Athletic Deficit

From the LA Times: No fans plus fewer games has added up to big trouble for UCLA’s already grim athletic department finances. The Bruins’ record $62.5-million deficit for the 2021 fiscal year, according to an unaudited statement of revenues and expenses obtained by The Times, reflected the many ways in which COVID-19 has bushwhacked schools from coast to coast. “The impact of the pandemic continues to be felt at collegiate athletic departments across the nation,” UCLA athletic department spokesman Scott Markley said in a statement.

The shortfall also revealed several unique challenges that have saddled UCLA with a three-year deficit of $102.8 million, a staggering figure for a department that had not previously operated in the red since posting a negligible deficit in 2004. The Bruins receive just a pittance from campus sources compared with other athletic departments; they do not pocket stadium sponsorship sales and recoup just a small percentage of sales from parking, concessions, merchandise and premium seating sales at the Rose Bowl; they pay a usage fee for games at Pauley Pavilion while receiving only a sliver of concession and merchandise sales; they receive no parking revenue at any venue while footing the bill for staffing; and they refused to enact furloughs or staffing cuts during the pandemic, a rarity at a time when other departments liberally slashed salaries and jobs...

Ultimately, the biggest savior could be the university itself. As in recent years, UCLA is covering its athletic department’s debt with a loan that must be repaid in full...

Full story at https://www.latimes.com/sports/ucla/story/2022-01-29/ucla-posts-record-62-5-million-in-athletic-department-debt.