(05-14-2020 11:43 AM)pvk75 Wrote: (MaddDawgz02 wrote:) We do not have an effective leadership at NIU. At first its easy to blame this whole virus hysteria, but then again, I think the virus situation probably just accelerated what was already happening anyway. NIU was going under even without the virus problem, it just maybe happened 5 years sooner than it would have without it
If what you say is true (I don't have more than personal knowledge to say myself), then the focus is on what it will look like come spring 2021, and where does NIU go from there? I doubt NIU will simply axe all sports and have nothing in the future.
The last school in Illinois to do that was Northeastern Illinois, and today club sports etc. have emerged for the more sports-inclined students. I would not label NEI "prophetic," btw.
As for NIU, it and the MAC have made some really dumb mistakes by doing what they thought was best at the time for image and bottom line. Imo they jumped too soon on the TV bandwagon with a contract that runs through 2027, without considering the impacts on their foundation/fan base, which is one of the main reasons Huskies athletics survived and grew at all. Strictly looking at fan base, they handed nothing down to the next generation, so no next generation evolved.
It didn't help that the ESPN-MAC contract is between two private parties, so despite being 12 public universities, the fan base has no access to details. No one likes a secret deal that impacts their favorites and has a trickle-down effect on their involvement. No one likes being told that the Saturday tradition of college football is being tossed in the can, so pack up your tailgate stuff and just keep those donations and ticket purchases coming, folks. And absolutely no one I know likes being told to like it or lump it.
So again, what do you think it will all look like come spring 2021?
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Well stated pvk75.
If we cancel football in the fall, it will get real complicated. When does basketball start? What about transfers? Why pay coaches with no season? How does eligibility work? The cost of another year for scholarships? TV contracts? Will the MAC survive? Do we need athletic fees with no programs in the spring of 2020 and the fall of 2020? Athletic fees cover around 1/3 of the athletic budget, with no fees how much do you cut? What will be left to NIU in the spring of 2021? Let us talk about class action lawsuits and students getting sick in the fall? The list goes on and on.