Talk about a horrible fiscal year.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NCAA lost $600 million in revenue when the March Madness was cancelled last spring.
Comparatively, the NCAA generated $868 million in 2019. Money was being poured in by multimedia and marketing rights fees from CBS and Turner. That netted a $71 million profit on $1.1 billion in revenue.
Per Front Office Sports:
“The NCAA’s financial year ended on August 31, 2020 and included:
- $519 million in revenue
- A $56 million overall loss
- A $702 million drop from 2019 NCAA tournament revenue
- Recouping $270 million from cancellation insurance
- Spending $473 million less on events.”
The plan for the 2021 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball tournament is to have all games take place in Indianapolis, as opposed to teams criss-crossing the country as they advance deeper into the tournament.
Barring any change in COVID–19 testing protocols, one can only imagine the circus that it will be trying to house 68 college basketball teams and their staff in one municipal city. But it seems many people are making plans for possible changes.
Recent Tournament field projections at ESPN, CBS, and other sites have included what the field would look like with a full 38 teams, what it might look like with just 32 teams and what it might look like with as few as 16 teams.
All of that extra work makes one thing pretty clear. The TV money from the men’s college basketball tournament REALLY matters to the NCAA. The organization probably cannot afford to cancel another one and will do whatever is necessary to crown a champion in 2021.