UArizona will not cut sports under plan to shore up financial difficulties

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - The University of Arizona will not cut any sports as it tries to shore up financial difficulties prior to the school's move from the Pac-12 to the Big 12.

Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke posted a financial update on Thursday outlining the department's plans to make up for a revenue shortfall following the COVID-19 pandemic.

"All our work to bolster the position of Arizona athletics as a premier athletics department comes at a cost," Heeke said. "Like many premier programs across the country, we are facing financial challenges, which we have already begun to address."

Under the plan, Arizona athletics will continue a hiring freeze that started this fall and will pause all major construction projects once a new golf center is completed. The department also is paring back budgets in areas that do not impact the health and wellbeing of student-athletes and seek growth in key revenue streams and areas of investment.

Arizona is one of four schools — along with Arizona State, Utah and Colorado — that are leaving the Pac-12 for the Big 12 next year. It’s part of a larger disintegration of the Pac-12, which is also losing UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon to the Big 10 and Stanford and Cal to the ACC.

Arizona’s athletic department was given a $55 million loan during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic that hasn’t been paid back "fast enough," according to the Arizona Daily Star.

The department’s struggles are part of a wider budget shortfall for the entire university.