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Fourteen percent of senior athletics officials who run NCAA Division I programs reported that 10 to 20 athletes in their programs have tested positive for COVID-19, according to a report released on July 30 by Teamworks, an athlete engagement platform. More than 100 athletics officials responded to the survey, which was intended to gather their top concerns and information about the return of intercollegiate athletics during the pandemic, a press release said.
Fifty-four percent of respondents said there have been fewer than 10 positive COVID-19 tests among athletes, the report said. Despite the infections, including some among athletics department staff, only 19 percent of respondents said they have had to suspend workouts, the report said. A majority of respondents said their departments are conducting tests for the virus one or fewer times each week.
Division I athletics officials said they are more often reporting these positive tests to university leadership and athletics staff than they are to athletes themselves, according to the report. About one-third of respondents said athletes were made aware of positive test results, whereas 75 percent said university leaders were made aware, the report said.
The report painted a bleak picture of athletic department revenue for the 2019-20 fiscal year, and officials’ outlook on finances for 2020-21 was even darker. Seventy-five percent of respondents said their departments experienced a 10 percent or greater decrease in revenue for 2019-20, and nearly all of athletics officials surveyed anticipate this same decrease the following year, the report said.
