COLUMBUS — Ohio State says it is cutting a handful of jobs, furloughing hundreds of other employees and asking coaches to take pay cuts to deal with a budget shortfall expected to be over $100 million because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Athletic director Gene Smith says none of the 36 sports will be cut and athlete support services, including scholarships, will be maintained as part of the $180 million budget.
He says numbers right now are hard to pin down because it doesn’t include TV revenue, which is still being negotiated but the pandemic has impacted all sources of revenue including ticket sales, which Smith says accounts for $64 million in revenue, plus concessions, parking, marketing and media rights, licensing, royalties, the university’s share of Big Ten and NCAA revenue, endowment income and donations.
Coaches and other contracted employees, including head football coach Ryan Day (right), men’s basketball coach Chris Holtmann and women’s basketball coach Kevin McGuff — are being asked to take a 5% pay cut.
Additional budget-cutting measures include $6.1 million in cuts from sports’ operating budgets, $3.4 million in football game day expenses and $3.0 million in facility operations, Smith said.
The budget maintains $33.4 million in support services for athletes such as scholarships, academic support, meals, and medical services.
Twenty-five positions will be eliminated, 261 employees will be asked to take furloughs of various lengths between October and the end of June, and 84 more will be furloughed for 60 days from Oct. 1 through the end of the year.