Rick George is growing more optimistic about college football in 2020

BOULDER — The odds of a full college football season are growing by the day but there are still plenty of question marks.

“I am more optimistic today than I was last time we talked about having sports in the fall,” University of Colorado athletic director Rick George said in a call with the media last week.

Now, more people are asking what the 2020 college football season will look like than whether it will actually happen.

“I know I am going to get asked this question… it is still too early to tell what our stadium and venues will look like in the fall, so I won’t really have a lot for you on that,” George said during his opening statement. “As I have said before, we’re looking through a number of different scenarios for what that will look like. As we get more information and clarity on the fall and what some of the federal, state and local guidelines will be, we will finalize our plans.”

Professional and collegiate sports leagues must now prepare for the possibility of holding games without fans. The Pittsburgh Steelers, for example, are only selling 50 percent of their available individual tickets just in case they face capacity restrictions during the season.

Teams could play in front of full stands, empty stands or anything in between this season, and the policies could vary from stadium to stadium.

For reference, CU budgeted for just under $20 million in football ticket sales in 2019. Keep in mind that if there are no fans in the stadium, the Buffs will also lose concession and merchandise revenues, but they also wouldn’t have to pay to staff concession stands or security so some of the losses will be offset.

The Buffs will lose money if there are no fans, of course, but just how much money is still a question. George and his staff have tried to calculate how a lack of in-person fans would affect CU’s athletic department financially.

“The number is significant,” George said. “We haven’t completed our budget but if there were no fans at all, it’ll be interesting. It really depends on those fans that have bought tickets. Do they want us to keep that money? Do they not? Putting a number on that, I am not exactly sure what that would be. But, as I have said to all of you before, we are looking at scenarios where there is a reduction… there is going to be a reduction in revenue regardless of if we play 12 games with fans, with a portion of fans, or with no fans. And we’re looking at all those scenarios. That is why we’ve been making some decisions to lower our expenses so we can offset some of that, which will be challenging to do based on the scenario that we get.”

If only a limited number of fans are allowed in the stadium — or if no fans are allowed in at all — George will have to get creative to recoup some of the revenue.

“Look, there are a lot of things that we’re contemplating at this point,” George said. “I know you get tired of hearing me say but we’re looking at all the different scenarios and what that would look like. Let’s take the NFL Draft as an example. That was different than it had ever been done but the numbers and the ratings on the NFL Draft were significant. People are hungry for live sports. Yes, we will be creative in what we do inside of our stadium. If we have a reduced number of fans — or no fans — we will definitely put those in place to maximize the revenue that we can get from television and ad partners.”

The Buffs are scheduled to host two teams from California: Fresno State on Sept. 12 and UCLA on Oct. 17. Two more games against California schools are scheduled to be played on the road. California has been one of the states hit the hardest by COVID-19 and there is a chance that some or all colleges in the state won’t play football this season.

If the Buffs have an opponent back out of a game, one option is to fill the newly-formed bye week with a game against another opponent. A double-header against Colorado State could be an option, as could a game against Wyoming, Northern Colorado or another school in the region.

George said he hasn’t spoken to representatives of schools not currently on the schedule about the possibility of needing to find an opponent.

“A lot of things out there are premature,” George said. “We haven’t had those discussions at this point. When the Cal-State system announcement came out, everybody locally was saying what about Fresno State? They haven’t made a determination yet on the fall, at least to my knowledge. That would be a school that could be potential for us. I think there are four or five others that play in the first two weeks in the Pac-12 from that same Cal-State system. So, again, I think it is premature to react to that. I am not talking to other A.D.’s about another potential game.”

There’s still plenty to be determined about the 2020 college football season, but the big news is that George’s optimism is growing along with the rest of ours.

“I think the fact that NASCAR started with two races in the last two weeks, and even though there were no fans there, the evolution of what that will look like in the future is a positive,” George said. “I think some of the positives relative to the NFL announcements, Major League Baseball, NBA… I think all of those things are positive. I kind of look at those things and again, my optimism is better, but until we know what the scenario is that we’re going to be playing under. There will still be a lot of discussions internally, locally, nationally to figure out what that looks like this fall. But again, I am more optimistic today than I was obviously six to eight weeks ago.”