The University of Tennessee’s athletic budget for the 2020-21 school year is based on the Volunteers having fans in the stands for the upcoming football season, but it still includes a $10.1 million cut in overall revenues.
Randy Boyd, UT’s president, said reducing the number of fans further because of the coronavirus pandemic would have a “significant impact” on the budget.
“But we are financially prepared to withstand any significant problem,” Boyd said Friday, the same day the UT Board of Trustees unanimously approved the athletic budget, along with the rest of the university’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Vols expect to collect and spend $129.5 million on athletics, down from the $139.6 million budgeted for the fiscal year that ends Tuesday.
Tennessee projects $29.8 million in revenue in ticket sales for athletic events in 2020-21, which is $7.1 million less than the $37 million taken in during 2019-20, or a drop of 19.4%. In mid-March, concerns about the pandemic led to the cancellation of what remained of the basketball postseason as well as spring sports – including baseball and softball – across college athletics nationwide.