OK, now we get an official estimate of what it would cost to put a 49er football team on the field at UNCC. The estimate from the AD’s office pegs the direct cost of football at $4.9 million, plus another $4 million in indirect costs — expansion of women’s sports to comply with Title IX among them.
Well, the $4.9 million is in the ballpark, but seems to significantly undercount some expenses, like team travel. The estimate puts that cost at $450,000. In 2004-2005, however, UAB’s football team spent just over $1 million on travel. Also UAB, not so long ago a peer of UNCC’s in the old Sun Belt Conference, spent twice as much — $600,000 — on game guarantees as UNCC projects.
But other line items UNCC has pegged higher, like recruiting. So, like I said, overall, bottomline number is not insane.
The most important thing going forward is the notion of a $300 student fee hike in order to pay for it all. Like I’ve argued, the current UNCC sports model will lead to a massive student fee hike — perhaps of 30 percent or so — as the basketball-only model breaks down.
Essentially, if UNCC students want to spend their money on football — rather than books or lab fees or something academic — I’m not going to say they can’t. Let’s see who agrees with that.
