U of Minnesota cuts 4 men's sports

[Blue Howl]

University of Minnesota eliminates four men's sports, facing massive revenue hit

The University of Minnesota is prepared to eliminate four sports programs as it faces a seismic revenue hit from the COVID-19 pandemic.

sportsnaut.com

....the Golden Gophers will end their men’s indoor track & field, men’s outdoor track & field, men’s gymnastics and men’s tennis programs at the end of the 2020-’21 seasons.

This is being framed as a cost-cutting requirement due to COVID-19 revenue shortfalls, but it really is a Title IX cut.

University of Minnesota cutting three men's sports due to COVID

The University of Minnesota announced plans today to cut three sports due to the hardships placed on the athletic program during COVID-19.Men's gymnastics, men's track and field (both indoor and outdoor), and men's tennis at the completion of the 2020-21 athletic season. The cuts are pending the...

wccoradio.radio.com

The sports being cut were chosen to stay compliant with federal guidelines and Title IX regulations. The University said in a statement, "This will result in female and male participation numbers that closely align with our undergraduate campus enrollment percentages, which is approximately 54% female and 46% male. By having our program offerings mirror our changing student population, the University will be ensuring that we are providing full, effective, and equitable participation opportunities for our female and male student-athletes."

Another article that I read yesterday (sorry, I can't find the link today) was very blunt and said that they were using revenue shortfalls as the excuse to make cuts that they were wanting to do anyway.

All of these programs at Minnesota have been quite successful in the past, so it isn't like they are jettisoning losing programs.

 

[Blue Howl]

One thing I forgot to mention. None of the articles I read mention men's cross-country as a program being cut, so I assume they still plan to have it. If they do, it will essentially become a group of walk-on level runners, because no serious, accomplished distance runner is going to want to go to a a school where they can't run indoor and outdoor track also.

This presents a possible recruiting avenue for Nebraska and other programs in proximity to Minneapolis. The Somali community there has produced some excellent distance runners recently.