Gary Barta: Iowa athletic department suffers major revenue loss in 2020

The Iowa athletic department lost a ton of money in 2020 thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

2020 has almost come to an end, but the damage is already done for the University of Iowa. On Monday, Iowa athletic director Gary Barta announced that the university unsurprisingly suffered a major revenue loss this year.

Barta estimates that the Hawkeyes’ athletic department is facing a $55-65 million deficit that will likely take “about a decade” to recover from.

Iowa’s board of regents already decided to eliminate men’s gymnastics, men’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis and women’s swimming and diving at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year.

The 2020 Big Ten football season has taken the biggest toll on the athletic department’s finances. After all, daily testing and contact tracing for athletes and coaches isn’t cheap.

Combined with no fans at games, the revenue stream for the Iowa football team hasn’t been anywhere near its usual mark. The Hawkeyes were lucky to have played all eight games on their schedule, which brought in significant TV revenue.

Barta says as soon as the Big Ten originally canceled the 2020 football season back in the summer, Iowa believed it was likely to endure at least $100 million in revenue losses.

After a number of salary cuts, furloughs and the elimination of four programs, Barta said it was then estimated that the loss would drop to $75 million. With the return of football in October, Barta says the latest estimate is in that $55-65 million range.

The impact of the Hawkeyes’ basketball season is not yet known. TV revenue is expected to be high for an Iowa team currently ranked in the top-5.

Meanwhile, the Iowa football team is scheduled to play in the Music City Bowl against Missouri on Dec. 30 in Nashville, TN. Barta says bowl games will not make money for the Big Ten this year and that the hope is that it will be financially neutral for the conference.

However, it’s unknown whether the Hawkeyes will even be able to participate. The program has paused all team activities for at least five days due to multiple positive covid tests in the last few days.

“We will continue to prepare and put our game plan together for the TransPerfect Music City Bowl using the technology we have available,” Ferentz said in a statement from the University of Iowa. “While our first priority is the health and safety of our players and staff, our goal is to play and compete on Dec. 30.”