My take: read between the lines. While everything in Stanford’s press release is factual with respect to finances, the ultimate reason for cutting these particular sports is to free up more spaces for other institutionally desired students such as 1st gen, URM, low income, and even academic stars. With a fixed class size of roughly 1750 students per year, each spot is highly coveted and competition for these spots a zero sum game. By eliminating these mostly country club sports, Stanford can give about 60 more spots in its entering class to other students that Stanford is under pressure to admit or would prefer to admit than varsity athletes of sports that are of marginal interest and overwhelming comprised of kids from wealthy backgrounds. None of the sports being cut are those that would disproportionately affect URM students.
In my opinion, the real catalyst for these changes isn’t COVID or strained finances but the admissions scandal that exposed how elite colleges give preferential treatment to wealthy kids who play niche sports. I expect that the Ivy League schools will follow Stanford (and Brown’s) lead and get rid of these country club sports to create more room for other students that are a higher priority in the current climate. That’s why Stanford said these cuts are permanent, because it could find some rich donors to finance these sports but Stanford wants to permanently free up these spots for more deserving students.