Just curious - Keep football or don't?

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What's your vote?

  • Keep

    Votes: 25 43.1%
  • Drop

    Votes: 33 56.9%

  • Total voters
    58
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Maybe we can't entice recruits with our crumbling facility. Is there anything we can entice them with at ISU? A quality education, strippers like Louisville did, etc. Seriously, I wonder what recruits really value when deciding.
 
@Sycamorefan96, @Bobbyk60, or others... Lets get down to brass tax.

5203 is the average home attendance for the last decade.

5 x 5203 = 26,015 paid tickets

That means a Sycamore football season ticket would need to cost to sustain:

$5m budget = $961/seat ($192.20 per game)
$4.5m budget = $865/seat ($173 per game)
$4m budget = $769/seat ($153.80 per game)

So current season tickets are $60/seat. Are you (and others) willing to pay to fund the program so it can be self-sustaining from the fans that actually want it?

If not, what are you willing to PAY for Sycamore football?
I mean if we want to play this game, then let's pretend ISU did cut football. The only reason we would have any of the other sports at that point is so that we could be D1 in men's basketball. So at $16M you'd have to sell out every game at Hulman Center and charge $1599.90 per season ticket to make the athletic department break even.

Not once have I argued that our athletics aren't a money drain. I've literally been saying the opposite the entire time. My entire argument has been that if you're going to spend the same amount of money either way and lose money, at least lose money on a sport that will give something back.

If our average attendance remains in the ball park of 5203 then that's over $400K in ticket sales on average per season at current prices. If we give men's basketball an increase of $1M by cutting football we're at UNI, Bradley, and MO State spending levels with no guarantee that we'll draw anymore fans into the Hulman Center than we already are. Hell ISU might have to ask the students to subsidize our athletics even more than they are now, since we'd be losing $800K-$1M in revenue, while still maintaining the same spending levels across the board. If that doesn't make sense to you then I can't help you or anyone else that keeps arguing with me.
 
Maybe we can't entice recruits with our crumbling facility. Is there anything we can entice them with at ISU? A quality education, strippers like Louisville did, etc. Seriously, I wonder what recruits really value when deciding.

From a football perspective?

1. Playing Time (Usually the quickest way to see burn is going where the team sucks)
2. Missouri Valley (It still is arguably the top FCS conference so technically it is the closest you're getting to FBS level of play)
3. We do get bought so you will have a shot to play against a P5 school. Vanity/ego matters.

Also, at the end of the day, there are a finite amount of college football scholarships. Outside of that, there are a ton of positives depending on the kid, their upbringing and if they're serious about their education.

1. Terre Haute is a great small college town. It's not too big where you can find yourself in trouble easily, it's compact, and the Hauteans are generally good people.
2. Indiana State has some phenomenal academic programs if you push yourself and don't just go the physical education route like happens at many schools.
3. Once you get beyond the administration and management layers, the majority of the people on campus at the support levels are top notch and will bend over backwards to make sure you're successful in your endeavors.
 
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I mean if we want to play this game, then let's pretend ISU did cut football. The only reason we would have any of the other sports at that point is so that we could be D1 in men's basketball. So at $16M you'd have to sell out every game at Hulman Center and charge $1599.90 per season ticket to make the athletic department break even.

Not once have I argued that our athletics aren't a money drain. I've literally been saying the opposite the entire time. My entire argument has been that if you're going to spend the same amount of money either way and lose money, at least lose money on a sport that will give something back.

If our average attendance remains in the ball park of 5203 then that's over $400K in ticket sales on average per season at current prices. If we give men's basketball an increase of $1M by cutting football we're at UNI, Bradley, and MO State spending levels with no guarantee that we'll draw anymore fans into the Hulman Center than we already are. Hell ISU might have to ask the students to subsidize our athletics even more than they are now, since we'd be losing $800K-$1M in revenue, while still maintaining the same spending levels across the board. If that doesn't make sense to you then I can't help you or anyone else that keeps arguing with me.

Thanks for not answering.
 

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Maybe we can't entice recruits with our crumbling facility. Is there anything we can entice them with at ISU? A quality education, strippers like Louisville did, etc. Seriously, I wonder what recruits really value when deciding.

ISU can afford strippers but keep in mind Louisville was running a brothel
 
I mean if we want to play this game, then let's pretend ISU did cut football. The only reason we would have any of the other sports at that point is so that we could be D1 in men's basketball. So at $16M you'd have to sell out every game at Hulman Center and charge $1599.90 per season ticket to make the athletic department break even.

Not once have I argued that our athletics aren't a money drain. I've literally been saying the opposite the entire time. My entire argument has been that if you're going to spend the same amount of money either way and lose money, at least lose money on a sport that will give something back.

If our average attendance remains in the ball park of 5203 then that's over $400K in ticket sales on average per season at current prices. If we give men's basketball an increase of $1M by cutting football we're at UNI, Bradley, and MO State spending levels with no guarantee that we'll draw anymore fans into the Hulman Center than we already are. Hell ISU might have to ask the students to subsidize our athletics even more than they are now, since we'd be losing $800K-$1M in revenue, while still maintaining the same spending levels across the board. If that doesn't make sense to you then I can't help you or anyone else that keeps arguing with me.

FFS -

What part of football "...is a MONEY drain..." don't you understand??

It DOESN'T give something back - it simply TAKES
 
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The poll got 39 votes… That’s all Indiana State needed to change the logo. I think we should send them the poll, the thread of comments and an invoice for conducting this research.

I think $15k is a reasonable ask. Let’s just do it to see if they pay it. What do we have to lose.

Get a bound copy & pretend that they hired us to conduct this research. If they pay us we can donate it back.

If 96’ was teaching math this would mean that Indiana State would be $15k richer after we make our donation… When in all actuality they would be $0 richer. Subtract the interest that money was earning and they actually lost money.
 
I mean if we want to play this game, then let's pretend ISU did cut football. The only reason we would have any of the other sports at that point is so that we could be D1 in men's basketball. So at $16M you'd have to sell out every game at Hulman Center and charge $1599.90 per season ticket to make the athletic department break even.

Not once have I argued that our athletics aren't a money drain. I've literally been saying the opposite the entire time. My entire argument has been that if you're going to spend the same amount of money either way and lose money, at least lose money on a sport that will give something back.

If our average attendance remains in the ball park of 5203 then that's over $400K in ticket sales on average per season at current prices. If we give men's basketball an increase of $1M by cutting football we're at UNI, Bradley, and MO State spending levels with no guarantee that we'll draw anymore fans into the Hulman Center than we already are. Hell ISU might have to ask the students to subsidize our athletics even more than they are now, since we'd be losing $800K-$1M in revenue, while still maintaining the same spending levels across the board. If that doesn't make sense to you then I can't help you or anyone else that keeps arguing with me.
Ok, let me take a shot at this…..we cut football, that’s a plus (+5,000,000), then we take (-1,000,000) of that and give it to basketball. Then we also lose (-1,000,000) because we no longer have a buy game and ticket sales from football.

So that’s 5,000,000 - (1,000,000) and another - (1,000,000) which = +3,000,000 and somehow our athletic programs are worse off?

Tell me where I missed something because that seems like some Government/Pentagon spending kind of math right there.
 

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Maybe we can't entice recruits with our crumbling facility. Is there anything we can entice them with at ISU? A quality education, strippers like Louisville did, etc. Seriously, I wonder what recruits really value when deciding.
A quality education? we have no signature programs left. Pro Pilot and Athletic Training used to be and they got surpassed by others willing to grow their programs.

Strippers?????? Do you propose we get them from 6th Ave Dancers or Club Koyote in W. TH??

What do Recruits Value????
3 letters, NIL NIL NIL!!!!! show them the money!!! We get kids who just want to continue their high school football glory days......
 
A quality education? we have no signature programs left. Pro Pilot and Athletic Training used to be and they got surpassed by others willing to grow their programs.

Strippers?????? Do you propose we get them from 6th Ave Dancers or Club Koyote in W. TH??

What do Recruits Value???? 3 letters, NIL NIL NIL!!!!! show them the money!!! We get kids who just want to continue their high school football glory days......

I hear the Professional Pilot program is better today (2023) than ever...

who's surpassed it? Vincennes? ISU will (likely) be 2nd after west lafayette
 
Ok, let me take a shot at this…..we cut football, that’s a plus (+5,000,000), then we take (-1,000,000) of that and give it to basketball. Then we also lose (-1,000,000) because we no longer have a buy game and ticket sales from football.

So that’s 5,000,000 - (1,000,000) and another - (1,000,000) which = +3,000,000 and somehow our athletic programs are worse off?

Tell me where I missed something because that seems like some Government/Pentagon spending kind of math right there.

Your arithmetic seems pretty solid; keep in mind that at least 1, maybe 2 men's teams would have to be added; ncaa div I requires a min of 6 men's team and ISU would only have 5.

The wrinkle is the male-to-female ration wrt student population and student-athlete team opportunity (the formula that dictated ISU add another women's team in the past 5-10 years...)

The two 'easiest' sports that come to mind that minimize staff hires is adding a men's soccer and men's golf team. Obviously, neither separate or combined will "replace" the number of scholarships but that's simply less money ISU is spending.
 
Cool response. If you think James Fucking Madison football moved the needle for anybody then I can’t help you.

The J. Madison community is borderline cultish but its' too small to move the needle. they'll likely regret moving to FBS but they'll never admit it.
 

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Your arithmetic seems pretty solid; keep in mind that at least 1, maybe 2 men's teams would have to be added; ncaa div I requires a min of 6 men's team and ISU would only have 5.

The wrinkle is the male-to-female ration wrt student population and student-athlete team opportunity (the formula that dictated ISU add another women's team in the past 5-10 years...)

The two 'easiest' sports that come to mind that minimize staff hires is adding a men's soccer and men's golf team. Obviously, neither separate or combined will "replace" the number of scholarships but that's simply less money ISU is spending.


I had 3 different options for male sports -- lean, fat and fat 2.

Lean:
Baseball
Basketball
XC/Track
Golf
Rifle
Tennis

Fat:
Baseball
Basketball
XC/Track
Golf
Soccer
Tennis

Fat 2:
Baseball
Basketball
XC/Track
Golf
Rifle
Swimming & Diving
Tennis

All met the NCAA requirement of 6 men's sports with at least 2 being team sports.

If people look at the expenses tab, lean is a 52.8 scholarship savings and fat is a 36.1 scholarship savings which comes out to $540k to $1.3m in aid savings alone. The funny part of my thought exercise is we'd actually be fielding more sports than we currently do in any of the models while being Title IX compliant by miles.
 
You couldn’t pay me $961 to go watch them play every home game this season! I’d have to pass.
And there is part of the problem. Lack of support for ISU sports in general. The other half of the problem may be the result of the first half. We either choose not to hire good assistant coaches on both sides of the line or we can't afford them. Miles had a pretty decent offense and a great defense. His successor had an even better offense but the defense wasn't very good. His successor has a pretty decent defense but the offense is terrible. The fact that nobody cares about ISU football is a result of not putting a solid team on the field for too long. This shouldn't be the case with the amount of money currently being spent. Bottom line fans who aren't fans and coaches who don't coach.
 
The J. Madison community is borderline cultish but its' too small to move the needle. they'll likely regret moving to FBS but they'll never admit it.
Exactly. I can’t wait for their much anticipated matchup in the New Orleans Bowl. That’s appointment watching for so many, and it’s exactly what a school needs to catapult them into the big time! We will all look back on it so fondly.
 
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