The COVID-19 pandemic has been a massive burden for college athletic departments nationwide, with nearly all seeing major revenue loss leading to smaller sports being cut, employee layoffs, and other significant changes.
At the University of Kentucky, athletics director Mitch Barnhart reported Monday that the school is projecting a $35 million loss in revenue for the 2020-21 athletic season amid the pandemic.
“The effects of the coronavirus pandemic have presented a historic budget challenge,” Barnhart told members of the University Athletics Committee of the UK Board of Trustees Monday afternoon. “But challenges are what we teach and coach our student athletes to successfully work through — as individuals and as teams.