Gophers AD Mark Coyle continues to say big decisions are coming for U athletics

How the Gophers plan to distribute NIL payments and revenue sharing for athletes was a hot topic for athletics director Mark Coyle on Wednesday during his annual presentation to the University Board of Regents.

The NCAA and power conference leaders agreed to a $2.8 billion settlement in May to pay current and former athletes. Those payments for missed NIL opportunities and a new revenue sharing model are expected to start in the 2025-26 school year, according to the Gophers’ budget presentation.

“There’s no doubt there’s going to be some financial pressures as we try to navigate the new chapter of college athletics,” Coyle said on a video call to the regents. “We’ll have to take a hard look at all of our sports and what we provide our student athletes.”

Coyle told the Star Tribune last month that about $21 million is needed in the U’s annual budget to pay athletes. On Wednesday, he noted the Big Ten’s TV deal and increased revenue from the expanded College Football Playoff, which can help alleviate some of cost.

For Olympic sports, the Gophers are likely to focus on more regional nonconference traveling. They’ll slow down on new facilities projects, Coyle said. He spoke previously about possible scholarship reduction.

“I think you can see in our Olympic sports, for example, some of the experiences our student athletes have might look different,” Coyle said Wednesday. “All programs are trying to figure out how to manage the back payments for the House settlement and how to determine the revenue share model moving forward.”

In 2020, the U eliminated men’s gymnastics, men’s tennis, and men’s indoor track and field to save money and for Title IX compliance. Coyle was asked Wednesday by U regent Mary Turner specifically about anticipating more sports cuts.

“As a regent, it would be nice to be prepared for something like that,” Turner said. “Because we do have to deal with the fallout.”

In response, Coyle said: “As we face these new challenges, ideally when you look at our 22 sports programs, we need to focus on what we provide our student athletes. I think it’s going to look different.”

* The Gophers’ anticipated balanced budget for 2023-24 is $135 million, which ranked 10th out of 14 Big Ten teams.

* The Gophers’ projected budget for 2024-25 is $150 million, which is expected to rank 14th out of 18 Big Ten teams (after expansion).

* The Gophers ranked 40th nationally in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, which measures athletic success across the department.