UW Huskies athletic department announces cost-saving measures
The University of Washington athletic department announced cost-saving measures on Friday for FY21, which begins July 1.
The cuts are designed to lessen the financial impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has strained college athletic departments across the country. These actions will lead to 10% total savings, which amounts to approximately a $5 million in the staff line item of the budget. The athletic department will also have about a 15% total reduction in its overall operating budget, which will save approximately $8.5 million.
In total, the measures should save the athletic department nearly $13 million.
While some athletic departments have been forced to eliminate sports due to financial struggles, a UW is committed to maintaining all 22 of its programs.
“The department together is committed to maintaining all 22 of our programs and to providing a world-class education and athletic experience for our students,” UW athletic director Jennifer Cohen said in a statement. “While these decisions are difficult, this shared sacrifice model from our coaches and staff allows us to continue the momentum our student-athletes, coaches, fans and Tyee Club donors have built.
“We have significant challenges ahead, but we remain hopeful that our Husky family will come alongside us to support our students and teams that bring so much pride and joy to our community.”
All of UW’s head coaches have committed to a 5% voluntary salary reduction. The university will also ask for a minimum 3% voluntary salary reduction for assistant coaches and other contract staff.
Additionally, all professional, classified or union members of the athletic department — a total of 156 employees — will be required to take two to four week temporary furloughs. Any current vacant positions will stay open through the end of the fiscal year on June 30, 2021. Any mid-year, non-critical vacancies will remain open for a minimum of three months.
Looking ahead
UW started bringing student-athletes back to campus for voluntary workouts on June 15, but there are still significant unknowns about the upcoming fall sports season.
Football is scheduled to open against Michigan at Husky Stadium on Sept. 5. But the possibility remains that the season won’t start on time, or happen at all. If the season can progress as planned, it’s unclear if fans will be able to attend games — even in limited numbers.
During a presentation to the Board of Regents in May, Cohen and chief financial officer Kate Cullen modeled several possibilities for the financial challenges UW could face in the coming months.
That best-case scenario budget assumed a full fall season — football included — with fans in the stands. Even so, it made the following assumptions: Gate and game-day revenue falling by 10-12% ($4.4 million) and donor contributions dropping by $2.5 million.
UW had 29 seniors return for a fifth year. According to the presentation, that created approximately $700,000 in additional scholarship expenses and $350,000 in additional sport operating expenses. The university also anticipated an increase in the budget for safety related projects, including hygiene stations. The athetic department does have a reserve of more than $30 million.
A shortened football season or attendance restrictions would cut revenues even further. That’s a scenario Cohen said in June she was preparing for and one she deemed more likely than the cancellation of the entire football season. While the latter would be financially devastating, it would also be more straightforward.
“The really complicated financial issue, probably the one we’re most likely going to be in, is that we have other sports (other than football) but we don’t have the revenue to cover them,” she said, “and that’s very complicated because of the way our athletic department revenue structure work. We’re not really a business, even though we’re a big operation. We’re part of higher education.
“It’s a complicated model to support broad-based teams and students. … I’m spending a lot of time in that content because we’re very committed to all of our programs at Washington. Every student-athlete matters to us and their experience matters to us. We’re trying to get creative around that model.”
This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 3:38 PM.
