Reporter tells Paul Finebaum that colleges are considering cutting staff and even sports amid coronavirus outbreak
It’s an unprecedented time in college sports, as things have pretty much been shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
The NCAA Tournament — both men’s and women’s — were canceled, and that’s a huge revenue hit for the NCAA.
Could we see some drastic measures being taken across Division I athletic departments? Michael Smith of Sports Business Journal joined “The Paul Finebaum Show” on Monday and said he’s heard a source say some schools are considering cutting staff size and potentially even cutting sports:
.@smittySBJ tells @finebaum he talked to a source consulting with two athletic departments today. "Both of those conversations include cutting staff and cutting sports. I hope that's not where we're headed, but it very well could be."
— Brandon Zimmerman (@BZSEC) March 30, 2020
More @SmittySBJ on the possibility of reducing the 14 sports required to be Division I. "I can't help but wonder if this will be an opportunity for the NCAA to go: 'I wonder if 10 is the right number.'"
— Brandon Zimmerman (@BZSEC) March 30, 2020
There’s still time likely before any decisions like that would be necessary, but it is still a concerning line of thought.
Hopefully, we can get past the COVID-19 outbreak and get back to normal, but this pandemic might put a bit of a halt on the outrageous spending some college athletic departments have enjoyed during the boom period.
