Arizona Athletics ‘In a Tough Spot’ Entering the Big 12
In November 2023, University of Arizona President Robert Robbins announced that a major lapse in the school’s financial budget could lead to “draconian cuts” for the Wildcats in the future.
At the time, the number was thought to be somewhere in the ballpark of $240 million, but a deeper look revealed that UA’s shortfall is closer to $177 million — A much smaller but still monstrous deficit.
According to President Robbins, everything is on the table when it comes to getting the school’s financials back on track, including faculty and coaching layoffs, hiring and compensation freezes, and, in the most desperate of measures, even the elimination of some sports altogether.
That kind of money doesn’t just appear out of nowhere, and when a school is forced to try and get back in the black, nearly everyone involved with the university will feel the financial burden of that in some way.
The Athletic recently published a thought-provoking story with a very interesting and fair question for the title: “How will Arizona’s $177 million shortfall amid Big 12 move impact athletics?”
In the story, Scott Rosner, the director of the sports management program at Columbia University, spelled out Arizona’s situation quite plainly.
“They’re in a tough spot,” said Rosner. “When you start having these kinds of cuts, it will be felt inevitably in some way, shape or form by the student-athlete.”
It could even affect student-athletes or coaches who aren’t affiliated with the school, in the context of recruiting or trying to hire a good coach.
According to The Athletic, Rosner said he wondered how the budgeting issues might affect recruiting, saying that coaches at rivals schools will certainly ask prospects, “Do you really want to join a sinking ship?”
“Then you think about your really successful coaches,” Rosner said. “Do they want to be in that atmosphere? When you start cutting positions and eliminating jobs, then you worry about morale for those who remain.”
After hiring Missouri AD Desireé Reed-Francois — who is well-known for her prowess as a fundraiser — as the new Director of Athletics at Arizona, President Robbins is making moves to try and right the ship, which went awry under his watch.
Whether it will be enough to sustain the success that sports like football and basketball have enjoyed recently is anybody’s guess. Either way, getting back to even from nearly $180 million in the hole will take time, so the rest of us will have to buckle up and see what happens.
