UK proposes reduced athletics budget ‘that will require sacrifice’ amid pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrown its weight around all across the global economy the past several months so it was no surprise Thursday when Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart announced that even the colossus that is collegiate athletics would be in for some belt tightening at the University of Kentucky.

The University of Kentucky Athletics Department proposed a budget of $148.5 million for the 2020-21 fiscal year. On Friday, UK’s Board of Trustees formally approved it.

The 2020-21 athletics budget calls for a 17 percent decrease in department spending from last year.

Guy Ramsey, UK Athletics’ director of strategic communications, said the 17 percent decrease “reflects reality, which is we’re preparing for a season to be played as scheduled. Even if that happens, we anticipate that there will be a decrease in ticket sales.”

In devising the budget, UK planned for a 15 percent decrease in attendance, Ramsey said. The result is budgeting for a decrease of ticket sales revenue of $5.7 million, Ramsey said. UK also planned for $4-plus million less in gifts to athletics.

“We had no choice but to make cuts,” Ramsey said.

Those cuts do not include salaries and benefits for coaches and staffers, scholarships and contractual obligations. For instance, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari’s contract calls for him to reap $7,600,000 in the 2020-21 school year.

Barnhart wanted to “keep the family whole” by not cutting salaries, said Ramsey, who added that “the reality is things could come down the road that will force us to adjust on all fronts.

“But in this initial phase, we were able to accomplish the goal of keeping all salaries intact and keeping everyone on staff.”

The budget for salaries actually will increase in 2020-21: from $56,687,173 in 2019-20 to $57,116,409 in the next school year. Ramsey said this was mostly to do with contractual increases already in place.

The proposed reductions include a $1.48 million decrease in team travel costs and a $662,000 cut in staff and recruiting travel.

“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,” Barnhart said in a news release. “To do that will require sacrifice. We also must be ready to adjust in an ever-changing landscape.”

In 2019-20, UK’s athletics budget totaled $153,972,160.

Earlier this month, the University of Georgia announced a similar decrease in budgeting. Georgia’s budget for 2020-21 would be $149.4 million, which represented a decrease of more than $4 million, the school said.

Additional spending cuts and revenue losses could require adjustments, UK said in its release.

“UK Athletics also continues to actively monitor the situation surrounding COVID-19. Should any developments necessitate further budget adjustments, UK Athletics will work in close collaboration with its university partners.”

Herald-Leader Staff Writer Jerry Tipton contributed to this article.

This story was originally published June 18, 2020 at 6:48 PM.