Elimination of nonconference games could have ripple effect
The Big Ten and Pac-12 became the first Power Five leagues to shift to an all-conference fall schedule as the college sports world faces difficult decisions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
More Power Five conferences could follow, causing a ripple effect on small-conference schools across the country.
If more big conferences ditch nonconference games, smaller schools who rely on “buy games” to help fund their athletic departments will take huge financial hits at a time when they’re already facing ugly bottom lines.
“It’s significant, to say the least,” Northern Arizona
athletic director Mike Marlow said Friday. “We’re fortunate in the state
of Arizona to have both (Arizona State) and (Arizona) here and we have
one or the other scheduled through 2029. That’s a significant part of
our budget.”
The Big Ten announced Thursday it will eliminate all
nonconference games in football and several other sports amid rising
COVID-19 concerns. The Pac-12 followed suit on Friday, announcing it is
eliminating all nonconference games from its fall schedules.
A
conference-only schedule also allows schools to cut down on expenses at a
time when athletic departments are facing massive budget constraints.
The
cancellation of the NCAA Tournament left the NCAA to be $375 million
short in revenue scheduled to be paid to its member schools and the
pandemic has continued to exacerbate financial shortcomings.
Stanford
eliminated 11 of its 36 varsity sports this week to help shore up some
of a projected $25 million budget shortfall and at least 171 sports
programs at four-year schools have been cut during the pandemic.
The
Pac-12 Conference is considering a move to conference-only games and
the other Power 5 conferences are weighing their options
The Big
Ten’s decision wipes out 33 non-conference football games against
non-Power Five programs — nine more against Power Five opponents — with
payouts ranging in the six figures to more than $1 million to the
smaller schools.
Non-Power Five schools will collectively lose at
least $110 million — possibly up to $150 million — in revenue from
guaranteed payments by Power Five schools in a conference-only model,
according to Dr. Patrick Rishe, director of the sports business program at Washington University in St. Louis.
“I
expect every conference will at least move towards fewer games. … and
likely a conference-only model,” Dr. Rishe said. “If you reduce beyond
that, what’s the point of conducting the sport in the fall? You’d be
better off giving the spring a try and craft a conference-only spring
schedule which can be contested in less time, less travel, etc.”
Northern
Arizona has a scheduled payout of $518,000 for its Sept. 3 game at
Arizona State, money that slated to be used for the football team’s 2020
travel expenses. Northern Arizona’s overall athletic budget is $21
million and already went through one round of budget reductions to
prevent cutting sports.
Fresno State is due to make a combined
$1.9 million for buy games against Colorado and Texas A&M this
season. New Mexico is due $1.9 million in payouts for road games against
Mississippi State and Southern California.
Montana State has a
$675,000 payout for a Sept. 12 game at Utah. Hawaii had most of its
nonconference schedule wiped out, losing road games against Pac-12
schools Arizona, UCLA and Oregon after Fordham earlier canceled its
Sept. 12 game at Aloha Stadium. The Rainbow Warriors only have a game
against New Mexico State on Oct. 12 left on their nonconference
schedule.
Some schools could lose more than 5% of their entire athletic budgets if guarantee games are wiped off their schedules.
“Every
department has its own philosophy, but I don’t recall in my six years
where a MAC team did not play at least a game where they’re bringing
home a pretty good check,” Eastern Michigan coach Chris Creighton said.
“And that check supports much more than just football.”
Most
guarantee game contracts have so-called act of God clauses, providing
some compensation when an uncontrollable event causes a cancellation.
The clauses vary by each contract and schools are already sorting
through those in case guarantee games — or the entire season — are wiped
out.
“I don’t think we know what the financial impact is,” MAC Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher acknowledged in a telephone interview Thursday. “Those schools will have to work through how you disassemble that contract and put it back together. We’ll all act accordingly and we’ll see over the next two to three weeks what the season looks like if we’re able to have a season at all.”
AP Sports Writers John Zenor in Montgomery, Alabama; Cliff Brunt in Oklahoma City; and Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.