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Iowa cuts four sports, becoming the first Big Ten school to ax programs during the pandemic
Source: Washington Post
Iowa cuts four sports, becoming the first Big Ten school to ax programs during the pandemic
By Chuck Culpepper
8/21/2020, 3:49:30 p.m.
Four sports that had spanned a combined 328 years at the University of Iowa suffered discontinuation Friday, trimmed from another athletics budget ailing from the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In an open letter, the university president and the athletic director of a program in an especially stormy year announced the end of the men’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming and men’s tennis programs at the end of the 2020-21 academic year. It signaled the end of programs that had begun, respectively, in 1922, 1917, 1974 and 1939, according to Iowa media guides. It happened on the same day some Big Ten football parents, including those of some Iowa players, marched at the Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., hoping to restore an autumn football season the conference canceled last week after recommendations from a medical advisory board.
“The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a financial exigency which threatens our continued ability to adequately support 24 intercollegiate athletics programs at the desired championship level,” wrote Bruce Harreld, Iowa’s president, and Gary Barta, the athletic director. “With the Big Ten Conference’s postponement of fall competition on August 11, UI Athletics now projects lost revenue of approximately $100M and an overall deficit between $60-75M this fiscal year. A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome. We have a plan to recover, but the journey will be challenging.”
Calling it “extremely difficult news,” the statement read, “Each of these [four] teams will have the opportunity to compete in their upcoming 2020-21 seasons, should the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 permit, before they are discontinued at the varsity level.”
-snip-
By Chuck Culpepper
8/21/2020, 3:49:30 p.m.
Four sports that had spanned a combined 328 years at the University of Iowa suffered discontinuation Friday, trimmed from another athletics budget ailing from the effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
In an open letter, the university president and the athletic director of a program in an especially stormy year announced the end of the men’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming and men’s tennis programs at the end of the 2020-21 academic year. It signaled the end of programs that had begun, respectively, in 1922, 1917, 1974 and 1939, according to Iowa media guides. It happened on the same day some Big Ten football parents, including those of some Iowa players, marched at the Big Ten headquarters in Rosemont, Ill., hoping to restore an autumn football season the conference canceled last week after recommendations from a medical advisory board.
“The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a financial exigency which threatens our continued ability to adequately support 24 intercollegiate athletics programs at the desired championship level,” wrote Bruce Harreld, Iowa’s president, and Gary Barta, the athletic director. “With the Big Ten Conference’s postponement of fall competition on August 11, UI Athletics now projects lost revenue of approximately $100M and an overall deficit between $60-75M this fiscal year. A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome. We have a plan to recover, but the journey will be challenging.”
Calling it “extremely difficult news,” the statement read, “Each of these [four] teams will have the opportunity to compete in their upcoming 2020-21 seasons, should the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 permit, before they are discontinued at the varsity level.”
-snip-
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/21/iowa-cuts-four-sports-becoming-first-big-ten-school-ax-programs-during-pandemic/
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
where they must cut costs if they don't meet their revenue targets, or nah? 
