UGA expecting to have $55 million budget deficit in 2021

UGA athletic director Greg McGarity has announced he is expecting a $55 million deficit to the budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

To nobody's surprise, college athletic programs are expecting a deficit in their athletic budgets next year.

Georgia AD Greg McGarity detailed in a board meeting that he is expecting the Bulldogs to have a "budget shortfall of $55 million for the 2021 fiscal year".

Georgia AD Greg McGarity said he expects the Bulldogs to have a budget shortfall of $55 million for the 2021 fiscal year

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) September 11, 2020

This is a result of the Bulldogs' limited seating policy. 

With Georgia only allowing 20%-25% of its normal attendance, many season ticket holders were only offered tickets to one home game for the 2020 season. UGA did offer season ticket holders a refund of their donation if they did not want to opt for their tickets, directly causing the budget shortfall.

Although the majority of revenue comes from donations and tickets, it also takes away from gameday merchandise sales and concessions. 

$55 million is definitely a huge loss, but looking at how other schools of various conferences are handling their programs, you have to think that Georgia may be on the better end of this situation. 

According to the Detroit Free Press, the University of Michigan's athletic budget was expected to bet cut by $26.1 million before the cancellation of fall sports. Now, it's projected to be near a $100 million deficit for 2021. 

The Big 10 is set to vote in favor of a fall start on Monday, but it's unclear how many games they'll be able to play in time for the postseason and how their seating capacity will work.

It's also worth noting that McGarity and the University of Georgia Athletic Department are one of the few major Power-5 programs that had a significant financial net revenue in the last fiscal year. Georgia remained with a net gain of nearly $31M, whereas a school like Ohio State may have brought in $210M but spent $220M. 

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