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| Des Moines Register
The financial fallout from Iowa State’s decision to start the football season with no fans in the stands at Jack Trice Stadium could be dramatic, including the possibility of layoffs, the elimination of sports and the closure of Stephens Auditorium.
This week, the university announced fans would not be able to attend the season opener on Sept. 12 because of concerns about the rising spread of coronavirus cases in Story County and other hot spots in Iowa. Iowa State has not ruled out hosting fans at future games.
In a letter to fans Friday, Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard wrote that the decision means a deficit larger than anticipated.
More: Full text of Iowa State AD Jamie Pollard’s letter on financial challenges
“Last week we shared with the Board of Regents a financial summary that projected a budget deficit of approximately $17.5 million,” Pollard wrote. “That report assumed we would have fans at football games. As a result of this week’s decision, we are now projecting a $30 million deficit.”
Pollard wrote that the athletics department “does not have the ability to absorb that level of deficit. Furthermore, any deficit that is temporarily funded by the university will need to be re-paid by the athletics department over time.”
Iowa State President Wendy Wintersteen, through a spokesperson, declined to comment.
More: Peterson: What a dizzying, frustrating 48 hours for Iowa State football fans
Pollard went on to outline some of the recommendations the athletics department will make for “the university leadership team” to consider, including:
- Layoffs and additional payroll reductions.
- Eliminating sports.
- Closing Stephens Auditorium.
Pollard wrote the “revenues generated from community members attending performing arts at C.Y. Stephens’ are simply not enough to cover the costs of facility operations.”
He said the university has been subsidizing operations at Stephens Auditorium at nearly $1 million annually, and the facility needs $25 million to $50 million of renovations.
“As a result of the significant financial challenges facing the university and the athletics department, we are recommending that C.Y. Stephens’ Auditorium be closed indefinitely, and future shows cancelled,” Pollard wrote.
Additionally, Pollard said the athletics department “will begin the process of evaluating what sport(s), if any, could be eliminated to help solve the financial shortfalls.”
He noted that any decision to drop any sport “must take into account Federal Title IX laws.” Title IX requires that women receive equivalent opportunities to men, affecting matters such as scholarships and facilities.
Positions within the athletics department also are in jeopardy, Pollard warned.
He said a 10% pay reduction for coaches and most athletics department staff and the suspension of coach bonuses saved the department nearly $4 million.
“We now need to explore additional pay reductions for our coaches and staff as well as the possibility of layoffs,” Pollard wrote.
“These are difficult times, but it is our reality,” Pollard wrote. “We fully recognize these options will spark further emotion in our campus community, fan base and department. That is why we worked so hard to do everything possible in order to have fans at football games.
“In the end, the decision was that the risks to the community were simply too great to have fans in attendance. We understand and support that decision. However, we now must face the challenges and consequences that stem from that decision.”
The University of Iowa cut men’s and women’s swimming and diving, along with men’s gymnastics and tennis, after the Big Ten’s decision not to start football this fall. Stanford will discontinue 11 of varsity sports programs at the conclusion of the 2020-21 academic year.
Iowa State offers 18 varsity sports, 11 for women and seven for men.
The current financial distress is a huge turnaround for Iowa State. Almost a year ago, in September 2019, Pollard held a news conference to announce a plan to build a sprawling entertainment complex in the parking lot directly north of Jack Trice Stadium.
Pollard said the project would “transform” campus. He planned to lease the property to a private developer, who would build the shops and restaurants and profit off rent. The athletic department, meanwhile, would use some of the money generated to upgrade buildings like Stephens Auditorium.
“This isn’t your father’s athletics department,” he said at the time. “This is an athletics department that has a bold vision for where we want to go.”
But one year and one pandemic later, the department has not made any further announcements about the status of the project.
Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau President Kevin Bourke said Pollard’s recommendation to close the auditorium is a downstream effect of the pandemic-triggered recession. Opened in 1969, it is not as accessible as required under Americans with Disability Act standards, Bourke said.
He added that he believes the building will eventually get the necessary upgrades. The pandemic has simply put a hold on the athletics department’s plans.
“I really feel for athletics and Jamie,” Bourke said. “They’ve always been so progressive and looking ahead at how they can better the university. This whole plan was to better the university. It was exciting for us. It still is. There’s nothing off the table. We think it’s going to happen.”
Ames Chamber of Commerce President Dan Culhane said the closing of the auditorium would be yet another blow to the local economy. While it won’t affect retail businesses as severely as an empty football stadium, every canceled event hurts.
Historically, Culhane said, business owners in Ames have felt immune to recessions. Housing markets and stock markets may have crashed, but the college town has always been able to count on hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.
“The restaurants, the bars, the hotels, that’s how they make their money,” Culhane said. “They make their money on people coming to Ames. Ames is built for people coming in. When those people aren’t here, it takes its toll in a hurry.”
Stephens Auditorium does not have a long list of upcoming events. Still, the venue had booked shows that included the play “Savannah Slipping Society”; shows by the Russian String Orchestra, Ballet Hispanico, and DrumLine Live; and a four-show Broadway package of “South Pacific,” “Anastasia,” Fiddler on the Roof” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
Opened in 1969, Stephens Auditorium is named for Clifford Y. Stephens, an Iowa State alumnus who donated $1 million to the $4.5 million project. The 2,729-seat venue has hosted acts including Bob Dylan and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, as well as the Broadway touring production of “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
In 2005, the Iowa chapter of the American Institute of Architects named Stephens Auditorium its Building of the Century.
Staff writers Tyler Jett and Sierra Porter contributed to this article.
Iowa State columnist Randy Peterson has been writing for the Des Moines Register for parts of six decades. Reach him at rpeterson@dmreg.com, 515-284-8132, and on Twitter at @RandyPete. No one covers the Cyclones like the Register. Your subscription makes work like this possible. Subscribe today at DesMoinesRegister.com/Deal
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