Stanford Cuts 11 Sports Because of Budget Shortfall, Something Indiana Avoided

The has been a lot of fear for months about what the COVID-19 pandemic might do to college sports, and the biggest shoe yet fell on Wednesday when Stanford — one of the most success athletic departments in the country — announced it was cutting 11 sports.

"We are writing today with some extremely difficult news,'' Stanford administrators said in an open letter. "In consultation with the Board of Trustees, we have made the decision to reduce the breadth of our athletics programs and staffing. Stanford will discontinue 11 of our varsity sports programs at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year: men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.

"All of these teams will have the opportunity to compete in their upcoming 2020-21 seasons, should the circumstances surrounding COVID-19 allow it, before they are discontinued at the varsity level. Regretfully, 20 of our support staff positions are being eliminated as part of this realignment.''

Indiana, like all colleges, have closely evaluating their budgets as well, and thus far, all of Indiana's 24 athletic teams are safe, though there have been budget cuts. Of those 11 sports that Stanford cut, Indiana only has two of them — wrestling and field hockey.

Indiana projected an $11.8 million budget shortfall and dealt with it by:

Placing a freeze on salary increases and discretionary bonuses, and a hiring freeze other than for countable coaches;
Travel ban;
Curtailing overtime;
A freeze on all non-essential facility maintenance and construction;
Cell phone stipend eliminated;
Football coach Tom Allen and basketball coach Archie Miller donated 10 percent of their salaries back to the athletic department.

Because of those moves, Indiana was able to cover the shortfall without any reductions in personnel or sports to meet the goal.

Stanford's 11 programs consist of more than 240 student-athletes and 22 coaches. The coaches will be losing their jobs; the players will have their scholarships honored through graduation if they choose to stay at Stanford.

"The (11 sports) were built by more than 4,000 alumni whose contributions led to 20 national championships, 27 Olympic medals, and an untold number of academic and professional achievements. Each of the individuals associated with these programs will forever have a place in Stanford’s history,'' the letter said.

Stanford sponsored 36 varsity sports, more than anyone at the Power 5 level. The private school's 850 athletes accounted for more than 12 percent of its student population, and they were facing a budget deficit of close to $ 25 million this season.

According to the letter, the 11 sports were decided upon after a comprehensive evaluation of all of our sports across a broad set of criteria and considerations, including, but not limited to:

Sponsorship of the sport at the NCAA Division I level
National youth and postgraduate participation in the sport
Local and national fan interest in the sport
Potential expense savings from the elimination of the sport
Incremental investments required to keep or put the sport in a position to achieve competitive excellence on the national level
History of the sport at Stanford
Prospects for future success of the sport at Stanford
Impact on gender equity and Title IX compliance
Impact on the diversity of our student-athlete population
Impact on the student-athlete experience across all sports, now and in the future

For example, simply looking at sponsorship of the sports at a national level as one consideration:

Of the 11 sports being discontinued, six (lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming) are not NCAA-sponsored championship sports.
All 11 sports being discontinued are sponsored by less than 22% of the more than 350 Division I institutions, and nine (men’s and women’s fencing, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball) are sponsored by less than 9%.
There are only two other Division I field hockey programs on the West Coast, and there are no other fencing, lightweight rowing, sailing, squash or synchronized swimming programs on the West Coast.

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