Charlotte 49ers furloughing athletics coaches, employees; details of revenue plunge
Having already lost about $4.5 million in revenue, the Charlotte 49ers are furloughing many athletic department employees as a cost-cutting move in the pandemic.
Any employee making more than $50,000 annually must take 10 days of unpaid leave between now and June 30, the school announced. That covers 48 positions and will include football coach Will Healy and men’s basketball coach Ron Sanchez.
Athletic director Mike Hill told The Observer on Tuesday the department could lose $6 million or more in revenue by the end of June. Expenses have also risen in the pandemic; Hill said his department has spent about $1 million so far in rapid COVID-19 testing and that figure could grow to around $3 million.
“The hits keep coming and eventually you have to make some difficult choices,” Hill said.
Lost revenue
Hill detailed lost sources of revenue:
▪ Canceled road football games at Tennessee and North Carolina that would have come with significant payments: $1.3 million from Tennessee and $400,000 from UNC.
▪ Cancellation of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament last spring (UNC Charlotte would have received a share of income through Conference USA) and loss of student fees directed to athletics combined for about $2 million in lost revenue.
▪ The inability to have more than 7% capacity at Jerry Richardson Stadium for home football means no ticket revenue and impacts sponsorship revenue tied to games.
▪ Generating revenue from home men’s basketball games this season is unlikely, particularly since infection control would be more stringent on indoor public gatherings. As Hill described, “Our level of optimism right now is not very high” regarding home basketball attendance.
COVID clusters
It’s been a difficult past week for the Charlotte 49ers. Saturday’s football game at Middle Tennessee had to be postponed Friday (makeup date TBD) due to a cluster of seven COVID-19 cases involving players or football staff. That was the fourth postponement or cancellation of a football game this season.
Healy said Tuesday those cases were centered in one position group. (He did not specify which position).
Tuesday, UNCC reported a second COVID-19 cluster, involving eight cases in the baseball program. A cluster is defined as five or more cases in a particular group.
Hill said he’s not concerned about the school and athletic department’s efforts to be avoid spread.
“It’s certainly not for a lack of effort,” Hill said. “I think our athletes and our staff know that every choice they make, in terms of following protocols, impacts whether or not the team gets to play the next weekend.”
Sports appear safe
Several Carolinas athletic departments, including Appalachian State, East Carolina and Furman, have dropped some sports in response to budget impact from the pandemic.
Hill said he has no expectation of that happening to the Charlotte 49ers, a which sponsors 18 NCAA sports.
“We are nowhere near heading in that direction. It’s not a consideration,” Hill said.
“But no one is built to survive this storm that we’re in (indefinitely). I say that not as a hedge, but we’ve got to get past this. And we will.”
This story was originally published November 10, 2020 at 2:25 PM.
