Vince Tyra, Louisville’s athletic director, announced that the university’s athletic department is set to face some harsh realities brought on from the coronavirus pandemic, including a 15 percent budget cut for sports. The staff furlough will be officially announced on Wednesday.
In a video teleconference on Monday, Tyra, however, didn’t specify details to the University of Louisville Athletic Association (ULAA) board.
These are obviously difficult times for college athletics across the country; add it to the list of industries that have been ravaged due to COVID-19. The loss of NCAA Tournament revenue was a serious blow.
The threat of an altered — or possibly cancelled — football season 2020 would have even greater harm, though. Tyra made note that a cancelled 2020 football season would cost Louisville roughly 45 percent of its athletics budget.
If there is no football season, #UofL will lose about 45 percent of its budget, athletic director Vince Tyra says. The worst-case scenario is around a $50 million dollar shortfall.
If there's no basketball, obviously the losses will be worse.
— Danielle Lerner (@danielle_lerner) April 20, 2020
Louisville athletics already announced 10 percent pay cuts for head coaches and senior personnel earlier in April. According to Tyra, his department plans to trim $15 million from the 2020-21 athletics budget, which will be submitted this week.