Wichita State releases study results on bringing back football

[tornado]

http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Wichita-State-receives-shares-consultants-study-on-football-384595961.html

http://webs.wichita.edu/depttools/depttoolsmemberfiles/wsunews/wsu_football_report_css_2016.pdf

the study says it would cost $42-49 MILLION just for the practice facilities...
then way more even from there for getting ready to play the 1st year (no sooner than 2019 but more likely 2021)....at least $10 million more just to get the team ready for their first year (page 30)...and that's not to mention the cost for the stadium since it's unknown where they'd play!
..also...getting into a conference, scholarship requirements, multiple new coaches and other facilities and equipment, liability costs (with brain injury being a concern), plus the possibility of needing to add other (women's) sports to comply with Title IX (Sec. VI, page 21)..

Revenue generated by similar FB programs is cited as $590K to $1.4 million per year. BUT -- using a school like Georgia State or Texas-San Antonio to compare is risky since FOOTBALL is way more popular in Georgia & Texas than in Wichita.

Sounds like the taxpayers are gonna be on the hook for the wild, energetic ideas of the Shocker elite...


meanwhile- Northern Iowa proves even if you get good at FBS football- nobody will want to play you

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/northern-iowa/uni-panthers/2016/06/27/northern-iowa-panthers-football-mark-farley-power-five-conference-snub/86447910/

Here's one way to make a little more money at FB
Make sure your stadium serves BEER!

http://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/alcohol-coming-soon-to-your-college-football-stadium-if-its-not-there-already/

[SubGod22]

The 42-49M estimate is a combination of stadium renovations and practice facility.

GLMV Architecture of Wichita, Kansas provided cost estimates to Wichita State University for the
needed improvements to Cessna Stadium and a related new team practice facility, should a decision be
made to launch a Division I football program. At the direction of WSU, CSS did not conduct its own
facility review. CSS believes the cost estimates of $21-$28M for Cessna stadium renovations and $21M
for new practice facilities represent reasonable estimates for such facility improvements.

[tornado]

thanks, that makes more sense..
but hard to believe that the stadium that's currently in use would need that much for renovations...are they thinking skyboxes & luxury suites - which are a must nowadays

[SubGod22]

thanks, that makes more sense..
but hard to believe that the stadium that's currently in use would need that much for renovations...are they thinking skyboxes & luxury suites - which are a must nowadays

The last couple pages of the study had 3 or 4 different plans and cost estimates and a few of those did include adding suites to the West side and/or East side. Removal of some things currently used for track in order to play soccer on the field as well. Synthetic turf. Concourse work. New lighting and scoreboard. And a couple of the options have them tearing down the east side and rebuilding which increases costs a bit.

Luckily there was quite a bit of work down a decade or so ago for ADA compliance and there was some structural work done then too.

Some of the items cost a bit more than I'd have guessed, others not as much, but if certain individuals and businesses are on board then this can be done and money raised fairly quick. I'm guessing we'll know in a few months how on board the money is. From what I've seen on social media, the little people support it but we all know we need more than just that to get it off the ground. Once we get past the up front costs I think the budget along with new revenue streams make it very doable.

I'm hopeful as I love football but ignore college football because I have no team to cheer for. This would change that and I'd be at every home game possible as would a number of my buddies.

If you look at the report, which I just closed, you can see a lot of numbers and projections around page 60 or so. All the renovation/construction estimates came from a local architectural firm so I'd guess they're pretty solid numbers. But I'll have to find time maybe this weekend to start crunching the numbers and really diving into all of the analysis. But from a general overlook of it all, I like it.

[Vent]

As I have said before, from a selfish standpoint, I don't want Wichita to leave the MVC. I do however have to give their administration credit, no matter what their final decision is, for exploring the feasibility of starting up football again and exploring other conference options. I have followed Bradley athletics for quite a while. In that time, I have witnessed the downward spiral of the entire Bradley athletic program and the MVC. We have dropped football, wrestling, swimming, track (a full track team) and even fall baseball, when our coaches would evaluate walk-ons. Then in the early 1980's, the university dropped physical education as a major. Our area schools had all kinds of coaches, in all sports, that received their education at Bradley. Not anymore. You seldom see a coach at one of our area schools, that got their degree at Bradley. We all know how bad the previous administration was, but the problem began long before they were here. It appears to me that during that downward spiral, it became easier for the university to say "we just can't do this anymore" instead of saying "let's figure out a way to make it happen". Louisville, Cincinnati, Memphis,
St. Louis, Tulsa and Creighton were all willing to say "let's figure out a way to make it happen", in other words, improve ourselves. Now it appears Wichita may be headed in the same direction. It's too bad Bradley isn't in that position.

[tornado]

Here's one way to make a little more money....
Make sure your stadium serves BEER!
http://www.cbssports.com/college-foo...there-already/

Evansville caved to the temptation..

http://www.suncommercial.com/news/article_1201b698-4089-11e6-91c6-2fc86e7f7399.html

[tornado]

Article...
"If Wichita State University does bring back football, it won’t be alone in
reviving a defunct program despite the expense and uncertainty that comes
with the endeavor.
Starting or restarting an intercollegiate football team is an expensive and
complicated process.

....at least half a dozen Division I institutions have resuscitated or created
new football teams in the last decade. Not a single one is making money on football. ...

Gender equity laws drive the costs up even farther, requiring colleges to
provide “substantially proportionate” participation opportunities, including
financial aid, for female athletes. Because adding football requires at least
100 new male athletes, colleges creating such programs often have to fund
two new women’s teams.
At Wichita State, bringing back the football program would cost the university
tens of millions of dollars. College Sports Solutions estimated that revenue
for the first two seasons would be about $3.7 million total. The university
would lose $14.5 million before the team began its third season.

...“You have to face 10, 15, maybe 20 years of continual financial losses.”

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/07/18/despite-long-odds-universities-start-or-resume-big-time-football-programs

btw- UNI has a pretty successful football program yet they still need to be supported by over $10 MILLION
in taxpayer support to keep their Athletic Dept. from going under!!

Guess what their current idea for a solution is .......... SELL BEER!!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously!!

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/northern-iowa/uni-panthers/2016/07/16/should-uni-sell-beer-sporting-events/87148620/

[Vent]

UNI is a decent FCS program, but not great. It isn't as good as Illinois State. It also isn't going to draw the crowds needed to offset expenses since it competes against Iowa, Iowa State and you could probably even argue Minnesota. In addition, Frostbite Falls, as Dave Snell calls it, is not a great attraction in itself.

The cost of athletics is extremely expensive. It is easy to be critical of taxpayer money being used to support athletics. However, if taxpayer money was not used to support grade school sports or high school sports, there would be no sports after the level of little league. Bradley may be a private school, but if it weren't for the roads and infrastructure, all provided at taxpayers expense, there wouldn't be a Bradley University.

As for selling beer at games, Bradley has allowed it for decades.

[Da Coach]

UNI is a decent FCS program, but not great. It isn't as good as Illinois State....

I would like to know why you say that?
UNI has made the FCS playoffs 18 times since 1985, more than all but 2 other FCS programs in America. Furthermore, UNI has won the MVC Football Conference 16 times (12 outright & 4 ties), and they have won 33 conference championships overall in their history.
By contrast, Illinois State has made the FCS playoffs just 6 times in their history. And they won the MVC Football Conference only 1 time outright, and shared the title twice.

And as far as attendance- UNI outdraws ISU every year in home attendance. Even with their 2 best seasons in 2014 & 2015, ISU averaged well under 10,000. UNI hasn't averaged under 10,000 for many years.
And UNI has almost always played a tougher schedule, and more FBS opponents.

Though ISU has had a couple good years, I'd say UNI is the stronger FCS program.

[Vent]

I didn't say UNI was bad. I said they were decent, not great. Yes UNI has won more conference titles than Illinois State and many of those were when it was still called the Gateway Conference. Bradley has also won more conference championships than most teams in the MVC. However, they certainly are no longer one of the better teams in the conference. Illinois State has finished ahead of UNI in the Missouri Valley Football Conference for 4 consecutive years (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). That is why I feel Illinois State is a better football program and shows no sign of letting up.

The Missouri Football Conference, in my opinion, is the best FCS conference in the country. That is why I believe that eventually, the schools that play football in the MVFC and basketball in the MVC, will leave those two leagues to join or start a new league at the BCS level. There is just too much revenue to be shared from television and Bowl games to pass up. The money available for basketball pales in comparison to football. If and/or when this happens, Bradley will or would be scrambling to find a league and new rivalries. This would be a crippling blow financially to Bradley athletics.

[SubGod22]

They won't be able to start a new conference for FBS unless there are rules changes. It's possible that he MAC may have one opening in the near future if the XII takes a few AAC teams and the AAC chooses to take NIU. But there could be a couple of spots open up elsewhere as well depending on which dominoes actually fall.

[Vent]

It would be more likely, that ISU-red, ISU-blue, SIU, UNI and MSU, would hook up with another conference. Western Kentucky went from FCS to BCS recently and it has worked out pretty well for them so far. At one time Western Kentucky was in the Gateway, now the MVFC. It was just a couple years ago, that South Alabama started an entirely new football program, just as Wichita State is thinking of doing. This past season they played in a post season bowl. So it can be done.

[SubGod22]

Not saying it can't be done. Hell, I'm hoping Wichita gets to do it. There's just been a lot of talk about how many possible FBS invites could be left. From a college football perspective, there's no reason for a G5 conference to have more than 10 schools right now as that maximizes the CFP payout for each one. Other things could outweigh that for some conferences depending on what they believe someone brings to the table. Could they help any TV deal? Could they bring more to the conference in basketball monies than what they'd take in football monies? Do they in any way help the overall perception of the conference?

I can't answer those for any existing conference, but nobody is currently in dire need of additions. Depending on what the XII does, that could open up a few spots here and there. If CUSA ever breaks up and splits, that could open up a few spots as well. But up until this past year, conferences needed at least 12 for a conference title game, but that has been changed. So some of those recent FBS additions may not have been called up if that rule were in place a couple of years ago.

With all of that said, I do think anyone that has any potential desire to be FBS, needs to position themselves as best they can as soon as they can because I don't see a lot of spots opening up after this for quite some time. Though I could be wrong as I did expect the XII to wait a few more years before starting this expansion talk.

[Vent]

The Big XII is the only one of the Power 5 conferences, that does not have at least 12 members that play football (SEC-14, Pac 12-12, Big 10-14, ACC-14). Other BCS conferences also have more than 10 football members(MAC 12, USA 14, Mountain West 12). If the Big XII does not take Houston, the 5th largest television and media market in the country, they may join the Pac 12 or SEC. I don't think the Big XII will want another conference to take the 5th biggest media market in their territory from them. They have already lost Texas A&M, Arkansas and Missouri to the SEC. I think we better hang on. This may get interesting.

[SubGod22]

It will be interesting if Houston is in or not. I've seen reports that some of the Texas schools support Houston. Texas seems to be saying that they won't block Houston. But I'm hearing that the other schools are not in favor of a 5th school in Texas and many feel that they already have the Houston market covered without the Cougars. I have no idea what to think about Houston and the XII at this point as I keep going back and forth on it.