The University of Cincinnati athletic department last year reported its largest single-year surplus in at least 15 years despite the global COVID-19 pandemic wiping out postseason tournaments for winter sports and cutting short spring sports' seasons.
Cincinnati reported a total operating revenue of more than $81.7 million during the 2020 fiscal year, according to the school's NCAA Membership Financial Report.
The report, which was provided to The Enquirer last week, shows the department spent more than $74 million during the 2020 fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2019, through June 30, 2020, giving it a total operating surplus of nearly $7.7M. That is the largest single-year surplus for the Cincinnati athletic department since at least the 2005 fiscal year, when The Enquirer/USA Today Network began collecting the data.
"With the COVID-19 outbreak, we shut down operations of athletics for the fourth quarter of FY20," UC Athletics Chief Financial Officer Nick Bowes told The Enquirer on Monday. "This created a savings of $6.2 million that is being used to offset losses in the current year."
The department reported a surplus of more than $2 million during the 2019 fiscal year and just more than $1 million during the 2016 fiscal year. It did not operate at a surplus in 2017 or 2018.
"In addition, we had fundraising dollars for Coach Fickell's contract that came in and were retained to assist in funding his new deal," Bowes said. "This amounted to operational savings."
The university in August announced a contract extension for football coach Luke Fickell. The new deal keeps the 47-year-old coach at the helm of the Bearcats' football program through 2026.
The extension pays Fickell $3.4 million per year starting with 2020, according to the new deal. At the time, the contract put Fickell in the top 40 among highest-paid college football coaches. Houston's Dana Holgorsen ($3.7 million) is the only Group of Five coach to make more.
All of Fickell's extension was funded through private donations and fundraising, according to school officials.
UC gave more than $30.4 million in direct institutional support to the athletic department during the 2020 fiscal year. That is also the most on record. Direct institutional support is "funds provided by the institution to athletics for the operations of intercollegiate athletics," according to the report.
After already having to discontinue the men's soccer program last April because of lost revenue due to the COVID-19 outbreak, UC Director of Athletics John Cunningham and the department launched the Next Level Success Fund last summer in an effort to help the department stay afloat during the pandemic.
It seems likely that if COVID-19 does ultimately affect Cincinnati's bottom line, it will be seen in the 2021 fiscal year, which began July 1, 2020. That includes the 2020 football season and the 2020-21 men's basketball season, the two sports that routinely generate the most revenue for the university.
The football team accounted for more than $10.3 million of the approximately $17 million UC generated in revenue from its athletic teams during the 2020 fiscal year, by far the most of any of its sports teams.
Men's basketball was second at about $4.2 million, while baseball ($342,363), women's volleyball ($254,699) and women's lacrosse ($248,153) rounded out the top five.
All figures, particularly those related to the football and men's basketball programs, are expected to be down during the 2021 fiscal year with seasons taking place with far fewer fans and far fewer ticket and concession sales due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The athletic department in September eliminated 14 full-time positions in "cost-cutting measures," Cunningham said then.
"We had to make a number of difficult decisions today based on the financial situation we are in," said Cunningham, who was hired at Cincinnati in December 2019. "While the cuts are a business reality, it doesn't lessen the impact on us personally. These choices were not made lightly and we will do everything we can to support our friends and colleagues through this challenging time."
The 14 positions included seven roles that were currently filled and seven that were open and would not be filled.
The position cuts represented a 15% reduction in the athletics staff. The impact of those cuts will be represented in the school's 2021 fiscal year report.