Golden Nuggets: The Bears and their athletic spending

Today, we look to find a little clarity on the deficit that Cal is facing following the shutdown of sports due to the coronavirus pandemic. While the Pac-12 works (in its own ways) to return to the field this fall for the fall athletics calendar, most notably the fall football season, Cal has also worked on its own to receive the necessary local clearance to get back onto the field as well.

As we wrote this week, the Bears are seeking to receive local clearance to return to full-contact practices during the coronavirus pandemic as well as having gatherings of more than 12 people that currently California law prohibits.

As far as Berkeley goes, Cal and the local officials are apparently making progress on raising the restrictions on size, according to Wilner as well.

State guidelines are strict against groups of no more than 12 and that obviously creates an issue for any team wanting to practice any kind of 11-on-11 or even 7-on-7 practices.

The Pac-12 wants football back and those are big hurdles that they’re going to have to clear, getting the state of California and Oregon back to where their teams can practice as those two states hold half the teams in the conference.

The Pac-12 wants football back, but Cal needs football back. We all know the amount of deficit that is reported from the Cal Athletics Department as it reached upwards of $20 million and that was even before COVID-19 shut down everything.

So, of course because of that, the Bears would need their biggest revenue-generating sport back — and that is a fall football season. Here are your daily links with some helpful takes on just how bad the deficit is and what Cal is doing (and who is in their way) in their return to the field.

Everything you’d need to read on the Cal deficit:

Cal Athletics ran $20 million deficits pre-COVID

Combined debt for Cal, UCLA tops $40 million

And everything you’d need to read on Cal attempting their return to play:

Sources say that Stanfurd holding up the return of Pac-12 Football

Cal, Stanford working to return but local health officials must sign off

Stanford emerging as lead dissenter on Pac-12 football return

Pac-12 releases statement regarding Big Ten’s decision to return

California guidelines aren’t blocking Pac-12 football

Pac-12 paid performance bonuses to executives, staff prior to major downsizing move

After discouraging delay, Pac-12 football’s October restart remains in play