Big Red Business: Who’s paying for COVID-19 testing?

Here are three things we know about Nebraska’s COVID-19 testing: How frequently football players are being tested before practices and games, how much additional testing will occur if an athlete, coach or staff member tests positive, and how long a player with a positive diagnosis must wait before being cleared to play.

What’s not known publicly is how much money this testing costs and where the money is coming from in order to get Scott Frost’s team ready to kick off the 2020 season on Saturday against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus.

Since the Big Ten rolled out its multi-pronged pandemic attack plan in late September, there’s been no mention from the commissioner’s office of how many hundreds of thousands of dollars -- presumably at the very least -- Nebraska and the 13 other conference athletic departments will have to pay to have their football players and other athletes tested.

Nebraska athletic director Bill Moos has also declined to comment on the dollars and cents aspects of coronavirus testing, and all the masks, gloves, swabs and other medical supplies and support staff that comes with it.

However he did say this summer that following best practices for testing is the only option when dealing with the health of athletes.

“We’re not going to skimp,” Moos said. “This is a legitimate expense and it’s something we are prepared to incur.”

To shed some light on the financial impact of the testing, HuskerOnline talked to several sources in the Big Ten as well as outside experts. Here’s what’s known or is part of the speculative buzz.

*Iowa athletic director Gary Barta said in a recent video conference that all 14 Big Ten schools will share the cost of rapid COVID-19 testing, according to a report in the Daily Iowan newspaper. Most importantly, he said the costs will be shared equally.

Barta said the costs of these tests, which cleared the way for schools to start the football season on Oct. 23-24, will be significant. He did not elaborate.

But consider Wisconsin. The school spent $568,000 on testing athletes through a local medical provider from early June through Sept. 30 when conference protocols kicked in, a spokeswoman said. The tests cost $100 per test, she said.

Nebraska had a partnership for their early testing program with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, which presumably helped keep some of their initial testing costs lower.

*Two Big Ten sources, speaking on background, said the conference is footing the bill for up to 170 antigen tests performed each day per school. With more than 150 players on its football roster plus coaches and staff, it would appear that the conference is paying for the bulk of Nebraska’s daily antigen tests.

But, there was some speculation that while the Big Ten is covering costs on the front end, it will recoup its testing costs on the back end by subtracting from a schools’ end-of-year revenue sharing from the conference.

It’s unclear whether the conference’s contract with laboratory testing companies covered a flat fee for bulk testing or other cost-savings measures.

We do know that each school has a team of over 10 contract nurses and lab staff experts put in place by the Big Ten. Every school will also have a contracted medical staff worker travel with them on the road, as an additional COVID test will be conducted on Friday's before the game.

Multiple reports have said each PCR COVID-19 test costs about $125 to cover the lab work. Daily antigen COVID testing can range around $15 to $50 per test. However, that might only be the sticker price, before bulk discounts are factored in. There are also medical staffing and lab costs on each campus, that are unknown. So when you are trying to arrive at a final number per school, it's much deeper than total "cost per test" because of all the other unknown factors involved.

Certainly, depending on the test, an average citizen with insurance is getting PCR tested for COVID-19 at far less than $100 to $125.

Would the conference be dipping into its reserves to cover its portion of the testing tab? Would insurance -- with a pandemic rider in the policy -- help defray costs? What about cash from the conference’s television partners?

A Big Ten spokesman was unavailable, despite repeated requests for comment. Quidel Corp., the San Diego-based company partnering with both the Big Ten and Pac-12 on rapid testing, also declined to comment, referring questions to the Big Ten.

Whatever the cost, it’s a significant expenditure in a season that will involve decreased revenues. However, regular and aggressive testing will be critical to the ability of Nebraska and other schools to have a chance to play eight regular-season games, with a ninth conference game planned in the post-season, followed by other possible post-season games.

There don’t appear to be any publicly available cost breakdowns on coronavirus testing specific to Nebraska or any other NCAA teams.

But the experience of the pro ranks provides some financial guidance.

The NBA reportedly spent between $150 million to $180 million to create its bubble environment. The NHL spent about $90 million for two bubbles -- one out west and one in the east.

The NFL is paying plenty of money to conduct COVID-19 tests this year. According to Sports Business Daily, the league expects to spend “about $75 million ” on these tests.

The laboratory company used by the league reportedly is charging a flat fee covering up to 120 tests per team per day, with extra tests available at $125 each. The teams will pay 1/32nd of the total fee, and they will individually pay for any extra tests that they require, according to news reports.

Major League Baseball also is spending big bucks on testing, but an exact figure was unavailable.

While colleges are spending way less than the pro’s, the costs are still significant.

For example, if a school is testing 100 athletes per day plus coaches and staff -- at a cost of $125 per test -- an athletic department could be looking at $12,500 per day just in testing. For a six-day testing week, the tab could be $75,000 and about $300,000 per month.

Considering Nebraska has one of the largest rosters of any college football team, the testing costs ramp up considerably higher.

However, without knowing the terms of the contract, it's very hard to know what each Big Ten is paying. All we know today is every school will conduct 170 Big Ten issued antigen tests six days per week.

Bills would also ramp up for additional virus tests for those with positive results, as additional PCR lab tests are done on a positive antigen test. There would also be costs for regular disinfecting meeting and practice space, quarantine space and other costs.

Nebraska has used on-campus residence hall space to quartine athletes since April and May.

Daily antigen testing for athletes in other sports this fall and presumably into winter and spring will add to the financial stress. Basketball is the only other sport at this point that is involved in the Big Ten's daily antigen testing program.

When the Big Ten on Sept. 30 announced its COVID-19 testing partnership with Quidel Corp. and Biodesix, commissioner Kevin Warren hailed it as “an important step toward achieving our mission of keeping our student-athletes, and the communities that support them healthy and safe.”

Biodesix is a major diagnostic company focusing on lung disease, while Quidel is considered the industry leader in the introduction of the Sofia 2 SARS rapid antigen test.

Quidel’s rapid antigen testing technology is considered a game-changer because it “allows surveillance testing on a large scale with prompt results,” said Dr. Jim Borchers, head team physician at Ohio State and co-chair of the conference’s medical subcommittee.

Under the plan, Biodesix is overseeing and managing the onsite testing of the Quidel antigen, and will also provide additional validation with its droplet digital, or PCR, technology.

The testing covers all student-athletes involved in close contact sports, along with coaches and staff.

Until the Big Ten partnership fell into place, Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Medical Center had been working with Quidel and the Vivature student-athlete care management company, on their own COVID-19 protocol. The venture was announced to much fanfare in early September.

There is still testing being done under the previous partnership for teams that are not in season and covered by Big Ten testing, said athletic department spokesman Keith Mann.

Here is a quick comparison of the COVID-19 protocols among the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, and Big 12 and the PAC-12. Information based on conference websites and from Sports Illustrated and other media reports.

Big Ten

Required weekly testing: Daily (Six days per week)

How long must a player sit out after a positive test? Minimum of 21 days (14 in quartine, seven days to acclimate)

How many players are required to play? Positivity rates must be under 5 percent of the players on the team, and under 7.5 percent of the players, coaches and staff

Big 12

Required weekly testing: Three times per week.

How long must a player sit out after a positive test? Minimum of 10 days

How many players are required to play? 53 scholarship and walk-ons, including four available interior defensive linemen, seven available offensive linemen, and one quarterback

SEC

Required weekly testing: Three times per week

How long must a player sit out after a positive test? Minimum of 10 days and then a four day acclimation period

How many players are required to play a game? 53 scholarship players, including four available defensive linemen, seven available offensive linemen, and one quarterback. Schools have the option to play with less.

ACC

Required weekly testing: Three times per week

How long must a player sit out after a positive test? Minimum of 10 days

How many players are required to play a game? Each team needs an “adequate number,” according to ESPN. The conference has not announced a minimum roster size.

PAC-12

Required weekly testing: Daily

How long must a player sit out after a positive test? Unavailable

How many players are required to play a game? Unavailable

While many Power 5 schools have the financial resources to cover the testing bills, the story is different for smaller conferences. Several FCS conferences canceled football this fall, saying testing cost was a major reason for doing so.

Steve Rosen writes about the business of sports for HuskerOnline. Questions, comments, story ideas? Reach Steve at srosen@huskeronline.com.