DI SCHOOLS THAT ARE ADDING FOOTBALL PART ONE: Football is coming to campus

Monday, September 29, 2008

There are currently 6 Division I schools that are publicly looking at adding Football to their collegiate sport offerings. On top of that, there are 4 schools that have officially added Football and are preparing for their inaugural seasons. Since we are on the midst of a pledge drive at bringbackshockerfootball.com, I thought it would be interesting to see how much initial up front money these schools are seeking. Below are the list of schools, their official pledge drives and associated student fees.

Lamar: Cardinals Athletics led by Billy Tubbs, will embark on a 5 million dollar campaign to help with the start up cost of football. The students have passed a fee increase in the amount of $8.75 an hour which will garner about 2 million dollars annually. This increase will raise the total cost of attending Lamar by 131.25 or about 4% for a total of $3173.25. This is assuming a student class load of 15 hours. They plan on using the student fees to help offset the debt service of about 11 million dollars in facility improvements.
Lamar student fees with football: $875
Football begins: 2010
Feasibility Study: Coming Soon!

Georgia State: GSU believes that the estimated start up cost will be about 7.8 million for football. This is being secured by student fees and alumni fundraising. GSU's student fees will be raised $85 per semester for a total of $600 which is within $10 of Georgia and Georgia Tech's student fees. Overall it will raise GSU students fees and tuition by about 3% and will garner about 5 million dollars annually.
GSU Student fees with Football: $600
Football begins: 2010
Feasibility Study: http://www.nmnathletics.com/pdf2/53118.pdf?ATCLID=695518&SPSID=53686&SPID=5679&DB_OEM_ID=12700

Old Dominion: ODU's first football game in 69 years will be held in the fall of 2009. Before Football was officially added, ODU alumni were asked to raise 8 million dollars to help with start up cost and the establishment of a football endowment. The alumni succeeded and the students followed by passing a $7 per semester fee increase to help fund the program. This fee will generate about 2 million each year. ODU's on campus football stadium was built in 1936 and was last used for college football in 1940. The stadium is currently undergoinf 24.8 million dollars in upgrades.
ODU Student fees with football: $99
Football begins: 2009
Feasibility Study: Coming soon!

South Alabama: As part of a 75 million dollar campus wide campaign, the university of South Alabama is seeking 1.5 million for new athletic facilities which includes football offices. USA students voted to increase their student fees by $150 which will raise 3.5 million dollars a year. This will raise their overall cost of tuition by 6%.
USA Fees with football: $258
Football begins: 2009
Feasibility Study: Coming soon!