While other athletic departments at colleges and universities across the nation are cutting programs and deciding what to do with fans in the stands, Indiana University director of athletics Scott Dolson told media members Thursday he is looking at all options and will not rush into a decision when it comes to financial decisions surrounding the athletic department.
Dolson said that since being named as the replacement to Fred Glass back in March, he has participated in close to 100 meetings with other athletic directors.
“We meet about four times a year in typical times. I’ve had 25 years worth of meetings in four months. I hate we are in this situation, but the meetings have been extremely beneficial,” Dolson said.
Dolson was asked if Indiana and the Big Ten are considering a plan similar to the Pac-12 Conference, which is examining a conference-wide loan that would be accessed by individual athletic departments. According to a story by the San Jose Mercury News, each athletic department could access a maximum of $83 million per school and an interest rate of 3.75 percent over 10 years. The story states if each athletic department opted for the maximum amount, the total would be $996 million. The conference’s television contracts with Fox and ESPN, which are worth $1.2 billion over the next four years, provides the collateral needed for the loan.
Dolson told the media that currently, he is having frequent conversations with the university’s chief financial officer.
“What we’ve tried to do is put together all kinds of contingency plans and be ready for all different kinds of scenarios," Dolson said. "Our CFO has been helpful. We haven’t gotten into which direction we will go."
"We will take our time, we have lots of different plans and we want to wait until the last minute and base decisions on where things are locally, where things are as a university and where we are as a state."
One expense athletic departments will be faced with are testing kits for student-athletes, and Dolson acknowledged he hasn’t added up how much of a financial fit testing twice a week will be on the department.
“What we have done in terms of expenses related to covid preparations and ppe, testing, everything, we are doing what we feel is the right thing to do. It is such a fluid situation, I am not sure where the cost is," Dolson added. "There are two different avenues we are working in close connection with the university and Big Ten level."
On Aug. 6, Penn State announced they would not have fans in the stands for home games, while Florida State said they will operate at 20-25 percent capacity for home games. On that same day, Dolson admitted he is taking a wait and see approach on the number of fans who would be admitted into Memorial Stadium during the 2020 season.
“We’ve been working on contingency plans for attendance for months. Our ticket manager is a numbers cruncher, and I can’t tell you how many different scenarios we’ve put together," Dolson said. "We want to provide clarity, want season ticket holders and fans to understand and know our plan is and what we are thinking."
"I’m confident we have contingency plans for anything that is out there. Social distancing, how to serve concession food, tailgating and parking. I am proud of my staff for their work on the plans, and believe it is prudent to wait."
Dolson was also asked about eliminating non-revenue generating Olympic sports and said that is a "last resort."
"I would look at that as a last resort and something we want to avoid at all costs," Dolson added. "It would be malpractice if I didn’t try to put together every projection, every scenario possible. I am trying to look at it not just in short term 3-6 months but where do we want to be in two years and hopefully back to normal. We want it to be a last resort but are looking at every contingency plan possible."
----
• Talk about it inside The Hoops Forum or The Football Forum
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @IndianaRivals
• Like us on Facebook.
