The chair of the Sport Management Department offered insights on the immediate loss of revenue felt by schools and if institutions might consider divisional reclassification as a result.
Tony Weaver was one of three sport management educators featured in a SB Nation article, titled 鈥溾 examining the ramifications of halting the NCAA鈥檚 biggest moneymaker 鈥撀爐he Division 1 men鈥檚 basketball tournament.
The chair of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Sport Management Department joined Brett Albert of UMass Amherst and Karen Weaver of Drexel University to discuss topics relating to the impact of lost tournament revenue, how athletic departments can overcome financial hardships, and the missed opportunity for teams to become March鈥檚 Cinderella darling, and the financial windfall that can come with tournament success on a school and conference level.
In the March 17 article written by Matt Brown, Weaver specifically addressed how basketball-centric conferences will likely be more affected by the cancellation of March Madness. Additionally, he also discussed the possibility that institutions may consider divisional reclassification due to financial difficulties 鈥撀燼 scenario he called unlikely.
鈥淐hanging your classification level, whether you go up or down, that鈥檚 a major, major decision that鈥檒l have an impact on your institution for a generation,鈥 said Weaver in the article. 鈥淚 know it鈥檚 done, but schools usually don鈥檛 decide, 鈥業鈥檓 going DI,鈥 and then change their mind. So my guess would be is that schools probably wouldn鈥檛 make that type of decision unless they feel like over a 10- to 20-year period or longer, obviously, that this just isn鈥檛 gonna work.鈥
However, Weaver did note that if economic forces weaken universities, there鈥檚 no question it will impact their athletic departments.
In the days leading up to the NCAA鈥檚 decision to cancel the Division I men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 basketball tournaments 鈥 and subsequently all collegiate athletics this spring 鈥 Weaver was also interviewed by Front Office Sports.