UNC Charlotte looking at Football couple of good articles...

[Shockerman]

I gotta go with Royal here. Without a havy student fee football will never happen. If the students and ticket sales can fund the operating cost then football will happen. it will be up to the Alumni and local corporations to pay for renovations, scholarships etc.

[RoyalShock]

Royal,

I would say that WSU would have to secure most of the money through donations, ticket sales and guarantee games. I doubt that the students would be willing to fund 5 million of the football budget. Funding upfront will be key IMO and keeping the funds rolling in after will be secondary. I would say that 30 million would be a good start.

If the team doesn't win soon (within 5 years, IMO), the donations will dry up, ticket sales will plummet and it will be tough to get good guarantee games (I can't see decent FBS teams wanting to play bad FCS teams). The only guaranteed money will be student fees.

As I've told others, I'm on the fence. I'm not against it returning. But if it does, I don't want it to be a drain on the athletic dept. And it will be without student subsidizing.

[shocky]

I think we all agree that football must not drain the rest of the athletic department. I also agree that the students will have to contribute to the football budget, but the question is how much. I don't think we would need to have the students commit 5 million a year to a football program. If enough funds can be raised up front it will go a long way in keeping costs down in the future. A good plan that the public can believe in and get behind will make a huge difference. Koch Area is a great example of this. In the 90's there were proposals to make major renovations to Henry Levitt Area. It would be in the media guides every year. However we didn't believe in the athletic department leadership, coaches or president to commit to a major capital campaign. Once the the right people and plan was in place there was no stopping it! Just look where we are now in terms of facilities compared to then. Lastly, I think that people think that if we don't win right away that we will loose support. I can only say that in any sport that will happen to some degree. If we bring back football and the plan (hiring good coaches, student support, ect) and financial support is there, WSU will succeed.