UConn on their mind

[Jesseandrippers]

There was talk that some people wanted to re start football at Xavier. I think that would be a big financial mistake. Football at X could never compete in today's college football world.

Against the competition that it would be designed to compete against……yes it could. NOBODY is under the assumption that Xavier would compete against D1 full-scholarship schools. They would be competing with NON-scholarship programs.

70% of the schools playing college football are NOT members of any of the large conferences. In Ohio alone there are 28 colleges with football teams, but only 8 of them are even D1 schools. Of those 8, 6 are MAC schools and the others are OSU and UC. Xavier would be set up to play, and compete, with schools of similar emphasis and investment.

Agree with Kyzrex. I believe this has been explained in several threads already but it would be non-scholarship football in likely the same league that Dayton and Butler play in.

X would likely join a non-athletic scholarship league like the Pioneer. Still high startup costs to build a team but it’s the cheapest way in FCS to maintain a football program. Overall, they would have to be invested in keeping it because there are a lot of front-end costs. Also, if you are going to do it, sooner is better before all of the remaining XU Football Alumni “transfer their wealth.”

[nickgyp]

I try to keep up with the other boards on football but if Xavier does revive its football program, it would be in the non-scholarship FCS division. Back when X had football, it was Division 1 but no one had the notion that the Muskie gridders could or would play with the big boys. There was no need to then as wins against UC, Miami and Dayton were very satisfying. Competitive and entertaining games in their own right. Pioneer League Football games could do likewise cheering for the old alma mater.

[Xavier2005]

For me, I would focus athletic monies in to Basketball, Soccer, and Baseball first, then swimming and golf secondary. That is enough. All other monies should focus on academics and expanding enrollment through more dorms and or classrooms. The more graduates/alumni the better.

[edgecliff hall]

Agree, Xavier 2005.

[nickgyp]

The idea is to attract 100-110 males who, through various means, would be paying tuition that Xavier would not otherwise receive. Greg Christopher is on record saying that the concept of non-scholarship football works financially (i.e., it is not detrimental to a school's other sports programs). The budget would not be from current athletic funding as I understand it. Baseball, soccer, tennis, golf, etc. would not be implicated. Whether Xavier can raise capital funds specifically for start-up costs remains to be seen. Basketball revenues probably help sustain the other sports at Xavier as I imagine none of them have revenue that covers their operating costs. Part of the reason is that the fan base for certain sports just isn't that great.

Whether non-scholarship football would create a fan base of say three thousand as opposed to one thousand is anyone's guess but a minimum fan base doesn't appear to be a problem in the economics of operating a non-scholarship program.

[kyzrex]

To my mind the biggest question for football at X is the problem of building a fan base. Where will it come from?

Current students? Who knows. Would say that having on on-campus facility would be critical to making this happen, and even then it will take some time for it to become “the thing to do on campus” on Saturday’s in the fall.

Alumni? There will be some interest but I don’t see most having much interest. I’m 67. Started at X a couple of years after they dropped football. I’ve never attended a Xavier University football game and only remember reading about them in the paper and possibly listening to part of a game on the radio, as a kid. Anyone younger than me will be in the same boat of having never experienced a Xavier game as a student or as an alumni. I might go to a game as a curiosity, but it’s not going to be a priority.

Outside interest? I don’t see much of that, if any. The level of interest, outside of the school communities of Thomas Moore or St. Joe football, is almost nil. I live 15 minutes for Thomas Moore, am a big college football fan, and have never even considered attending a game. I think I’m pretty typical of people in this community. In fact just the point that I actually know that TM has a team probably puts me ahead of most in NKY.

BUT……..how important is it that there actually be a crowd of fans at the games? It might not really be that important. If it’s funded by the tuition payed by the participants, and not by gate receipts, it might not really matter how many people come to watch it.