Cuts hit college sports in Minnesota
The University of Minnesota is starting to resume some athletic competitions as the football team opened against Michigan on October 24. Men’s hockey is set to start on November 13 and it has been hinted that women’s hockey will start on November 20. But on September 10, 2020, in An Open Letter to the University of Minnesota Athletics Community, U of M Athletic Director Mark Coyle wrote that the department has made “the difficult decision to discontinue our men’s indoor track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, men’s gymnastics and men’s tennis programs at the conclusion of the 2020–21 competition season.”
The coronavirus has crippled sports at all levels, especially at the colligate level … a market that relies heavily on putting fans in the stands. If fall sports at Minnesota weren’t to be played in any capacity, the ‘U’ expected a $75 million shortfall. According to bizjournals.com, the bright side is that Gophers are expected to make 50% of revenue from football back. In addition, Deputy Athletic Director Rhonda MacFarland presented to the Board of Regents that the truncated football season would only consist of 63 Big Ten games, compared to 93-plus games in a normal year.
The cuts also span north of Minneapolis before the pandemic began where St. Cloud State and Minnesota Crookston announced their decision to cut sports. The Huskies eliminated football in addition to men’s and women’s golf. To keep in compliance with Title IX, they are adding men’s soccer. The Golden Eagles eliminated their football program, which has gone 2–64 in their last 66 games and didn’t even come close to winning a game during the 2019 season. At this time, these programs are no longer in operation.
To add context to Title IX considerations, the law states that a school that receives federal funding, public or private must “provide participation opportunities for women and men that are substantially proportionate to their respective rates of enrollment of full-time undergraduate students.” Coyle has been clear that these decisions are not being directed by Title IX, only guided by it to make sure they are in compliance.
Back at the University of Minnesota, their demographic of male and female students has shifted which is why more men’s sports are affected. According to the Minnesota Daily, 54% of Gopher athletes are female and 46% are male, which is why the “U,” has to eliminate men’s sports or will eventually have to add more women’s sports in the future, a move which would cost the University an additional three-and-a-half to four million dollars annually. In September, the Board of Regents approved to cut roughly nine million dollars from their budget.
Click here to view an interactive map of the budget cuts at the University of Minnesota.
