Can UA Fort Smith start and sustain a football program?

[VBRazorback]

I was talking with my coworkers and we all think that yes they could. it would be cheaper tickets than going to the razorback games and pull people that cant afford going up to fayetteville. I don't think that it would hurt the hogs at all. I have had numerous disagreements with my wife who works at uafs.

[DLUXHOG]

No way

[VBRazorback]

can someone explain why they think that they couldn't have a football team?

[BigDogHog2010]

No and never going to happen.

[Hog on the Hill]

can someone explain why they think that they couldn't have a football team?

How's it going to pay for itself?

[razorback4ever]

Nope. Too small in it's current form to field much more than a good high school team. I say that despite my daughter going to school there as we speak.

[VBRazorback]

they could use either northside or southsides stadium till they could build one. there are plenty of donors in the area and some even from oklahoma that would be willing to donate the money. they have uniform contracts already in place with the other sports. If two people can donate $250,000 for a bronze statue then there is enough money in the area to start up a program. there is also revenue from the other sports. the entire mens basketball team, coaches, and spouses went on a week long cruise to alaska over the summer.

[PorkRyan]

I'm pretty sure one of the stipulations of joining the UA system was that UAFS would never have a football program

[The Boar War]

nm

[VBRazorback]

that seems odd to me since you have uapb and uam with football teams. didn't ualr talk about it? not sure why they would be allowed teams and not fort smith.

[PorkRyan]

that seems odd to me since you have uapb and uam with football teams. didn't ualr talk about it? not sure why they would be allowed teams and not fort smith.

Proximity to the UA, plus UAFS just joined the UA system recently.  I'm 99% sure that it was part of the agreement.

[Arkiebrian]

who cares

[DoubleJ]

I'm pretty sure one of the stipulations of joining the UA system was that UAFS would never have a football program

You are correct.  The U of A will not let them have a football team.

[Flying Razorback]

How about instead we have NWACC start a JUCO program so we can feed our non-qualifiers into it and have them in our backyard...  Oh wait, I think this was debated here last year.

[VBRazorback]

Proximity to the UA, plus UAFS just joined the UA system recently.  I'm 99% sure that it was part of the agreement.

that is understandable but saying the uafs would take away from the razorbacks is a joke. that is like saying asu hurts the hogs by taking in state players.

[jneal56]

I'm pretty sure one of the stipulations of joining the UA system was that UAFS would never have a football program

You are correct sir! When I was going to UAFS (when I started it was West-Ark) I asked what would have to be done to get a football team started. They told me due to the transition from West-Ark to UAFS, they made an agreement to not field a football team because it was too close to Fayetteville and would take away from ticket sales. Straight from El Presidente himself.

[TOM "tbw1"]

I don't know if this is a serious question or not.  It would take from 2.5 to three million dollars to do so.  most arkansas schools use tax money to make up the difference.  Based on enrollment, this 700 dollars per student.

[VBRazorback]

it would take some time to get the fan base going but there are enough people in the fort smith area and even in oklahoma that would come to the games. I don't think that it would take away from the hogs since people would either be going to fayetteville or not. atu is made up of pansies. The Gulf South Conference would be a great fit for them. If they got in then ATU would have to play them.

[VBRazorback]

I don't know if this is a serious question or not.  It would take from 2.5 to three million dollars to do so.  most arkansas schools use tax money to make up the difference.  Based on enrollment, this 700 dollars per student.

yes it is a serious question and I know that they couldn't do it anytime soon. just thinking that it would be fun for kids in the area to keep playing football.

[Johnny America]

Poor quality football is very painful to watch. I do not think that a D3 level program would warrant attendance.

[LL COOL HOG]

I was Googling UAFS Football after seeing a small Facebook page in support of a program (I found this thread).  If Springdale Public Schools can build  5.5 million dollar High School Stadium. Why not UAFS? They are already planning to expand the weight room and athletic offices.

Even Hendrix a Liberal Arts College just started a program.

This is my first resurrection of a thread and it feels good to upset a few.  Hello 2010

[edt]

Not gonna happen, EVER.

[rljjr]

They can't even get it together enough to start a women's soccer program.

[jjdlc]

They can't even get it together enough to start a women's soccer program.

They even built the field for one.  Having worked there, I can say that the current board's stance on a football team is a resounding "No, never going to happen."

[Ray_Finkle]

I'm pretty sure one of the stipulations of joining the UA system was that UAFS would never have a football program

This

[MuskogeeHogFan]

I don't know if this is a serious question or not.  It would take from 2.5 to three million dollars to do so.  most arkansas schools use tax money to make up the difference.  Based on enrollment, this 700 dollars per student.

And there is this as an example.

Well-thought-out plans have allowed schools to move swiftly in fielding teams. Houston Baptist, which announced the launch of its football program in 2011, will play a seven-game developmental schedule this fall, including its inaugural game against Sam Houston State on August 31. Houston Baptist sees football as an integral part of a plan to raise its visibility and increase its enrollment from approximately 3,000 students today to 8,000 to 10,000 students in the next decade.

and...

Moniaci said his administration concluded that the roughly $10 million in start-up costs for the Football Championship Subdivision program would have a greater impact than competing uses for the funds, adding that the tuition for the non-scholarship athletes on the team would offset the $1 million in annual operating costs for the entire team.

Now granted they are wanting to go FCS, but even if it cost half of that to start up and maintain a lower level program, that is still a tidy sum.

http://www.footballfoundation.org/News/NewsDetail/tabid/567/Article/53890/record-number-of-colleges-add-ncaa-football-teams-in-2013.aspx#sthash.6EArcGW9.dpuf

[onebadrubi]

they could use either northside or southsides stadium till they could build one. there are plenty of donors in the area and some even from oklahoma that would be willing to donate the money. they have uniform contracts already in place with the other sports. If two people can donate $250,000 for a bronze statue then there is enough money in the area to start up a program. there is also revenue from the other sports. the entire mens basketball team, coaches, and spouses went on a week long cruise to alaska over the summer.

You have to think of boosters wanting to donate substantial amount of funds OVER donating them to Arkansas.  UALR has ties to Stephens and this really helps their sporting programs, except they can't make it work to support a football program. 

You also will not have fans sit down on a monday and weigh their odds of going to Hogs OR UAFS.  If they can go a razorback game it will trump the UAFS option. 

[onebadrubi]

it would take some time to get the fan base going but there are enough people in the fort smith area and even in oklahoma that would come to the games. I don't think that it would take away from the hogs since people would either be going to fayetteville or not. atu is made up of pansies. The Gulf South Conference would be a great fit for them. If they got in then ATU would have to play them.

Lets say the Hogs and UAFS kick off at 6:00 pm on Saturday.  I have to assume a large majority of the supposedly UAFS people you think of would rather stay home and watch the Hogs game on TV than pay to go to UAFS games, exception being players families.   

[twistitup]

Ualr would make more sense

[Hogfaniam]

Ualr would make more sense

Should, after UA vacates LR.  Start now and be ready for 2018

[twistitup]

Should, after UA vacates LR.  Start now and be ready for 2018

Agree.

WMS back again

[onebadrubi]

First of all, I doubt they would schedule directly against Arkansas. 

For those who recall the days of the AIC, there were many days of doubleheaders for those who were inclined to catch an early afternoon Arkansas game at War Memorial followed by a quick trip to Conway, Russellville or other AIC towns for an evening kickoff. 

Those days produced a better football game experience than anything today.

So you're saying they should schedule all games on Friday?  Because they can't schedule around Arkansas.  Arkansas knows the saturdays it's playing right now, that is it.  In the middle of the season some games times are not announced till days before the game. 

[jneal56]

You are correct sir! When I was going to UAFS (when I started it was West-Ark) I asked what would have to be done to get a football team started. They told me due to the transition from West-Ark to UAFS, they made an agreement to not field a football team because it was too close to Fayetteville and would take away from ticket sales. Straight from El Presidente himself.

I asked back in the fall of 1998 after I graduated high school. Was told the same thing but at that time they were still Westark and in the middle of finalizing the transformation from Westark to UAFS. A female friend of mine went with and was asking about starting a softball team. He said that they were in the beginning stages of adding another female sport. Volleyball, Golf and Softball were the three being discussed. We know which one they chose now I guess.

[gawntrail]

How about instead we have NWACC start a JUCO program so we can feed our non-qualifiers into it and have them in our backyard...  Oh wait, I think this was debated here last year.

I wasn't here.  Is there a link or a readers digest version of the discussion?   

[ricepig]

Not at all.  The AIC moved game start times from afternoon to evening when Arkansas start times were moved for TV.  No reason the same thing couldn't be done today.

Lol, yeah, that's a good way to run a program. TBD, means after the Razorback's announce their game time, and the Bluebird soccer league.......

[rljjr]

They even built the field for one.  Having worked there, I can say that the current board's stance on a football team is a resounding "No, never going to happen."

yeah, nice field, good D2 conference ... and I'm sure the interest would be there for players. I think that will happen eventually.

[ShadowTheHedgehog]

that is understandable but saying the uafs would take away from the razorbacks is a joke. that is like saying asu hurts the hogs by taking in state players.

You could say the same about Bama and UAB and see how that went.

[LL COOL HOG]

Ualr would make more sense

I agree with that. However, UAFS also has Oklahoma residents that it maybe able count on for attendance. The ones that do not want to drive 3 + hours to see the Sooners or Cowboys and are graduates or children that graduated from WestArk or UAFS. I think all the old money in Fort Smith that is being sat on would support Football. Need to give it a study to find out.

Built the field poorly at that. It was a shameful waste of money.

Was there more to being a poor field that shut the soccer team down? All I heard was that it was not the right time.

[LL COOL HOG]

You could say the same about Bama and UAB and see how that went.

UAB never had the support from the University Board of Trustees in terms of Football. That's what a fan and Alumni told me.

[Hogarusa]

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

[twistitup]

I agree with that. However, UAFS also has Oklahoma residents that it maybe able count on for attendance. The ones that do not want to drive 3 + hours to see the Sooners or Cowboys and are graduates or children that graduated from WestArk or UAFS. I think all the old money in Fort Smith that is being sat on would support Football. Need to give it a study to find out

That part of Oklahoma is not very populated it I am not mistaken and over 2 hours from Tulsa (who has a team already). The Fort is a reach imho

[RazorPiggie]

Curious as to why the OP has VB in his name but an airedale for his avatar?

[sooeey pig pig pig]

Fort Smith can use all the help it can get, from what I've seen.  Don't they have a baseball team?  Do people turn out for those games?  What about basketball?  Or was that Westark?

[Doug]

Since several of you seemed to have missed this...

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

I appreciate that some of you are quoting and asking questions to comments made in 2010.  Always a fun message board giggle

There's a reason why we have warnings on bumping up older threads. Holy hell, guys.

[ricepig]

Do you recall the days of the AIC, Ricepig? 

Sure, do, I turned down football scholarships from most of them in the 70's.

[RockyMtnHog]

Let me say this, CSU-Pueblo started a football program in Div II in 2006 from scratch.  I live in the Colorado Springs area which is 30 miles from Pueblo. 

This year the team won the Div II National Championship and the entire state of Colorado was a buzz.  It can be done even in a small town and Fort Smith is a big enough town for it to happen.

Get the right coach and the community gets involved with a winner.

[ricepig]

There was a different reason the state of Colorado was "buzzed", but continue on.....

[ricepig]

Well then, old guy (ha!), don't you remember UCA and Tech (mainly these two) moving start times to avoid Arkansas home games?  I do recall this but it was from the 80's when I was at UCA.

I recall attending several day / night doubleheaders watching both AIC and SWC games in the same day.  I'm just saying this sort of schedule manipulation can be done and I don't think it had any negative effects on the AIC games back then.

No, because I never had any interest in playing for them. TV has changed it all, this isn't the possibility it was in the 70's-80's. If they want to start a program, fine, just don't take away from the other students education.

[tc_mem]

As a UALR graduate football was never a possibility there.  I am unsure of a school at the FCS or in lower divisions, but in the case of UALR it was a title IX issue.  If they added 85 men's football scholarships they would also have to add and equal amount of women's scholarships to stay in compliance with title IX. 

Again I am unsure if UAFS would have these same issues if they fielded a team at a lower classification.  Fielding a team does not just require the initial investment in the football team and facilities but also women's sports to comply with title IX.

[BadHog]

As a UALR graduate football was never a possibility there.  I am unsure of a school at the FCS or in lower divisions, but in the case of UALR it was a title IX issue.  If they added 85 men's football scholarships they would also have to add and equal amount of women's scholarships to stay in compliance with title IX. 

Again I am unsure if UAFS would have these same issues if they fielded a team at a lower classification.  Fielding a team does not just require the initial investment in the football team and facilities but also women's sports to comply with title IX.

I understand title IX in power conferences and division one in general, but for the smaller schools, I think there should be exceptions as to how Title ix is applied.