The UA athletic department ran a $26 million deficit during the coronavirus-crippled 2020-21 fiscal year, not counting the $10.5 million it paid to buy out former coaches Sean Miller and Kevin Sumlin and a handful of their assistant coaches.
The department is taking a 15-year “bridge” loan from the university to pay off the debt, athletic director Dave Heeke said Wednesday.
Arizona will owe an additional $4.3 million in coaching buyouts for the 2021-22 fiscal year, bringing the total cost of buying out Sumlin, Miller and those assistants on multiyear contracts to $14.8 million. The UA is the first Pac-10/12 team in conference history to replace — and buy out — its football and men’s basketball coaches in the same academic year.
The coronavirus pandemic crushed collegiate athletics beginning in March 2020, leading to the cancellation of both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments, the College World Series and Women’s College World Series and putting fall and winter sports in jeopardy.
The Pac-12 pushed forward with football and basketball seasons starting last fall, but the games were played in empty stadiums and arenas. While the UA and other schools collected television money by playing, the financial impact was still staggering.
The UA finished the 2020-21 fiscal year $45 million short of its revenue projections, Heeke said, but was able to make up about $19 million by cutting expenses, freezing positions and laying off staff.
The Pac-12 offered $1 billion total in loans to its member schools last fall. Just one of them, Colorado, appears to have taken it. Sportico reported that CU is borrowing roughly $18 million from the league to cover its budget shortfall.
Heeke said the UA considered the conference’s offer before determining it was “more appropriate” to borrow from campus. “The university maintains that’s a better way to utilize those resources,” he said.
The return of fans, pandemic permitting, should help the Wildcats’ financial situation. Heeke said the athletic department “fully intends” to pay off in less than 15 years — and with interest.
“We’ll work our way out,” he said. “We’re in this thing together, we have an excellent plan and we’ll work our way out of that in a really responsible way.”
Donations, ticket sales up
Not all financial news was so bleak.
The athletic department raised $26 million in donations during the 2020-21 fiscal year — $8 million more than the year before, Heeke said. It’s on pace to raise “a record” amount in 2021-22, Heeke added, thanks in part to the excitement surrounding the football program.
The UA has a laundry list of needed improvements, ranging from improved amenities at Hi Corbett Field and Mulcahy Soccer Stadium to a new home for the men’s and women’s golf programs.
First-year football coach Jedd Fisch has already remodeled the Lowell-Stevens Football Facility using donations from boosters. Heeke said UA’s big-money donors have bought into Fisch’s vision for the program.
The planned overhaul of Arizona Stadium’s west side, however, appears to have stalled.
“We’ll keep chipping away at the football stadium when we have that opportunity,” Heeke said, noting that the department must be smart about taking on new debt given its new loan from campus.
Ticket sales are also up. The UA has sold 2,800 new season tickets for football while retaining 94% of its current season ticket holders, Heeke said. The men’s basketball program has a 92% retention rate and has added 250 new season ticket holders following the hiring of coach Tommy Lloyd.
And the UA women’s basketball program, coming off its first-ever Final Four, has more than doubled its season ticket base from the 2019-20 season. The Wildcats now boast more than 4,800 season ticket holders, Heeke said.
No masks, proof of vaccination needed for now
Neither masks nor proof of COVID-19 vaccinations will be required to attend Arizona Wildcats home football games, at least for the time being.
Heeke said his department will follow the university’s lead regarding mitigation measures. The current UA policy, subject to change, is that masks must be worn “in all indoor spaces where it is not possible to adequately and continuously maintain social distance.”
That policy would not apply to Arizona Stadium, an outdoor venue — although, as Heeke noted, there are “lots of indoor spaces” at the stadium that would require masking or physical distancing.
Arizona opens its home schedule Sept. 11 against San Diego State. The Wildcats host NAU the following Saturday.
It appears that masks will be required to attend the Wildcats’ Sept. 4 season opener against BYU in Las Vegas. The state of Nevada recently announced that masks would be mandated, regardless of vaccination status, in indoor public settings in areas of substantial or high transmission. Clark County currently falls into that category.
Although the Las Vegas Raiders are requiring proof of vaccination to attend their home games at Allegiant Stadium, that is not expected to be the case for the UA-BYU game.
Per Allegiant Stadium’s website: “The Raiders and Allegiant Stadium are currently evaluating any application of this policy to other events. For all other events at Allegiant Stadium, all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, must wear a face mask while inside the stadium.”
Lute tribute
The family of the late Lute Olson has been heavily involved in planning a Sept. 12 tribute to the former coach in McKale Center, and Heeke said the event will be “centered around” the players and coaches that he touched.
“I think we all want to come together and celebrate that incredible legacy that continues today,” he said.
Olson died Aug. 27 at age 85. The UA put off holding a public memorial service because of the pandemic.
Extra points
• Mike Candrea is “beginning to formulate a role” as an adviser within the athletic department, Heeke said, noting that the recently retired softball coach will serve as a mentor to head coaches, assistant coaches and staff members. Candrea could also be involved at a conference and national level with softball and possibly baseball, Heeke predicted. Candrea was a junior college baseball coach before switching sports. Candrea retired in June following 36 college seasons, 1,674 wins and eight WCWS titles.
• Former UA basketball staffer Ryan Reynolds, meanwhile, is helping all UA programs with travel, contracts and scheduling in his new role as an assistant athletic director.
New Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff will spend three days in Tucson next month as part of his listening tour.
