UK Athletics preparing for decreased ticket revenue in 2020-21

Whether or not fans will be allowed at games this fall and winter remains to be seen, but UK Athletics is bracing for the impact of COVID-19. This afternoon, the athletics department proposed a $148.5 million budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year, down $7.4 million from last year’s total operating budget of $153.9 million. While UK says it is planning on hosting events as scheduled, they adjusted the budget to account for a projected decrease in ticket revenue.

“Our goal in building our budget for the upcoming fiscal year was to respond to the unique climate brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic while avoiding adverse effects on the welfare of our student-athletes and reductions to our coaches and staff,” Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said. “To do that will require sacrifice. We also must be ready to adjust in an ever-changing landscape.”

You can get into the nitty gritty of the budget on UK’s website, but here’s a breakdown of where the adjustments came from. As you can see, UK is planning to save some money on travel and recruiting.

And a breakdown of revenue and expenses by sport in both list and pie chart form because it’s interesting:

The budget will be voted on Friday by the Board of Trustees.