The coronavirus pandemic has caused many colleges to pause sports or in some cases, eliminate teams. Iowa announced on Friday that they are discontinuing four sports teams: men’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming and diving and men’s tennis.

Before the teams are discontinued, they will be able compete in the 2020-21 season, as long as the Big Ten plans one. Any student who decides to stay at Iowa will have existing scholarships honored and contracts of all coaches will also be honored.

The school released a statement from President Bruce Harreld and Director of Athletics Gary Barta explaining how the decision was made and what is next for Iowa athletics:

“The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a financial exigency which threatens our continued ability to adequately support 24 intercollegiate athletics programs at the desired championship level … In that context, we are writing today with some extremely difficult news. In consultation with the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, we have made the decision to discontinue four of our varsity sports programs at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year: men’s gymnastics, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s tennis.”

With the Big Ten Conference postponing fall sports, the school expects a lost revenue of around $100 million. Iowa predicts its overall deficit will be between $60-75M this fiscal year.

In the statement, the school noted that “A loss of this magnitude will take years to overcome” and they “have a plan to recover, but the journey will be challenging.”

“We are heartbroken for our student-athletes, coaches and staff.  We also understand how disappointing this is for our letterwinners, alumni, donors and community members who have helped build these programs,” the statement read.

Iowa took many elements into account in making the decision, including “sponsorship at the NCAA Division I level, impact on gender equity and Title IX compliance, expense savings [and] history of the sport at Iowa, engagement level.”