Cancellation of college football season would cost 'Power 5' schools $4 billion
While millions of fans are lamenting the looming disappearance of college sports this fall, the coronavirus pandemic is also exposing financial fault lines and a broken governance model that may trigger an opportunity to irrevocably transform big-dollar college athletic programs.
The disjointed decision-making, with emergency meetings of each conference’s governing board of university presidents, may leave the viability of fall football in limbo for days or weeks. That muddle stands in contrast to the Division I Football Championship Subdivision, and all of Division II and III, whose 600-plus colleges and universities have already cancelled their fall championships, including football.
Black athletes account for more than half of football players in the Power 5 conferences, and hospitalization rates from COVID-19 are roughly five times higher among Black Americans than white Americans. Given the disparate impact of the pandemic and emerging questions about the potential long-term health complications of COVID-19, athletes are raising critical questions about the priority of racial equity, health and safety.
While the absence of fall sports at most NCAA institutions will not result in significant revenue shortfalls in ticket sales or media contracts, the impact may be seen in reduced tuition revenues for many small colleges that depend on athletics as an enrollment tool for recruiting students. Looking at fixed expenses, our database shows that 54 of the public Power 5 institutions hold $7.4 billion in total athletics debt for which they pay a combined $578 million in annual debt service.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Florida’s confirmed COVID-19 total surpasses 532,800 with 6,229 additional casesUPDATE: Florida’s Department of Health on Sunday confirmed 6,229 additional cases of COVID-19, pushing the state’s known total to 532,806. There were also 77 Florida resident deaths announced, bringing the statewide resident death toll to 8,186
Read more »
Ohio governor's conflicting COVID-19 tests raise backlashThe Ohio governor&39;s positive, then negative, tests for COVID-19 have provided fuel for skeptics of government pandemic mandates and critics of his often-aggressive polices. “I&39;m sure the internet is lighting up with ‘Well, you can&39;t believe any test,&39; ” Mike DeWine said in a WCOL radio
Read more »
Coronavirus updates: US hits 5 million cases of COVID-19BREAKING: The United States has surpassed 5 million cases of COVID-19—nearly 2 million more cases than any other country—according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Read more »
Pelosi, Mnuchin eye narrower U.S. COVID-19 aid through 2020U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Sunday said they were open to restarting COVID-19 aid talks, after weeks of failed negotiations prompted President Donald Trump to take executive actions that Democrats argued would do little to ease Americans' financial distress.
Read more »
Global Covid-19 cases surpass 20M mark – latest updatesAs global Covid-19 cases cross the 20M mark, here's a look at other updates: 🇧🇷 Brazil reports over 23,000 more cases 🇲🇽 Mexico sees 4,376 new infections 🇦🇺 Australia's Victoria state records 322 cases, 19 deaths For more:
Read more »
Saudi Arabia to begin human trials with CanSino's Covid-19 vaccineResearchers say CanSino's vaccine which is co-developed with China's military research unit, appears to be safe and induced immune responses in most subjects.
Read more »