Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke provided an update on Thursday claiming that the Wildcats have “no immediate plans” to cut sports amid their current financial crisis.
Last November, Arizona president Robert Robbins said that “draconian cuts” would be required to address a $240 million miscalculation by the university’s financial model.
After the Wildcats unveiled a financial action plan last month, Heeke offered more details about three key points. Arizona’s hiring freeze instituted last fall will continue indefinitely, all major construction projects will be paused after the completion of the new golf facility, and budgets will be reduced in areas that “do not impact the health and wellbeing of student-athletes.”
The plan also laid out a few ways of generating more revenue. The Wildcats are aiming to increase ancillary revenue from multimedia rights agreements and facility usage, boost ticketing revenue through “market-driven pricing,” and continue their record-breaking fundraising efforts. They also vowed to invest more in “marquee programs that generate substantial revenue.”
Back in November, Robbins claimed that the Wildcats’ athletic department drained the university’s resources, noting a $55 million loan during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic has not been paid back fast enough. About $40 million of that money was meant to be repaid over 15 years with interest. Arizona’s athletic department reported a loss of $591,000 last year despite receiving $31.1 million from the university — the second-largest subsidy in school history.
Arizona’s move to the Big 12 this summer could help its financial struggles. However, Robbins pointed out that Big 12 schools sponsor an average of 17 sports — less than the Wildcats’ 23.
“Everything is on the table in terms of dealing with athletics,” Robbins said. “This is an issue that is going to require a lot of tough decisions.”
In the pool, the Wildcat men placed 4th out of six teams at the 2023 Pac-12 Championships, one spot up from their 2022 showing, while the women regressed one place to 6th out of eight teams at Pac-12s last season. Augie Busch is in his seventh season coaching Arizona’s swimming and diving program.
“No Immediate plans” Meaning they are going to cut sports. I bet we see cuts in the spring and summer. They should have cut Augie a long time ago.
I haven’t been following college swimming for that long and especially not since Arizona was good – why don’t people like Augie Busch?
If this school is recruiting you or your athlete, RUN! The damage that Augie has done as the head coach is considerable. And that’s without an inept administration.
And yet the NCAA is proposing that schools give upwards of $30K a year or somesuch to many student-athletes (including women, but not all student-athletes at the school, which makes no sense). Good luck with that! Insanity.
I heard they had a good meet today against GCU…
prospective swimmers (and their parents) are going: right……I’m going to gamble on y’all?
Gambling on Augie was already a risk