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**Shockerman** · February 15, 2007, 07:30 PM

They have approved a $150,000 study on whether or not to start football. One interesting point is that the trustees have stated that whatever the committee comes up will be permanent. Meaning no wiggle room. Meaning if they do it or don't this will end the debate. Why oh freaking why can't we just do that!

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/16705844.htm

**SubGod22** · February 15, 2007, 10:14 PM

It may end the debate for a little while. But as soon as circumstances change you know it would start to get more and more talk again.

**Shockerman** · September 30, 2007, 08:45 PM

CHARLOTTE 49ERS FOOTBALL
49ers committee thinks I-A's right choice
Budget, conference present key challenges to starting program

DAVID SCOTT
dscott@charlotteobserver.com

A key question as UNC Charlotte continues to explore starting a football program is: How big-time should the school go?

At a meeting of the school's football feasibility committee Tuesday, it appeared the best spot for the 49ers would be with college football's big boys in NCAA Division I-A.

"With the growth the university is showing and the market we have here in Charlotte, I think the school and city would respond very favorably to I-A," said committee chair Mac Everett. "What this university wants and this marketplace demands is a I-A program."

The NCAA's Division I membership is divided into I-A (for its larger football-playing schools), the smaller I-AA (now called the football championship subdivision) and I-AAA (no football).

The Carolinas are home to some of the best I-AA football, including the Southern Conference's Appalachian State, with two straight national titles.

Charlotte likely would begin playing I-AA, then progress to I-A. The budget would increase substantially for I-A. Some Bowl Championship Series schools have football budgets that exceed $10 million.

To qualify for I-A, a school must sponsor at least 16 sports (which the 49ers have); have a minimum average home football attendance of 15,000 at least once every two years; and offer at least 200 athletic scholarships or spend at least $4 million in athletic scholarships per year.

A potential sticking point might be conference affiliation, which Everett said would be necessary for a I-A program. The Atlantic 10, in which Charlotte plays Division I sports, plays I-AA football.

Being a Division I-A independent requires tough scheduling challenges and lots of costly travel.

In other words, the 49ers would need a new league.

"What we're hearing is that at some point, you'll have some more realignment," said Everett.

"Whether that's five, 10 or 15 years from now, I don't know. But the long-term vision and goal you have for your football program is going to have an impact on the opportunity you have to get in a different conference."

Several I-A conferences have realigned in recent years, including the ACC, Big East and Conference USA (of which Charlotte is a former member).

According to an estimate by Darin Spease, senior associate athletics director for business, the 49ers' athletics expense budget would increase from $10.5 million in 2005-06 to $19.4 million (much of that in start-up costs and added women's programs) to accommodate a football program that would kick off in 2012.

The committee hopes to have a recommendation on whether to add football by early 2008.

**Shockerman** · December 28, 2007, 12:54 PM

Here is the latest on UNCC Football

FIRST DOWN FOR 49ERS
Committee: UNC Charlotte should add football by 2012
Start out in FCS (formerly I-AA), says group
DAVID SCOTT
dscott@charlotteobserver.com

Game Day | Heels, Niners in action
UNC Charlotte's football feasibility committee voted unanimously Friday to recommend that the school add the sport by 2012.Committee chairman Mac Everett said the recommendation will formally be made to Chancellor Phil Dubois during January that the 49ers begin as an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA) program and move to Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) status as soon as possible.Dubois then will decide whether to take the matter to UNCC's board of trustees, which ultimately will vote on it."I have really tried to stay at an arm's length with the committee," said Dubois. "Their recommendation at this point is just that, a recommendation. It's not a decision. I will take the time I need to look over their work and make a recommendation of mine to the board of trustees."Dubois said the entire process would probably take several months. A decision to start football, supporters say, would increase student and alumni pride and accelerate UNCC's development as a major university."Because of the growth of the university and its positioning in (Charlotte), the thought that football might be part of helping galvanize the community and alumni was a pretty simple idea," said Everett, who chaired a committee that began work last summer.UNCC's enrollment is expected to grow from 21,600 students to about 35,000 by 2020, according to school officials."That's 12 years from now," said Everett. "Can you imagine looking back with a school that big and asking why didn't we start looking at football 12 years before?"The committee learned that starting a football program would cost about $6 million, with an annual budget increase of about $10 million to the 49ers athletics department, effectively doubling the budget and the department.Raising student fees and finding corporate sponsors figure to be the chief sources of money to fund scholarships and build practice and training facilities.The school also would need to comply with federal Title IX requirements by adding women's teams.Of the estimated $8.9 million that would be pumped into the budget mostly because of football, $1.6 million would be earmarked to add women's sports -- possibly field hockey, lacrosse or swimming. There would be about another 100 female athletes because of the addition of the football team (about 100 players)."We weighed this as a value proposition," said Everett. "What would football do for UNCC over a long period of time, versus the cost of the program? We agreed the value is worth the investment."In a Student Government Association survey conducted during February, about 80 percent of students polled indicated they would pay more athletic fees to support football. That could be an increase of as much as $300 per year.Everett said the committee was buoyed by a report by Charlotte sports marketer Max Muhlemann that there could be ample local support for football at UNCC."Max told us there was a little reservation around the support, because there are so many unanswered questions now," Everett said. "His conclusion was the community will support it, but it has to be sold well to the community."Issues such as what conference the 49ers might play in and where they might play -- Memorial Stadium could be a temporary home until an on-campus stadium is built -- will remain unresolved for now."I hope the chancellor takes the recommendation and runs with it," said UNCC student Shane Worrell. "As a student, it's easy to just want football, but the intangibles are really undeniable."I grew up a Virginia Tech football fan. I love seeing Halton Arena packed and I love Niners basketball. But there's nothing like looking around a stadium and seeing 65,000-plus people jumping up and down and screaming for the team they love."
What's Next?

• UNC Charlotte's football feasibility committee chairman Mac Everett will take recommendation to Chancellor Phil Dubois in January.

• The recommendation calls for the 49ers to begin as an NCAA Football Championship Subdivision program then move to Football Bowl Subdivision.

• Dubois would take matter to UNCC's board of trustees for the final decision.

http://www.charlotte.com/niners/story/415756.html

**shocks02** · December 28, 2007, 01:51 PM

I wish we would just do something like Charlotte did, they'd say the same thing and WSU would have a team by 2012

wish it was that easy ;-)

**rrshock** · December 28, 2007, 02:41 PM

Maybe all these schools bringing football back will help a case if someone were to make a good one for a study. There has to be something going on that is making all these schools say "Bring it Back".

**Shirley Schmidt** · December 29, 2007, 06:00 PM

A meeting of Shocker boosters discussing college football "the dead horse of Wichita State football" rides again.

Note that they are getting out their clubs to beat it once again.

:cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

**Shockerman** · February 1, 2008, 06:54 PM

Interesting article as it may be something similar to what the University of Wichita could do. :good:

COMMITTEE'S RECOMMENDATION: START TEAM BY 2012
Big leagues in 49ers' future? Proposed football program could lead to spot in BCS conference
DAVID SCOTT
dscott@charlotteobserver.com
JOHN ADKISSON, Special to the ObserverA move into a new league to accommodate a potential new football program would be the Charlotte 49ers' fifth different conference since 1970, when the school began playing NCAA Division I basketball.If the Charlotte 49ers begin playing football by 2012 -- as the school's football feasibility committee has recommended -- their first destination would be the NCAA's Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA).After that, the committee has recommended a jump to the Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) as soon as possible.There would be plenty of issues to work out to make football happen at Charlotte, including cost, stadium, Title IX and hiring a coach. And this: In which conferences would the 49ers play, while they're in the FCS and after they land in the FBS?Finding a temporary league in the FCS might be difficult, according to officials of two leagues with schools near Charlotte. But when a potential move to the FBS is made, enough might have changed by then that a spot in a major conference might be available to the 49ers."If you're looking at (FBS) conferences right now, the situation is going to be limited," said Bill Carr, CEO of Carr Sports Associates, a Florida-based college sports consulting company that has worked with colleges interested in starting football programs. "But you've also got a very fluid situation."Said Gene Corrigan, a former NCAA president and commissioner of the ACC who is now a consultant: "Leagues in (FBS) are always looking for schools to join. It won't be a problem for (Charlotte)."

More changes coming?

A key factor for Charlotte will be a probable shift in the college sports landscape over the next six-to-eight years, as there was two years ago when an ACC-driven change in conference affiliations took place. The next change could come as long-term television contracts begin to expire and leagues continue to look at ways to increase revenues and exposure.
The recent moves had a tumble-down effect that reached schools like Charlotte, which switched from Conference USA to the Atlantic 10.If the 49ers' stay in FCS is temporary, it might be difficult to find a league to play in during those years. The Atlantic 10 doesn't sponsor football. Most of its members that play the sport do so in other FCS leagues."If we were to bring somebody in, it wouldn't necessarily have to be permanent," said Big South commissioner Kyle Kallender, whose league includes five football-playing schools. "But if we knew it was a stepping stone for something different down the road, we'd probably have a tough time going in that direction."Three Atlantic 10 schools -- Richmond, Massachusetts and Rhode Island -- play football in the FCS' Colonial Athletic Association. CAA officials could not be reached.The FCS has four independents -- Presbyterian, Stony Brook (N.Y.), N.C. Central and Savannah State. Three plan to join FCS leagues soon: Presbyterian and Stony Brook are headed to the Big South, and N.C. Central is negotiating with the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference."(Charlotte) could hang out for a few years as an independent," said Southern Conference commissioner John Iamarino, who added that his league wouldn't consider Charlotte as an interim member. "It would be a challenge with scheduling, but that would probably be the least disruptive way."

BCS would be best

The ideal FBS situation for the 49ers would be to land in a Bowl Championship Series conference. But Charlotte would be another school in a long line hoping to drink from the BCS's deep financial trough."Everybody who's not in the BCS wants to be in the BCS," said Carr. "And they should want that, financially."Six leagues -- the ACC, SEC, Big Ten, Big East, Pac 10 and Big 12 -- receive automatic spots in BCS bowls and, this season, will receive $17 million each from the BCS to divide among their member schools.Non-BCS Conference USA would provide a familiar landing spot for Charlotte, which was a member from 1995-2005. It would also provide East Carolina -- C-USA's eastern-most school -- a geographic football rival in the conference, which has six members in Texas and Oklahoma.Carr, a former athletics director at C-USA's Houston, said discussions of shifting membership in the league are common."The only constant in that league is change," said Carr. "When we started the conference (in 1995), one thing everybody had in common was that we all wanted to be somewhere else."Charlotte was among the charter members of C-USA, along with SouthFlorida, which had a fledgling football program. Louisville, Marquette and Cincinnati were also there at the beginning, but they (along with South Florida) jumped to the Big East after the ACC raided the league for Boston College, Miami and Virginia Tech.The Big East might be another possibility for Charlotte, if the conference loses teams from another league's expansion or wants to grow large enough to accommodate a championship game.Consider this: Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany implied last summer his 11-team league could expand if it needs another team to add content to its new television network. A 12th school would also allow the Big Ten to hold a lucrative conference championship game.If the Big Ten -- which has been turned down at least twice by football-independent Notre Dame -- were to look east for a new school, some have speculated it could be Rutgers, which would give the league a presence in the New York market.

Attractive market

The dominos might then fall the 49ers' way. Charlotte's market -- smack in the middle of ACC country -- would be a logical foothold for the Big East and its string of football-playing schools stretching from the northeast through West Virginia, Louisville and on to South Florida.There's also the possibility that the 16-member Big East might splinter because of its unwieldy size in basketball. The league has eight football schools and could look to increase that to 12 (a championship game's magic number) by looking elsewhere.Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese wouldn't comment. Charlotte officials, including athletics director Judy Rose, also won't comment on football.But Mac Everett, who chaired the feasibility committee, said the group didn't consider which conference the school might play in when it recommended starting a program.The committee's proposal will be considered by chancellor Phil Dubois, who will then take it to the school's trustees in May."That wasn't part of our vision, to consider what conference they would play in," said Everett."But it does need to be a major conference."

Full Story
http://www.charlotte.com/niners/story/464640.html[img][/img]

**Shockerman** · June 5, 2008, 09:04 PM

Here is a link to the outside study that was done about adding Football to the UNC Charlotte 49ers Athletic Program. The committe reviewed it an voted to add Football.

http://charlotte49ers.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/ncch/genrel/auto_pdf/ncch-football-feasibility-narr

Here is a link to their power point presentation

http://charlotteobserver.com/static/...pt#256,1,Slide 1

**Shockerman** · September 20, 2008, 10:17 AM

UNCC chancellor says yes to football
Charlotte Business Journal - by Erik Spanberg Senior Staff Writer

Phil Dubois delivered his answer to the UNC Charlotte board of trustees on Thursday: Yes, he’s ready for some football.The UNC Charlotte chancellor recommended the school add a football program beginning in 2013, with estimated startup costs of $45 million. Trustees will make the final call with a vote in November on whether football is added.“In my entire professional life, I have not faced a more difficult decision,” he said. “And I say that because it has required a consideration of not only what people may say they want today or what we may be able to afford today or what students can legitimately be asked to pay today, but also a consideration of what will matter to the university 20 years from now.” Dubois diverged in several ways from the school’s feasibility committee’s recommendations on football, delivered in February. That committee, led by retired Wachovia Corp. (NYSE:WB) executive Mac Everett, suggested a 2012 launch for football, with a move to the highest level, known as the Football Bowl Subdivision, four years later.Dubois instead proferred a recommendation that launches football in 2013 and offers no firm timeline for moving to the bowl subdivision. Other changes include a lower proposed student fee — $200, compared with $300 — to pay for operating costs for football. The fees represent a 1.4% increase in the total cost for in-state students to attend the university. Even with the board of trustees endorsement this fall, football is not a sure thing.The chancellor outlined significant financial challenges. He suggested launching a seat-license campaign similar to the one used by the NFL Carolina Panthers, albeit on a smaller scale.Within six months of board of trustees approval, Dubois said, the school would need to sell 5,000 seat licenses at $1,000 each in order to move forward. He dubbed it an “FSL” or Forty-Niner Seat License, named for the school’s sports nickname. Doing so would grant license buyers the right to buy season tickets while raising $5 million for football. Dubois wants the school’s athletic foundation to raise another $15 million. That would provide a combined $20 million.“Even if we are successful raising $20 million from the two approaches I’ve mentioned thus far, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see that we are well short of the $45 million we need for football-related facilities,” Dubois said. “ ... My hope is that community awareness of this problem, particularly among those who want this to happen, will spark some creative thinking about possible solutions.”Plans call for eventually playing in a 12,000-seat on-campus stadium. The school would explore playing at a renovated Memorial Stadium, among other options, before the new stadium opens.An earlier survey by sports marketing executive Max Muhleman found tepid support within the corporate community for funding a football team at UNCC. Raising money from alumni also presents challenges. Half of UNCC’s alums are 37 or younger, meaning most have yet to reach their prime earning (and giving) years. The torpid economy is sure to impact fund-raising, as well.“The cold, stark financial reality we face is that those who say they want football are going to have to help pay for football,” Dubois said.Despite the difficult financial circumstances, the chancellor said the school must move ahead now.Dubois cited the school’s surging enrollment, expected to reach 35,000 by 2020, as one of several reasons to add football. Ninety-one percent of schools with that many students already play football. And, while Dubois dismissed conventional wisdom that football increases student diversity and private donations, he praised football for its ability to rally students and enliven school spirit among alumni and administrators.

http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/09/15/daily49.html

**Shockerman** · September 20, 2008, 10:25 AM

Dubois: Add football in 2013 – if boosters will pay

UNC Charlotte Chancellor suggests 6-month campaign to raise $5 million with $1,000 seat licences

10:29 AM EDT on Thursday, September 18, 2008

By David Perlmutt / The Charlotte Observer

UNC Charlotte students march for football
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- UNC Charlotte Chancellor Phil Dubois recommended to university trustees this morning that UNCC suit up a football team by 2013, but punted to boosters and other football supporters to raise $5 million in six months to help pay for a $45.3 million stadium complex. As expected, the trustees took no action, but will vote on Dubois' recommendation – including the lofty benchmarks to gauge public support – at their Nov. 13 meeting. A huge hurdle would be raising the $5 million through non-transferable seat licenses – he calls them Forty-Niner Seat Licenses – at a time when the economy continues to sour. Dubois proposed selling 5,000 licenses for $1,000 just for the right to buy season tickets. He said trustees could extend his six-month deadline to nine months, or a year. “The people who say they want football, now have to help pay for it,” Dubois said in an interview with Observer reporters. “The surest way to demonstrate you're willing to pay is to put out a tangible amount of money that shows that support. “Let's not wait for some long period of agony to decide if the support's going to be there. Let's decide now. And if it is, then we'll go forward.”

If not? “Then it goes away.”

He said UNC Charlotte athletics director Judy Rose is confident the money can be raised. To pay for football, Dubois put less of a burden on students than what was proposed by a football feasibility committee. That committee recommended student fees increase by $300 per year, or $150 each semester, phased in over the next four years. Under Dubois' plan students would pay $25 each semester in 2010, $50 a semester in 2011 and 2012, and $100 each semester in 2013, when the team would start playing. The $200, or a 1.4 percent increase in student fees, is “consistent with the amount that the vast majority of students … indicated that they would be comfortable paying for a football program,” he told trustees. Dubois said he's heard concerns about raising fees from adult night students and graduate students. “We have an obligation to consider that education is expensive, and we have an obligation to help them get their college degrees,” he said.

Dubois proposed that a team start playing in a Division 1-AA conference “for the foreseeable future,” and not set a timetable to elevate the program to Division 1-A by 2016, as recommended by the feasibility committee. “You have to build a solid program with a solid fan base,” he told the Observer. “If you want to move to Division 1-A by Day X, you'd never be admitted to a Division 1-AA conference because no one would want you.” To satisfy federal Title IX regulations, UNC Charlotte would introduce three women's sports: Lacrosse in 2016; field hockey in 2019 and swimming or another third sport in 2023. Dubois said he'd prefer an on-campus expandable stadium, starting with 12,000 seats, near the light rail that is scheduled to be extended to UNCC by 2015. The $45.3 million complex would include a sports building with offices for coaches, locker rooms and practice fields. Football, he said, is part of the university's long-term strategy for growth. The Charlotte campus is expected to enroll 35,000 students by 2020. Other research universities that size play football, he said.

Yet in making his recommendation, Dubois said he doubts a football team would bring significant private donations, or draw higher quality students, or that a team would open a floodgate of private donations. “There is nothing in our institutional history or in our alumni profile that suggests that our coffers will be filled by gridiron gold,” Dubois told trustees. Football, he said, would “enrich the student experience,” boost school spirit and create a stronger bond between students and school – a key ingredient “in helping a student persist to achieve his or her academic degree.” It would also give the Charlotte region “ownership” in UNCC. “Like it or not, athletics have a lot to do with capturing the public's imagination about public institutions,” he told the Observer. “I would like to think that the public is fascinated with our research and public service. Sometimes it is. But athletics opens doors for research partnerships – for student internships. It gets the public to pay attention to … your academic enterprise. “Getting Charlotte and the Charlotte region to own this institution, I believe, will be enhanced by football.” Dubois said he's a football fan, but likes basketball more. Yet football, he said, has consumed 80 percent of his work at UNCC the past six months. If his recommendation is approved, it will be up to Rose and her department to raise money and field a team.
“I've done my part,” he said. “I have other responsibilities and I intend to get back to them.”

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http://www.wcnc.com/news/local/stories/wcnc-091808-al-uncc_football.8a922f2e.html

**Shockerman** · September 20, 2008, 10:30 AM

I love the Presidents attitude. "Put up or shut up." I find Charlotte an interesting school to watch as we are very similar to them. I also find it amazing that they are willing to give it a shot even though they have no current stadium and will have to build one. We have a beautiful stadium that is jut begging Cessna to toss some coin at it. Can we bring Football back to WSU? I honestly don't know. But hell, give the city and alumni a shot. If we fail then we fail. Just give us the opportunity Mr. Beggs.

**RoyalShock** · September 20, 2008, 10:42 AM

Their schedule for complying with Title IX is interesting. They get 10 years?

But note how they plan to keep the programs going. Student fees will reach $100 per semester by the time they start playing. Estimating they have about 25000 (based on their goal of 35000 by 2020), that will bring in at least $5 million per year. Are WSU students willing to foot that bill?

**shocky** · September 23, 2008, 05:45 PM

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.

Announcement

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

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

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