Obviously, the fate of football weighs heavily on Purdue

All over the country, college athletic departments are dealing with the same financial realities as most every other enterprise of any magnitude, as COVID-19 has wrought havoc on the U.S. economy.

At many points in the college athletics landscape, salary reductions and furloughs are occurring, as departments adjust to trying economic times and brace for more.

Purdue, to this point, has been relatively fortunate, and relative is a key qualifier in that sense. The university has committed to retaining and paying employees in full through the end of June, at the very least. The athletic department's operated in lockstep with that policy and has had the financial wherewithal to make it work.

To this point, Purdue took a hit from the loss of the college basketball postseason. The NCAA's business-disruption insurance policy to cover NCAA Tournament revenue fell well short, costing schools millions.

Today, athletic director Mike Bobinski says, he awaits word on whether the Big Ten's final dispersement from its television partners will arrive in full, and there's not a school in America that's not concerned about fund-raising, some of which need it more than others.

"The only other real variable we've got for fiscal year '20 would be the ability for our fund-raising to keep pace with our plan," Bobinski said, "and to this point, it has. Our (John Purdue Club) members and others have been incredibly supportive and generous during this time, and I would suspect that will continue, so I don't know if we'll take a significant downturn for 2020.

"The challenges now come as we look ahead, because we're projecting into an unknown environment, a lot of what-if scenarios and hypotheticals, not knowing with any degree of certainty what it's going to look like."

The unknown is a doozy: Football.

Approximately $60 million of Purdue's typical operating budget, per Bobinski, is tied in some form to college football, from direct revenue from fall competition, to television money, to bowl-revenue dispersement to smaller items such as concessions, parking, etc. For the 2018-19 athletic year, Purdue reported operating expenses of $102,026,477.

Needless to say, loss of that revenue — or even a good portion of it — could lay waste to Purdue's ability to operate as it has been. There are no business-disruption protections in place to recoup that money, whether it be actual game revenue or football-associated allocations from the Big Ten or NCAA.

Athletic directors are left to prepare for the worst should it occur.

The good news, if any can be found in all this: The breaking point is not imminent.

Each day, Bobinski participates in a call with his fellow Big Ten athletic directors, and at no point in time has a drop-dead date been set for football season, a deadline for either yay or nay on it being played this fall.

"That's a loser's game," he said. "Because if we need that answer today, then the answer is no, so let's not take that answer today."

Some runway will be needed to have a season — a preseason of some kind is a must — but it's not even summer yet.

Still, it's never too early to ponder potential answers.

Dr. Anthony Fauci has made statements suggesting Major League Baseball could possibly be played without spectators, among other stipulations. Such indications from the nation's highest-ranking infectious disease expert could offer a roadmap for college football to at minimum put out a television product, presumably salvaging some of that revenue — though it might be naive to suggest things to be that simple, given the potential state of the economy — and not experience a gap in the sport's history.

There are other ideas out there, some more compelling than others.

One suggestion has been to play only a conference season, if that is even possible. For Purdue, that would mean the loss of home games vs. Memphis and Air Force this season and a trip to Boston College. The Memphis and Air Force contracts are written in such a way that Purdue wouldn't be accountable for any payouts should the games be canceled for reasons outside anyone's control.

Another suggestion has been to delay or reschedule the season, though that would come with any number of complications, including shortening the turnaround time from one season to the next.

Bobinski has heard all the ideas, but believes it's premature to advocate for any particular view.

"But I think all reasonable things should be held as possibilities," Bobinski said, "because I think we all believe that sport returning is an important thing and we'd like to be part of that, part of the re-opening of society again in a safe and responsible way. We'd very much like to hold out the hope we can conduct our fall seasons and our other seasons even if they have to be adjusted in some way, shape or form."

Purdue, at all levels of the university, is eager.

Continue reading below

President Mitch Daniels recently penned a letter voicing his ambition toward bringing back normalcy to campus once again as quickly as it can responsibly be done.

"We're fortunate here at Purdue because President Daniels and our Board are highly, highly interested and motivated to find a way to return to a level of activity, with all the necessary safeguards and medical underpinnings to that," Bobinski said.

Thing is, though, there's only so much that can be controlled for individual schools when it comes to college sports.

The green light for football, Bobinski said, will be a combination of a lot of things: Government clearance at both the federal and state levels, the blessing of the medical community, etc. Obviously, widespread access to coronavirus testing and new medical protocols would almost certainly have to be part of it.

But COVID-19's assault hasn't been a balanced one. It didn't hit everyone at the same time, or with the same ferocity. Every state has been affected differently and by extension will recover uniquely.

There are 14 schools in the Big Ten, covering 11 states, nearly a quarter of the Lower 48. The conference spans as far west as Lincoln and as far east as the DMV and Tri-State Area.

In the very-best-case scenario, Purdue University is open this fall, with students back on campus and in-person classes in session. That doesn't mean Maryland or Ohio State or Minnesota will be.

No conference is going to resort to half-measures, certainly not the Big Ten.

"On every call, we've talked about doing our very best to stay together," Bobinski said. "This is a time when the depth of allegiances, which are tremendous in the Big Ten — better than any other conference I can fathom — could be tested because of those things."

In some parts of the country, states are attempting to phase toward normalcy again. The results remain to be seen, as with everything else nowadays.

For college football to take place this fall, normalcy may need to not only occur in pockets, but to be widespread, and right now, that seems like a big ask. But it is only right now, the end of April.

By the middle of July, Purdue's mammoth new video board in Ross-Ade Stadium could go online, a month ahead of schedule, per Bobinski, the first piece of Purdue's ambitious plan for its football facility, a plan now otherwise put on indefinite hold by current circumstances. Work has continued on the video board even as campus has been paralyzed and Purdue's other other athletic facilities closed, through May 9, but likely longer.

The titanic piece of technology and the new structure that will house it will serve as reminders of the power of college football, including the financial gravity it carries. You don't spend millions of dollars on such a thing without it being part of a spectacle that will generate many, many millions more.

The hope now is simply for that crowning-jewel sort of item to not tower over an empty stadium.

"I just hope it's not just me out there watching movies on it," Bobinski joked, finding a moment for dark humor amidst as formidable a challenge as his business can know.

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast