COVID-19 had ‘significant’ financial impact on CIAC

The past 14 months, COVID-19 was not prejudiced and impacted everyone on many levels in Connecticut.

While the Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference was impacted with its sports on the field, court and pool, like all businesses the CIAC took a hit with lost revenue due to the pandemic.

“Financially, in the past 14 months, COVID-19 had a significant impact for us,” CIAC executive director Glenn Lungarini said. “It was a negative impact and we did the best we could to maintain our operation so we would not have to diminish anything for the kids.

“We lost revenue from the entry fees we get from teams for postseason play. But the significant loss was in our postseason ticket sales. One of the high revenue producers for us is the ticket sales for boys and girls basketball tournaments and the past two seasons we didn’t have a (CIAC) basketball postseason.”

According to the 990 Form for the IRS filed by the CIAC in 2019 for the 2018 fiscal year, nearly $2 million in revenue was reported for tournament admission fees for the full year.

Lungarini said there were actually two areas of significant loss of revenue due to the pandemic.

“No. 1 was the loss of ticket sales,” Lungarini said. “There was no postseason so we were not selling tickets. No. 2 was the

reduction or loss of sponsorships. The CIAC wasn’t the only one impacted by the pandemic. All businesses were impacted and like us they had to make some tough decisions.

“Corporate sponsors had to re-think their options and with their resources depleted they had to cut back. That meant reducing the amount of their sponsorship to the CIAC or just not continuing with their sponsorship.”

Among the tough decisions for Lungarini and the CIAC was the impact on its staff

“During the height of the pandemic we significantly reduced the hours of our employees,” Lungarini said. “We furloughed some positions and we eliminated four positions, a combination of administrative and project managers.

“All these decisions were difficult, very tough to make. (CIAC Director of Media and Sports Information) Joel Cookson was one of those tough cuts. He was an important part of what we do and is a great guy. But we did what was in the best interest of the kids, so we could maintain programs and our level of commitment to the kids.”

Although Lungarini didn’t put a dollar amount on it, he said one of the biggest expenses during the pandemic has been the cost of PPE (personal protective equipment). Federal assistance has helped with that cost.

“The cost of PPE is significant,” Lungarini said. “But PPE was necessary in order for us to maintain our level of operation and do the job that was necessary for our kids. We quickly applied for a Federal PPE loan days after it was offered. Without that help it would have been tough for us.

“Having the PPE helped keep things progressing forward. The loans didn’t create a scenario where everything was fine with the pandemic. But it allowed us to continue our operation and maintain our product.”

There was a return to some level of normalcy with the recent spring sports season and the return of CIAC postseason tournaments and Lungarini looks at it as a turning point.

“The spring season was big for us, not only for the CIAC but for athletes, coaches and parents,” Lungarini said. “Some teams still had to go into quarantine, but not a single athlete was in quarantine during the postseason. We did our best to give the athletes as much a normal season as possible.

“The attendances at our postseason tournaments were encouraging with crowd numbers going to similar numbers we experienced in the 2019-2020 season.”

Lungarini is proceeding with cautious optimism when it comes to the upcoming school year.

“We still have to keep in mind the pandemic is still here,” Lumgarini said. “Currently COVID-19 cases in Connecticut are starting to spike up. But I am optimistic moving forward. We are one month away from football teams getting back on the field and that’s great.

“We will continue to work with the Connecticut Health Department for COVID-19 guidelines along with local health departments. We are encouraging all athletes to get vaccinated because that is the key to having a successful season this fall. We anticipate every sport playing a full season and there is no reason to think differently.”

When it comes to overall expense numbers and lost revenue numbers, Lungarini said the CIAC is in the process of doing a year-end closure and evaluation.

“We’ll have those final numbers in the fall,” Lungarini said.