Missouri Valley Football Conference

[SubGod22]

Football doesn't have to bring other sports down. I don't see why some have such a negative outlook about that.

[Maggie]

SubGod –

I think people react negatively because most D-1 football programs run in the red and are essentially a financial black hole. In addition, I am not convinced that the Wichita community would support a local college team. I went to WSU football games, when I was very young and I do not remember the support being very strong. Couple that with the fact that KSU and KU have had recent success. It is not that big of a deal to drive 2 hours north on a Saturday to see a game (my parents kept KSU season football tickets long after my sister graduated from that university).

For whatever reason, Basketball has always been the top sport at WSU.

[SubGod22]

Basketball will always be the top sport here. But college football is a lot different now than it was 20+ years ago. I believe I've seen that the Valley schools when averaged together actually run in the black. But even if you lose some money it doesn't hurt, or have to hurt anything. Football would/could still help increase enrollment and help with recruiting of other sports. You'd also most likely get an increase in the sell of merchandise.

Of course none of this is guaranteed but neither is the doom and gloom that some people think is inevitable. So many schools that would appear to have less resources than WSU has are adding football. I can't believe that it wouldn't work here.

And not only has college football changed over the past 20+ years, football in general has changed and is even more a part of our culture now.

[Maggie]

I do not know if football is a viable option at WSU. Frankly, it is not a subject I lose sleep over. However, people that question its viability do have legitimate points of view.

Serious question – In what way or ways has college football changed over the past 20 years such that it would make it more advantageous for WSU to restart its program? Because WSU didn't have a football team when I attended the university I don't follow college football very closely.

Also, do not be offended but I still question whether Wichita will adequately support a football program. In any event, do I think it hurts to explore the possibility of football at WSU – of course not.

[RoyalShock]

I continue to fall on both sides of the football issue.

What would be different, at least at WSU, is that we would be competing, at least in the beginning, against teams that we'd be competitive with. I do think if WSU was successful, even in the FCS division, Wichita would support it.

Now, from my research, the main reason other Valley schools can appear to run their programs in the black, is that they all have increased student fees to subsidize it. I think that will be a much bigger hurdle at WSU than getting booster support.

Furthermore, with a possible recession coming, the next few years probably isn't the best time to look into it.

[SubGod22]

College football is a much bigger deal now than it was then. I don't pay a ton of attention to it since we don't have a team. Football in general has taken over to become the sport of America.

Do I think we'd sell out Cessna? Probably not. But I do think there's support here and would be. There's no excuse for the Department to not look into it. Some talk about the big money donors not being behind it. Well, they weren't behind the basketball program and the new arena until a good plan was laid out in front of them. I doubt they've been approached with that yet. If the AD lays out a good plan I'm sure the donors will step up.

[goshox74]

Yes RoyalShock, you are correct about the financial side of things. Based on actual income from the games, concessions, memorablilia, etc. ALL mid-major teams lose lots of money.

vbird 53 wrote "If these Universities can figure out a way to put a football team together each year, then I'm not exactly sure why such a stable community (Wichita) can't do the same. "

Well N.Iowa is in EXTREME financial problems now and the main reason is football. They have been talking about cutting sports that have been very successful just to keep football going.

Football at the mid-major level doesn't make sense financially. It would be fun to watch but not at the expense to the rest of the athletic department.

[t7017s]

Yes RoyalShock, you are correct about the financial side of things. Based on actual income from the games, concessions, memorablilia, etc. ALL mid-major teams lose lots of money.

vbird 53 wrote "If these Universities can figure out a way to put a football team together each year, then I'm not exactly sure why such a stable community (Wichita) can't do the same. "

Well N.Iowa is in EXTREME financial problems now and the main reason is football. They have been talking about cutting sports that have been very successful just to keep football going.

Football at the mid-major level doesn't make sense financially. It would be fun to watch but not at the expense to the rest of the athletic department.

Exactly. Don't tell me that basketball, baseball and volleyball earnings wouldn't start going into the black hole that would be football here at WSU. I just assume those programs keep their overhead and use it to maintain the excellence they have obtained and build on that.

[SubGod22]

ALL those teams don't lose money on football. I'll have to try and dig up where I've seen the reports on just the Gateway/Valley teams.

[Shockerman]

Royal nailed it. It will all come down to an increase in student fees. The big donor money is out there and Beggs has turned it down at least once. I think WSU would be a great fit for the MVCFC and it would put us in a favorable position come realignment time. I like the Valley, but how long will we be left holding the Valley bag. Think about how many schools have left the Valley and moved up in Collegiate sporting world, Tulsa being the last example. Like it or not the next two teams in the Valley will be NDSU and SDSU. There is nothing wrong with those schools but much like UNI and MSU they will need time to grow. Who will the Valley add once ISU red leaves or if MSU leaves? We will have to go the Evansville route again as schools like Depaul, Marquette, Xavier and even St Louis have no interest in joining the Valley. How long will we keep are heads in the sand? I really hope Shocker fans will wake up and see where the NCAA is heading. We can be part of a slowly degrading MVC or we can prepare to be part of a conference were will be competitive and challenged to achieve great things over the next 50 years.

[1972Shocker]

Sub is right. College Football has changed a lot in 20 years as has the dominance of Television coverage in its impact on sport.

The Question is does this make it easier or harder to bring back football.

For example, you now have a myriad of high level BCS games on every weekend in about evey time slot. Not only that but the NFL is a much bigger draw than it was 20+ years ago. Yes football has grown immensely in the psycHe of the US sports fan, but the alternatives to get the football fix have grown even more.

This is competition for the entertainment time and dollar that the WSU football program really did not have to face 20+ years ago.

Will Wichita support a FCS Division team. Probably would be adequate support if it is a consistent big winner. If not, I doubt it.

[vbird53]

Based on actual income from the games, concessions, memorablilia, etc. ALL mid-major teams lose lots of money.

That's just not true. If it were, they'd all drop their programs. And if that's the case, then why are so many other programs adding football? Look down the list of threads in this forum, and you'll see about 10 (give or take) Universities giving it a chance.

If you can get the program to the level where they are able to schedule one or two BCS programs per year, the pay out will essentially be enough to operate the whole program.

[SpanglerFan316]

http://ocolly.com/2005/11/14/schmidly-closes-door-on-johnny-bright-disgrace/