Arizona AD Dave Heeke held a media luncheon today inside the newly renovated Sands Club. The luncheon was used as a way to put a cap on last season and look ahead to the new one with school set to begin soon. Heeke spoke for a bit before taking questions, and he touched on a variety of topics. Here's a quick rundown of what stood out plus I'll have a more in-depth look at of the more important topics later as well.
- The fiscal year ended back in June and Heeke says Arizona finished the 2020-21 fiscal year with a $26 million deficit. Obviously things were impacted greatly at UA by the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in the large deficit for the athletic department. That number is simply for operating costs and does not include buyouts for fired coaches. The buyout number for fired coaches at UA resulted in $10.5 million in expenses for the transition to new coaches. There will be another $4.3 million added to that in the current fiscal year before the buyout money comes off the books.
- To be able to make up for all that money lost the athletic department has decided to use a bridge funding loan. The athletic department will have 15 years to pay back the loan, with interest. Though Heeke had looked into the possibility of taking part in the loan the Pac-12 had been offering to offset losses during the pandemic, he said Wednesday that the university thought it would be best to avoid taking any of that money. So, Arizona opted not to accept any part of the loan from the conference. Heeke said the athletic department believes it can pay off the loan earlier than in 15 years because of the return of fans to games plus the upcoming media rights package for the Pac-12 that should give the department increased funding.
- On the more positive side, the success of sports last season plus the renewed interest in other spots has helped drive ticket sales. Football has had a 94% renewal rate for season tickets while the men's basketball program has had over a 92% renewal rate. Heeke added that the program has sold over 250 new season tickets for the upcoming season. Women's basketball is the big winner of the offseason with nearly double the amount of season tickets being purchased compared to the 2019 season. Back then the Wildcats sold 2,800 season tickets while there have already been over 2,000 new tickets sold heading into this season. He said the hope is to have as many of those 2,800 return as possible while adding the new 2,000. He expects the number to continue to grow as the season gets closer.
- Heeke said the upgrades to the football facility were needed because the building needed some updating like most homes do after years of use. He said a lot of what was done to make things more functional for the new coaching staff. All the money for the upgrades was raised through donations, and as coaches have previously said it was Jedd Fisch who was largely responsible for leading the charge for those donations on his own. Heeke backed that up and said that Fisch was a big part of making it happen.
- Heeke made it clear that the NIL aspect of college athletics has been a learning process for everyone involved. Asked if he had a number of athletes who have already started to benefit from it Heeke said he did not, but it is something he says the athletic department does monitor through its compliance department. He is in favor of NLI and that is why he is happy with the Arizona EDGE marketplace that has been unveiled that will match up businesses and athletes. He did say the school will not be brokering any deals à la BYU and deal that school did to earn its walk-on players scholarships. At this point he said the number of players benefitting from NIL is "not as many as you'd assume" just because it is such a new process.
- As the pandemic continues to move forward with some entities now requiring vaccinations or a return to masks, Heeke says the athletic department will follow the lead of the school when it comes to any health protocols at sporting events. Since UA recently announced that masks will be required indoors when on campus that is the same policy athletics will adhere to for the time being. That means any indoor sporting events will require masks to be worn by spectators. That also means football games will not have a mask requirement since it is played outside. Heeke said there will be no capacity limits for any sports as it stands right now.
- An offshoot of that topic is the upcoming season opener against BYU in Las Vegas at Allegiant Stadium. The Las Vegas Raiders are going to require spectators at home games to have proof of vaccination or receive a vaccination on-site and wear a mask. Heeke said it is still not confirmed that fans attending the Arizona game will not have to adhere to those same requirements, but it is his understanding that the procedure will not go into action until the Raiders play following UA's game at Alliegiant Stadium meaning there will likely be no vaccination requirement for fans attending that game. Heeke said UA is still seeking official clarification on that though.
- The plans to renovate the west side of Arizona Stadium are still on the docket it's just that those plans are not moving as quickly as before the pandemic. It is going to be a big undertaking and now there is the added element of Arizona being at a deficit because of the losses during the pandemic. Heeke says the plan is to still overhaul the west side of the stadium, but UA has to be "smart" about how it does it because of the money situation it now finds itself in. He said the athletic department might have to get creative to make it happen. He added that golf has the attention right now in terms of facility upgrades while there are upgrades needed at Hi Corbett Field for the baseball team as well. He added that the soccer and track and field teams are also in need of upgrades.
- Heeke was asked about realignment and he echoed a lot of what has been said by the Pac-12 about the situation. He is taking the "keep an open mind" angle when it comes to Arizona and the Pac-12 and realignment. He said the league has to find ways to stay "current, competitive" and have opportunities to grow "to become a stronger conference." Heeke said as realignment and alliances begin to form the Pac-12 will "be at the table" to talk about them.
- When it comes to the IARP saga, Heeke says he welcomes the NCAA's plan to push the process forward at a faster pace. He says that is something Arizona has been wanting for a while. He didn't get into too much detail about that topic but did reiterate that he wants to see a faster resolution.
- Heeke says the tribute next month for the late Lute Olson will be "really neat" with how it is coming together with the families being involved. He says the Sept. 12 tribute at McKale Center will center around the players and coaches that were impacted greatly by the legendary former UA basketball coach.
- On the uniform front the basketball program, like football, is set for a refresh. That is coming soon and the plan is to have a more "classic" look for the Wildcats on the hardwood. What that means exactly was not made clear, but changes are coming to the basketball uniforms and there will not be any kind of gradient. The plan is to have a similar feel that the football team has with its Desert Swarm era uniforms. The plan is to harken back to the past in many ways.
