With the revenue from student fees, OOC games and ticket/game day revenue reduced significantly, will NIU continue to have 85 players on full rides?

(07-12-2020 11:54 AM)klake87 Wrote:  With the revenue from student fees, OOC games and ticket/game day revenue reduced significantly, will NIU continue to have 85 players on full rides?

That is an interesting question. Since football is the revenue driver, I would imagine other sports will be cut before they cut scholarships.

As much as all this sucks for NIU, it's a problem for all D1 schools right now. Would hope an FBS or at least a league-wide response will emerge re scholarships.

I would get rid of other sports before reducing football scholarships. NIU football is the only revenue generator and only reason anyone has heard of our school. Baseball should be the first to go.

(07-12-2020 02:16 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  I would get rid of other sports before reducing football scholarships. NIU football is the only revenue generator and only reason anyone has heard of our school. Baseball should be the first to go.

yes.

I am not anti-baseball, but ... If that happened, they could drop the baseball fundraising effort ($4-5 million) and instead build a new softball field where the baseball field is. That would a) free up a student tailgate area (I don't think there is one now) where the softball field is now, b) allow a larger west-side Yard since the softball field is smaller than the baseball field, c) create an opportunity for more parking, d) eliminate spending money to rehab the existing softball field, which needs it, and e) grant some flexibility meeting Title IX whatever else NIU does.

I'm not anti-baseball either, but northern teams like NIU are at a disadvantage playing their first 20 games on the road and it can't be cheap to fly back and forth for the first couple months. The program hasn't been good since the mid-2000s and the stadium and amenities are severely lacking.

(07-12-2020 03:41 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  I'm not anti-baseball either, but northern teams like NIU are at a disadvantage playing their first 20 games on the road and it can't be cheap to fly back and forth for the first couple months. The program hasn't been good since the mid-2000s and the stadium and amenities are severely lacking.

I think we reach agreement from different angles, neither being anti-baseball. I dislike the idea of cutting sports, but if necessary, a negative can be turned somewhat positive while accepting and dealing with the impracticality you described.

That said, is baseball a required MAC sport?

(07-12-2020 03:12 PM)pvk75 Wrote:  I am not anti-baseball, but ... If that happened, they could drop the baseball fundraising effort ($4-5 million) and instead build a new softball field where the baseball field is. That would a) free up a student tailgate area (I don't think there is one now) where the softball field is now, b) allow a larger west-side Yard since the softball field is smaller than the baseball field, c) create an opportunity for more parking, d) eliminate spending money to rehab the existing softball field, which needs it, and e) grant some flexibility meeting Title IX whatever else NIU does.

Good idea. Sad, but the reality is we are in a tough situation. I'm a big NIU baseball fan too. A few buddies were players and I've spent a few hungover days watching games as a student. Maybe it dies now and comes back, if we can navigate through these tough times.

I don't think the tough situation is going to end in one year, even if a vaccine is found. The impacts of the pandemic and state funding problems will not go away for some time. Epasnoopy made a good point and, while tradition and memories of good times are good, times change. What has NIU baseball drawn when on campus in recent years? There's a lot of this re-thinking going on, some good, some not.

It is certainly not an easy decision to make. But some hard choices will likely have to occur. Can't keep operating an entire department like normal with a significant revenue loss. The additional expense of constantly testing student-athletes and coaching staffs can't be cheap either.

(07-12-2020 02:16 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  I would get rid of other sports before reducing football scholarships. NIU football is the only revenue generator and only reason anyone has heard of our school. Baseball should be the first to go.

"NIU football is the only revenue generator."
Yes, football does bring in revenue. Does the total revenue cover the cost of football operations? No way, show us the data.

Remember Title IX.

(07-12-2020 04:51 PM)NIU75 Wrote:  

(07-12-2020 02:16 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  I would get rid of other sports before reducing football scholarships. NIU football is the only revenue generator and only reason anyone has heard of our school. Baseball should be the first to go.

"NIU football is the only revenue generator."
Yes, football does bring in revenue. Does the total revenue cover the cost of football operations? No way, show us the data.

I didn't see a comment made that football covers its costs or produces a profit, only that it generates revenue. And it may be that football is not the only revenue generator. I don't have the figures. But I seriously doubt any NIU sport covers its own costs. If that were required, there would be no athletic program at NIU.

A much larger concern is student athletic fees, which provide 30-35% of the athletic budget. Then there's the subsidy from the university, being hit with financial impacts from the pandemic. Those two together are the biggest sources of a.dept. revenue.

Recall STF's statement that Northern needed the $1.6 million payday from the 2018 Florida State game to avoid big cuts and lost jobs. That was pre-Covid-19.