Clemson, like all other universities in the US, is being affected by lost revenue due to the mandated stoppage of programs because of the COVID-19 pandemic across the country.
It’s no surprise that Clemson is now getting ready for the possibility of some huge hits in the pocketbook from issues like the NCAA Tournament’s cancellation (a big moneymaker no matter if teams make it into the dance or not) and minor revenue sports like baseball being canceled. Adding to these issues would be the huge question of how, when, or if a Clemson football season will even be played.
This adds another major issue that all of college athletics are staring in the face. That is the fact that football is where the majority of the funds come from for most, if not all, school’s athletic programs.
In a report to Bloomberg, Clemson’s deputy AD Graham Neff, stated that the topic of cutting sports or salaries has not been discussed so far but they have stopped all capital projects. This would include the planned upgrades to the concourse and parking lots surrounding Memorial Stadium. The report also stated that the Tigers have around $70 million in reserve and the ACC has insurance policies for games possibly lost during the season. The largest renovations had already been approved and some of them are shown below.
Early stadium renderings: That would be a massive scoreboard upgrade.
— Riley Morningstar (@RBMorningstar) October 10, 2019
Want construction to begin in December 2020, completed in August 2021. pic.twitter.com/X9PZ2mDm2b
Other renderings: That would be a really neat way to pass by games outside the Hill. pic.twitter.com/UVxvWN5SQT
— Riley Morningstar (@RBMorningstar) October 10, 2019
A much, much better look of proposed Lot 5 work: pic.twitter.com/S9h2PrTcKW
— Riley Morningstar (@RBMorningstar) October 10, 2019
Neff also stated to Bloomberg that Clemson’s athletic budget has gone from $74.7 million in 2014 to $131.9 million in 2019. Their second biggest moneymaker was tickets ($28.7M), and donations were a little over $44 million. This is where Clemson is expecting a 10% drop this year.
He also stated to the outlet that the athletic department at Clemson isn’t quite to the point of buying health related supplies to hold events with fans this fall. and was quoted stating the following about the current situation…
“Are we getting into pricing out thermometers? We’re not there yet but we do have the luxury that we’re not playing games until September. Our hope is that college sports won’t be the first sports to return to play so we’ll try to follow their lead.”
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