There are four seasons in the calendar year, but the United States has a special season that is in grave danger due to the COVID-19 crisis. As we all know we have summer, fall, winter, and spring, but in the United States, fall, or autumn falls subject to being overshadowed by college football season. What will all of the diehard fans do without a season of college football? That is the least important question for the moment as the more important discussion centers around what collegiate athletics programs are going to do if the beloved season is canceled this year. All collegiate athletics programs receive a majority of their funding from revenue created during the college football season. With schools such as ours here at Oregon State already losing a good chunk of revenue from baseball and other spring sports that were canceled, many officials and experts in the college athletics scene are saying that this could be the demise of collegiate athletics as we know (and love) them.
The COVID-19 pandemic has stopped all or lives in their tracks and completely derailed any sense of normalcy that we had come to know before the virus made its way into the United States. Of the many effects that the virus and the mass quarantine have had, the one that catches my interest the most is the effect that it has been having on the sports world around the globe. I distinctly remember when I received my ESPN notification on my phone declaring that the NBA season had been postponed until further notice. There’s a moment where it sets in for everyone, the severity of what is going on, and for me, that was my moment. Among the sports world, I find myself most tied up with the collegiate athletics more than the professional leagues and have been following along closely with how this is affecting everything from the cancellation of spring sports all the way to the possibility of the cancellation of the college football season.
Everywhere you look ranging from ESPN, to local college-town newspapers there are ranging opinions of whether or not college athletes will play on the gridiron come this fall. Everyone seems to have their own inside source that makes them the most trustworthy reporter, but all you can really do this far from out from the season is to take a look at what is actually going on around the world and try to do what you can to piece it all together. The season is four months away. In reality, no one knows anything about whether or not the season will be played.
As I said though, the things that are common knowledge are what people need to be referencing. The things that are known at this point, specifically relating to this university, Oregon State University, is that an email was sent out with hopes of reopening campus by the end of this month, or in early June. Obviously, that would be a good sign for college football’s return. Just down the street in Eugene, university officials have also stated that they intend to have resumed on-campus instruction with little to no restrictions come fall term. Again, another good sign for college football’s return. However, college football is not just a west coast sport, this is a sport that captivates people from sea to shining sea, and it is difficult to be making these decisions for a whole nation based off of a few states that have done a relatively good job of “flattening the curve”. It is because of that I don’t see the return of college football come this fall.
So, what does that mean for all of the collegiate athletics programs around the country? Who knows. It is going to take a lot of sacrifices from university officials in the athletics programs to make sure that there will be enough money to continue operations. Again, looking here at Oregon State, the highest-paid coaches, Jonathon Smith and Wayne Tinkle and Athletics Director Scott Barnes have already pledged substantial salary cuts to help aid the university in keeping the athletics ship afloat. Outside of revenue generated from ticket sales, and concession sales, student fees in part go into the OSU athletics fund, like at most schools nationwide. As local newspaper writer Nick Daschel dug up the exact figures here at Oregon State, he wrote that the student fees (which were canceled for the Spring 2020 term) only account for 4% of the athletics fund, so the absence of those fees won’t necessarily sink the boat here or at any other Pac-12 and Power 5 conference schools, but for smaller Group of 5 teams (teams not in the five major conferences) the percentage is much higher, ranging up to 50% at schools like Bowling Green, in Ohio which is in the MAC conference.
While taking into account numbers such as the ones above, it turns from a situation of not just first and foremost, is it safe for fans, student-athletes, coaches, media, and staff alike to remain safe but also, one of is it feasible from an economic standpoint. To me, and to many others, the answer is no. Even if sports are resumed and college football returns, the chance of spectators being allowed into the venues to sit there, packed in like sardines has got to be close to zero if not zero. The fans are the drivers for income and revenue to keep these things from going under. In my opinion, college football will return. However, our calendars may have to be adjusted to watching our favorite sport in the early months of January and February from the comfort of our couches, rather than cheering in the rain adorned in orange and black that we’ve all come to anticipate year in and year out. The college football season cannot and will not be canceled. That would amount to college sports in total vanishing and the fall of the almighty NCAA. Rather, we should expect to find some more fun indoor activities to carry us through until we can reemerge from hibernation just in time for winter to revel in the sport we all love and dearly miss, college football.
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