Survey: AD’s are bracing for a financial crisis

■ Athletic directors say their greatest concerns about their athletes over the next three months were academic progress, mental health and a lack of resources while off campus, but many are trying to determine how a prolonged shutdown of sports will affect their budgets.

Athletic directors at the nation’s biggest schools are bracing for a potential financial crisis related to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a survey conducted by LEAD1, an association of athletic directors from 130 major college football schools, 63% expect a worst-case scenario in which their revenues decrease by at least 20% during the 2020-21 school year. Even an abbreviated football season could cause schools to lose that much, according to the data released Thursday.

LEAD1 and TeamWorks, a company that created an app designed to help keep teams and athletic departments connected, released the survey of more than 100 ADs from schools in Division I’s Football Bowl Subdivision. “The State of Athletics in the Face of the Coronavirus” provides a sobering glimpse of the top concerns for the biggest athletic departments in the country.

The NCAA canceled winter and spring sports on March 12, separating thousands of college athletes from teammates and coaches and leaving them unable to practice and compete.

Athletic directors surveyed said their greatest concerns about their athletes over the next three months were academic progress, mental health and a lack of resources for them while off campus.

And then there are the financial concerns.

Canceling the men’s Division I basketball tournament cost the NCAA about $375 million it was scheduled to distribute to its member schools.

Asked for their worst-case