Ohio State Likely Cannot Afford No Fans at Football Games

Budget implications of TV-only games could cut revenue by $50 million

The oft-voiced compromise for commencing the college football season on schedule amid COVID-19 concerns is to simply have games without fans in the stands.

Forget the optics of that for moment -- and just for a moment, because it really looks bad to tell players they're safe when it's presumably unsafe for fans -- and consider the weight of your wallet before leaving for kickoff at Old State U. and after returning from the day on campus.

It's lighter, right?

Or that credit card that was cold in the morning is toasty warm from overuse by nightfall.

Now, where do you think that money goes?

The amount spent on tickets, parking, concessions, official gear in the team shop helps support the home team's athletic budget.

At Ohio State, that money for 100,000-plus fans in the stands and however many thousand more pay to park just so they can tailgate, is significant.

It's not Big Ten Network-Fox TV-ESPN big, but it's almost as big.

"Anywhere between $5 million and $7 million net (per-game), " OSU athletic director Gene Smith said on Friday. "...just do the math on that for seven home games. That's why seven home games has always been important to us." 

So without fans, and the dollars spent in and around the stadium, one of the Buckeyes biggest financial wells dries up and it gets very difficult to pay for 36 sports, even with the $50 million or so each Big Ten school receives from its football television contracts.

The exact cost of having football without fans is impossible to calculate, because no one knows how much lack of fans would impact donations to the university that football helps procure.

If the games take place as a sort of athletic Truman Show, with everyone watching from home, there's no schmoozing going on in luxury boxes, no wining, no dining and likely no big donations for that next big athletic facility Ohio State wants to build or endowed scholarship it wants to establish.

Last year, OSU opened the $49-million Covelli Center adjacent to the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. It features seating for 3,700 and is home for wrestling, volleyball and gymnastics.

The building bears the name of the family which owns more than 100 Panera Bread franchises in seven states.

Such deals -- like those bankrolling a still-under-construction $22-million indoor tennis center -- take shape around Ohio State football.

And the sport's impact also extends into crucial academic areas.

"Our Buckeye Club is tied to tickets," Smith said of the athletic booster organization. "Our President's Club, where people can donate to other departments on campus, and have access to tickets...that's tied to that. There are so many thing we have to peel back."

The layers likely get more daunting the deeper they are revealed, but the optics of playing a season without fans is perhaps the ugliest to contemplate.

"When I first heard that, I said, 'OK, that could work,' but then I figured that if we don't have fans in the stands, that means we've determined it's not safe for them in a gathering environment," Smith said. "So, why would it be safe for the players?"

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