Cal Athletics staff cuts
Cal Athletics informed staff that roughly two dozen people in marketing, athletic communications and creative services were being laid off. The move is tied in reporting to wider financial pressure on college athletic departments as revenue-sharing and structural changes reshape budgets. (si.com)
California’s athletic department told staff on Friday that its marketing, athletic communications and creative services units are being eliminated in a layoff affecting roughly two dozen people. (si.com) Cal Bears on SI reported that the cuts could reach 25 employees and would take effect in early June. The report said the notice came in an email from co-athletic directors Jenny Simon-O’Neill and Jay Larson. (si.com) That email said Cal is replacing the current setup with “Strawberry Creek Studios,” a new external operation built around revenue generation and what administrators called authentic storytelling. The department said it expects to post more than 20 new jobs within a week, and laid-off employees can apply for them. (si.com) The cuts land after Cal’s first year in the Atlantic Coast Conference pushed athletic spending above $165 million in fiscal 2024-25, up from about $149 million a year earlier. Revenue rose to about $153 million, leaving an operating deficit of more than $24 million. (athleticbusiness.com) Part of that shortfall is old debt, not just new travel. Cal still carries an annual $12 million payment tied to the 2010-12 Memorial Stadium earthquake retrofit and renovation, according to reporting cited in the layoff story. (si.com) Part of it is also a new rulebook for college sports. On June 6, 2025, Judge Claudia Wilken approved the House v. National Collegiate Athletic Association settlement, which lets participating schools share revenue directly with athletes. (collegesportscommission.org) For the 2025-26 academic year, that settlement set the revenue-sharing cap at $20.5 million per school, with future increases built in. That new expense now sits on top of coaching salaries, travel bills and debt service across major athletic departments. (collegesportscommission.org) Cal’s own administrators have already pointed to that pressure. Athletic Business, citing San Francisco Chronicle reporting, said the department is navigating direct athlete payments while trying to cover higher costs after the move out of the Pac-12 Conference. (athleticbusiness.com) The immediate result in Berkeley is that jobs once centered on promotion, media relations and in-house creative work are being folded into a new unit with a sales mission. The people who got the notices now have a few weeks before the June effective date — and the option to compete for the jobs replacing their own. (si.com)
