{"id":704,"date":"2026-05-22T04:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=704"},"modified":"2026-05-22T04:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T04:07:00","slug":"cu-buffs-ad-fernando-lovo-pleased-with-progress-early-in-tenure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradospringsmoverss.com\/?p=704","title":{"rendered":"CU Buffs AD Fernando Lovo pleased with progress early in tenure"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In the five months since he was hired as the athletic director at Colorado, Fernando Lovo has been able to get his family settled in Boulder.<\/p>\n

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The Lovos have sold their house in Albuquerque and bought a new one in Colorado.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe personal side of the transition has been going really well,\u201d he said in an interview with BuffZone.<\/p>\n

Lovo believes the professional transition, while challenging, has also gone well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you take over, and I said this in my press conference, I think it\u2019s our obligation as a leader to look, learn, and listen,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, I\u2019ve done that. I\u2019ve been able to really dive in with a lot of our coaches and my staff and understand what makes this place tick and how I can make it better.\u201d<\/p>\n

A big part of Lovo\u2019s plan to make CU better is to generate revenue.<\/p>\n

When hired in December, Lovo took over a department facing a projected budget deficit of $27 million for the current fiscal year, which ends June 30. Since then, he\u2019s worked with his team, including outgoing athletic director Rick George, to find ways to produce revenue, not just to cover this year\u2019s deficit, but for long-term success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenges for me have been navigating this new landscape of college athletics and understanding how Colorado can succeed in that new world,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, I\u2019ve said it before and I\u2019ll continue to say it, that we have everything we need here to be successful. Every challenge that I\u2019ve faced, I\u2019ve found a solution. It may not be right away, but I can see the pathway to overcoming those challenges. And they are opportunities for us because if we can overcome them, I think we can be a force to be reckoned with in this new world of college athletics.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Many athletic departments around the country are facing similar financial challenges in a new era of college sports that includes revenue sharing for student-athletes and name, image and likeness.<\/p>\n

\u201cColorado\u2019s not alone, but we\u2019ve had a lot of success early on since I\u2019ve been here formulating what a plan looks like moving forward,\u201d Lovo said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be very creative. We\u2019re going to uncover every stone to try to find a vertical of revenue that doesn\u2019t exist right now. And the ones that we have, we\u2019ve got to enhance those.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lovo knows, of course, that success in football is a major factor in the financial success of the athletic department. CU is coming off a 3-9 season in 2025, while head coach Deion Sanders and his staff strive to turn that around this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to have a successful football program to be able to help our bottom line, obviously with ticket sales and the other ancillary revenue streams that come off of it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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CU also continues to look for ways to use the facilities, such as Folsom Field and the Events Center for non-CU events.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to have Folsom be used 365 days a year so that we can keep those revenue streams coming in and there\u2019s not peaks and valleys,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lovo added that naming rights for Folsom and the Events Center are a priority. Folsom Field has never had a naming rights partner and the Events Center\u2019s relationship with Coors ended many years ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big priority for me,\u201d Lovo said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been really aggressive on the naming rights front. I\u2019ve been involved in a number of different pitches, and we\u2019ve got a great thing to sell. We\u2019ve got to capitalize on some of those. We\u2019ve got to close some of those deals. We\u2019re pushing really hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

There has been good momentum on the philanthropic side, as well, including a record-breaking $6 million gift from donor Jeff Crawford and his family last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to develop a culture of giving that can take us to the next level,\u201d Lovo said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s been so well received by our donors. We\u2019ve had a really good push early on. \u2026 We\u2019re pedal to the metal, as I say all the time. Now\u2019s the time we\u2019ve got to seize momentum, and we\u2019ve got to capitalize on these next few years so that we\u2019re prepared for whatever is coming in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Lovo, the challenge isn\u2019t as quick and easy as moving the family from Albuquerque, but it\u2019s a challenge he enjoys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it,\u201d he said. \u201cHere\u2019s the reality: we live in an amazing market. This area, obviously, it\u2019s a saturated market, we know that. We have the Nuggets, the Broncos \u2013 you can go on and on \u2013 that are successful. So, we have to compete against that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve started a revenue generation leadership team that meets frequently, and it\u2019s really a think tank. We come in there and I say, \u2018There\u2019s no bad ideas. Let\u2019s throw it all on the wall and see what sticks.\u2019 We\u2019ve already come up with some really exciting things, some of which we\u2019ve implemented, others that we\u2019re going to do as we go into the fall and into next year. So, yeah, it excites me every day when I come in because, one, we need to do it in order for us to survive and thrive in this new world, but there\u2019s so much opportunity and potential here.\u201d<\/p>\n

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