KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said it could be "a matter of years" before its schools recover from the financial blow they took when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down sports and then limited how games have returned.
The loss of revenue from the canceled Big 12 and NCAA tournaments last season, just as the first outbreak was forcing emergency health declarations across the country, was only the beginning. Even when college sports returned in the fall, there were curtailed schedules, reduced capacities and the added expenses of testing and contact tracing.
"There isn't any way to put a good face on it.