Gators weather difficult times
Department loses $54.5 million during pandemic
GAINESVILLE — UF athletics lost $54.5 million during the coronavirus pandemic, yet Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin said his department is able to move forward on solid financial footing.
“It’s something we hope we never have to do again,” Stricklin said at UF’s board of trustees meeting, held Thursday and Friday in Gainesville. “Glad it’s behind us. Looking forward to normality.”
The University of Athletic Association managed to stay afloat because of a robust reserve fund of $51 million and a $23 million cash infusion from the SEC to each of its 14 member schools.
Unlike countless businesses nationwide and many athletic departments, the UAA was able to avoid layoffs, furloughs or even salary reductions. Stricklin’s department also saved millions of dollars due to the elimination of team travel and event logistics amid the shutdown last spring, suspension of pension payments and bonuses for a year, and reduction in staff support services, including consultants, staff events, seminars and travel.
UF football coach Dan Mullen and his staff, for example, made $970,000 in bonuses following the 2019 season, according to the UAA’s reporting to the NCAA.
While the financial fallout was significant and required sacrifice, the looming uncertainty is now behind Stricklin and his department. The Gators’ 2021-22 operating revenue budget is $143.8 million, up from $140.7 million in 2020-21 when the department ultimately generated $86.2 million
in revenues.
At the UF’s 2020 Board of Trustees meetings, the Gators’ AD and state’s flagship university were in the throes of a pandemic and faced endless challenges.
The half-filled conference room last June in Gainesville at Emerson Hall brimmed with nervous energy as many of the university’s top decision-makers, scholars and medical experts wore face coverings and sat socially distanced, shared plans for the future from behind plexiglass barriers and speculated on the fate of the upcoming academic year.
On Thursday, the same room was filled with bright-eyed optimism, beaming smiles and a sense of relief after having successfully navigated a pandemic that has ravaged the world.
“It’s like that first softball game; we had normal crowds,” Stricklin said. “Everybody is walking around with a dumbfounded look on their face. We didn’t have masks on and we had full crowds.”
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, support from the state and strong fundraising — UF raised $540 million, up from $523 million in 2019-20 — helped the university stave off financial losses, according to Steve Orlando, assistant vice president of communications.
Meanwhile, the UAA, a direct support organization operating largely separate from the university, experienced massive shortfalls like every school in the SEC, where members incurred losses ranging from $17 million to $85 million.
Attendance was limited to a maximum of 17,000 fans during the 2020 season, when the Gators averaged just 14,868 fans, including a season-low 12,049 on Oct. 31 against Missouri. The Gators averaged an announced crowd of 84,684 during six home games in 2019.
Florida football, the UAA’s cash cow, generated more than $87.4 million in revenues in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020. This included $28.76 million in ticket sales and $31.7 million from donors, financial windfalls that plummeted due to restrictions in crowd size at 88,548-seat Ben Hill Griffin to prevent spread of the virus.
Boosters were given the option to roll over their 2020 seasonticket balance to 2021 but also encouraged to convert some of their 2020 season ticket and contribution balance to donations to earn priority points that help determine seat assignments and parking locations.
“We had some people step up here and there,” Stricklin said. “For the most part, we reduced activity, which reduced cost, and we were able to combine that with the reserves.”
Stricklin said the UAA was able to build back much of its reserve fund with the SEC’s $322 million distribution to its members via future earnings on a lucrative media-rights deal with ESPN that begins in 2024.
“We’re going to come out of this with our reserve pretty much intact because of the SEC money,” Stricklin said.
The Gators will need every revenue stream available to continue ambitious plans to upgrade facilities and eventually modernize the Swamp, UF’s iconic football stadium.
UF’s $85 million football complex is the centerpiece of a massive push to improve the Gators’ infrastructure. The pandemic delayed its scheduled opening from January 2022 to May 2022. The baseball team recently completed its first season in the $65-million Florida Ballpark while the university’s softball program is two years removed from $15 million of improvements to Katie Seashole Pressly Softball Stadium.
Next up is construction of a 13,000-square-foot facility for the women’s lacrosse and soccer programs.
Long-term, though, Stricklin said the Swamp will need to undergo a major face-lift costing $200 million to $300 million. Since 2014, the UAA spent more than $277 million on capital projects.
“We’re going to have to be creative to spend the kind of money we need to spend there,” said Stricklin, the school’s AD since Nov. 1, 2016.
Stricklin’s considerable interpersonal skills were tested by one of the most devastating events in U.S. history. The 50-year-old Mississippian said he focused on the needs of his staff more than the UAA’s balance sheet in order to maintain one of the nation’s most affluent and successful athletic programs.
“There was some stress. There’s a lot of unknown,” Stricklin recalled. “What we all talked about as an organization is whenever there’s unknown, let’s try to figure out where we can provide some kind of clarity. So the focus became what do we know, we can we share and how can we lead.”
Stricklin recalled a Zoom call with student-athletes to address their concerns, regular emails to check in on his staff and the bond developed among colleagues during an unprecedented time.
“That constant communication piece is something I’m most proud of,” Stricklin said. “Zoom calls, there was some connection that comes from that. Sometimes emails were: ‘Here’s the latest on testing; here’s the latest on finances; or I hope you’re doing well and here’s some resources for mental health and taking care of yourself.’
“It’s just the fact we were all communicating, I think that’s really important; that’s something I’m most proud.”