An Analysis of the 2020 Sport Discontinuations at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

An Analysis of the 2020 Sport Discontinuations at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities In March 2020, the entire world as we knew it came to a halt in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 and attempt to minimize the effects of this horrible virus. Schools and workplaces looked to pivot seemingly overnight to fully virtual or socially distanced environments. All non-essential activities were cancelled with government mandates of varying degrees put in place. One such activity that centers around bringing people together that was greatly affected by these decisions was sports, specifically college sports. NCAA athletic departments looked to make quick adjustments to support the health and safety of their student-athletes during this time. Unfortunately, this “new normal” came with expenses that college athletic departments were not used to, especially with the loss of revenue they were facing. Because of these financial challenges, athletic departments looked for ways to cut costs. Many quickly turned to evaluating sport sponsorship, cutting teams as they saw fit. One such school was the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, who discontinued sponsorship of men’s gymnastics, tennis, and indoor track and field. The purpose of this study is to analyze the financial and gender equity impact of the 2020 decision to discontinue these sports at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities to determine if they accomplished their stated objectives of saving money and becoming compliant with Title IX. This research was conducted as a case study using document analysis with the critical pragmatism theory as the research framework.