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The NCAA will furlough its entire Indianapolis-based staff of about 600 employees for three to eight weeks in a cost-saving move, according to memo obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.
The memo from NCAA President Mark Emmert went out to the association’s more than 1,200 member schools Wednesday. The furloughs will not affect senior executives.
Starting Sept. 21 through the end of January 2021, all national office staff will be subjected to a mandatory three-week furlough, Emmert wrote. Some staff will be furloughed up to eight weeks, depending on position and “seasonal timing of their duties.”
Earlier this year, USA Today reported Emmert and NCAA senior management were taking a 20% salary reduction and vice presidents would be taking 10% pay cuts. The association also implemented salary freezes for all employees and did not fill open positions.
The latest belt-tightening measures include voluntary separation and early retirement packages being offered to many NCAA employees.
“There decisions are unfortunate but necessary as we continue to identify ways to cut costs across the national office,” Emmert wrote. He said all the measures represent “top of budget cuts in every national office group totaling nearly half our operating budget.”
The NCAA took a massive financial hit when it canceled the men’s college basketball tournament in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tournament accounts for almost all of the NCAA’s annual revenue, which reached $1.1 billion last year.
The NCAA cut its annual distribution to Division I conferences and schools this year from an expected $600 million to $225 million.
“We are committed to supporting our member schools and conferences and student-athletes in every way possible, and yet I expect that some of our services to membership may be limited or delayed during this period furloughs,” Emmert wrote. “I ask for your patience as we all strive to weather these difficult times together.”
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“The furloughs will not affect senior executives” 😂😂
I guess someone has to keep steering the ship, but it’s terrible optics. They took a 20% pay cut earlier. They should make that 50% now.
Are we surprised? Are they going to be expected to do fund raising? What else are they going to do with their time?
So Emmert will keep his $4 Million Salary and his private Gulfstream 650?
All of this is so unnecessary. Covid isn’t great, but come on! Time to open things up and get back to life as usual.
I SOOOOO TOTALLLY AGREE! I know a lot of people are tire of this nonsense. BUTTTT 😘 ……..
The media has convinced people and the powers that be that it isn’t safe. Until people feel safe, it’s going to remain like this. Hopefully it will get better after the elections. Right now I think the media and the policy makers are enjoying the power too much.
I see the senior executives took a pay cut already here but come on, if you want to save money cut the biggest paychecks….. or we could stop the charade on get on with life….. hmmmm.
Well if they keep shutting themselves down and destroying themselves, what should they expect. It is becoming increasingly clear the left does not want to see sports in this country. Their intent, much as the Jacobins of the French Revolution, is to try to destroy all facets of culture and tradition in this country. Sports of any major category, both College and Professional, are part of that culture and must be eliminated.
What surprises me, and I guess it shouldn’t, is that its all been so easy. We fall prey to a “pandemic” that has had precedents that were far worse and we didn’t shut down our country and culture. Yet here we are with “some” politicians looking forward to even greater lockdowns and shutdowns as they sip their wine, go to hair appointments and indoor dining and just well, go about the privileged lives
What a nation of cowards we have become. If we let this sort of stuff continue, we will deserve exactly what we get.
And what happened to Robespierre?
“We fall prey to a “pandemic” that has had precedents that were far worse and we didn’t shut down our country and culture.”
So, just to be clear: you think following the behaviors and practices that coincided with millions of deaths in earlier pandemics is the right call?
Well said Neil.
We have fallen prey to a propagandemic. The greatest generation would not have succumb to such nonsense, but then they fought for freedom and liberty they were not handed it.
Come one guys. You all need to stop listening to pill head Limbaugh. “The Left doesn’t want to see sports”. Are you kidding me? America, more than that, the Worlds economy thrives off sporting events. The government or political group is not going to shut down the economy to “please” an imaginary group of people. Both the left and the right want the same goal, the approach to reach that goal is different. The goal is to make money and create opportunity for everyone and generate more wealth for the wealthy. In order to do that, the middle, lower middle and upper middle class must earn money and spend money. The virus is real and the professional doctors don’t know how to fight it and don’t know what it really does to the body for the long, medium and short term. Trust me, no one would turn down billions of dollars of revenue from sports like the NCAA tournament, football championships and the Olympics, just to “Ha Ha, we got you!” This virus is real and more virus like can spread if we don’t get our of bad health habits. We all want job growth, home purchases, new homes built, car sales, small business growth, ect.. stop the political posturing and lets come together to create new ideas on how to beat this virus and others.
Marshal you clearly don’t understand that progressive liberal Marxists dont care about money they already have that. They are about control, destruction of western civilization, capitalism, the nuclear family and local government I.E. via defunding the local police. We are just pawns in a sinister game
Again Steve, your narrative sounds like a novel or a Hollywood movie introduction. We’re all feeling this struggle. The wealthy need the middle class to thrive, why? Banks can’t extend loan on cars, durable goods won’t be sold, homes won’t be built, purchased or improved. Clothes, food, computers, phones, fashion… this world is a produce/buy/sell environment. No one would stop it all just to prove a point. People aren’t lying about the COVID virus just to shut down college football & the NCAA. America is not going to take a trillion dollar hit in the stock market just to end the NCAA & all collegiate sports.
the effect of the shut downs are once again being felt by many. get the country back open again for crying out loud. the running scared mentality is just insane.
The nation is so afraid of dying that they are willing to stop living. Those that want to shelter…go ahead….go to your cave….let the rest of us live.
Kevin Peggy Neil Ted, et al medical experts, guess it is time for all of u who r unconcerned about safety to suit up.
Feel welcome to live ur lives… so long as it doesn’t affect us cautious ones
Thank you Michael. I thought I was the only logical one here. If everyone did their part in March, things may look different right now.
I have been. We are a society shared burden. It only works when we all play our part l. It’s amazing how the privileged have been more than ok “staying home” while those that had to work due to the type of job they have (retail…food…distribution…manual labor) have been shouldering the risk. The only way those that are choosing to “stay home” are able to survive is on the risks taken by those that “kept calm and carried on”.
Protect the at risk – take precautions – move forward
Thank you Michael. I admire NCAA for doing the right thing last spring to put safety first. It was a tough decision but the responsible thing to do. In 6 months, COVID has cost 3 times as many lives as Vietnam did in 8 years. If only everyone would have been encouraged to wear masks and disinfect back then, lives would have been saved.
My church (a very large one) did a church-wide survey in May and again in July. Even more people said they wouldn’t come back to live services in the 2nd survey. Interestingly, even more people were watching services via live-streaming than in the combination of live-streaming and in-person attendance before COVID occurred.
The more responsible people are to avoid and contain COVID, the sooner and longer the economy can get back to near normal. But it’ll take ALL of us to do our part.
Well said Nancy. We can live without sports for the time being. Lets see how everyone weathers this weekend. My family will continue to stay home.
Marshal you clearly don’t understand that progressive liberal Marxists dont care about money they already have that. They are about control, destruction of western civilization, capitalism, the nuclear family and local government I.E. via defunding the local police. We are just pawns in a sinister game