COLUMBUS, Ohio — The coronavirus pandemic hit Ohio State athletics hard, resulting in 25 permanent layoffs, widespread furloughs and other spending cuts. Those reductions might have dug deeper had Buckeyes sports not made such a profit the previous year. According to an internal budget summary provided to cleveland.com via an open records request, Ohio State athletics brought in over $228 million in revenue for the 2019-20 fiscal year. That set a new high, topping the mark set the previous year by $18 million. Those revenues allowed OSU athletics to end that fiscal year with a profit of roughly $5.6 million. Ohio State’s internal report showed a budget deficit of over $600,000 for 2018-19. Athletic director Gene Smith said last winter that resulted from additional costs related to the investigation into former football assistant coach Zach Smith. The department’s biggest money maker — football — completed a full and successful season…
Continue Reading: Record year for Ohio State athletics revenue preceded coronavirus budget crunch
