive matchups against our historical rivals and others,” the school said.
“Like other institutions’ programs, UConn Athletics is operating under fiscal and logistical circumstances no one could have foreseen and, above all, prioritizes the health and safety of its student-athletes, fans, and employees. It will continue to do so in the most fiscally responsible manner moving forward.”