I didn't read the whole article but it wasnt that many years ago, 5 to 10, the Iowa was listed as one of 25 programs that were in the black as far as athletics.
"in the black" is the loosest term in the entire accounting world.
When people say "in the black" whether it's in reference to a business or a nine figure athletic department, they're including future accounts receivable, which in this case includes astronomical conference and TV money.
1. This lady apparently loves to compare spending to conference peers, but she doesn't also compare athletic departments' debt to income ratios (she railed about Iowa's debt load, but offered no comparison to peers), nor does she talk about other members' projected revenue losses which are just as huge or even more so.
2. Her weird infatuation with the term "financial exigency" is absurd and confusing. She tells the reader that that phrase basically means an organization is on it's death bed and will be auctioning off the water coolers and Xerox machines within the next week. Exigency is a pretty common term in the business world and it's basically just Fed Speak for urgency. As in, it's urgent that Iowa cut some sports to stop the bleeding. Nothing more, nothing less. Every single college football team in the nation is financially exigent to some degree.
I can promise you the lawyer who wrote that statement didn't sit down at his or her computer and go, "Oh F...We're in trouble...I need to come up with a phrase to really tell everyone that we're about dead. Hopefully some sharp reporter out there will pick up on it like a message in a bottle and tell the world that The U is about to go down in a raging fire ball."
3. Again, for the four hundred millionth time, P5 football and basketball programs are going nowhere. Their budgets are tiny fractions of University assets and schools are not going to let their athletic departments fail. If nothing else what the F are you going to do with stadiums, arenas, and facilities? Those sports will be fine. Will average salaries decrease? Maybe. Will staff sizes shrink? I would think so. There are going to be changes. But football and basketball will still be played.
Non-revenue sports, you ask? Who cares. Make them club activities like they should be. For decades upon decades they've been supported by football, and the one time football has a hiccup and can't pay for some dorks to row a boat or do somersaults everyone's all up in arms? Those sports have ridden perpetual gravy trains for three generations and counting, and now people want to bitch that Brayden and Hannah don't get to play tennis or do cannon balls in the pool on the football team's dime? F that.
Here's what men's hockey does. They support themselves.
