Low football attendance could hurt all sports
Consistent low attendance at USU football games could have negative effects on the football program and athletic programs at large, USU Athletics Director Randy Spetman said.
Featured as the guest speaker at the Professional Employees Association brown bag luncheon Wednesday, Jan. 24, Spetman discussed the importance of building up the football program at USU.
“We need to have football be successful, and I know it can be here,” Spetman said. “It has been successful in the past as you look back. It’s been a number of years where it hasn’t been. It can if we build it right and we have the patience to get it going again.”
Football is the revenue generator at USU, Spetman said. Out of the 16 NCAA athletic programs available at USU, only football and men’s basketball make money for the university – particularly football, he said.
The athletics department has an operating budget of $12 million, the lowest in the Western Athletic Conference, Spetman said. From these funds, all the athletic programs are funded. But with the only profit coming from football and basketball, and football attendance low, it is difficult to provide valuable facilities for the athletes and programs, he said.
“We struggle from year to year,” Spetman said. “I can’t give the coaches and student athletes some of the things I’d like to.”
Fixing the revenue shortage begins with increasing attendance, Spetman said. With increased attendance come increased sales of tickets, concessions and merchandise. But, with the poor performance of the football team, it is difficult to get fans to continue to want to attend the games, he said.
“There’s one way to fix attendance and it’s winning,” Spetman said. “It’s hard to go cheer if the ladies and the guys are losing week after week. If we start winning, we’ll have 6,000 plus students there.
“We had what I call a dismal season last year. It was more than dismal, one and 11. The one thing that’s been a plus for me is Coach Brent Guy. He’s trying to build it with the right kind of athletes. He is trying to get freshman here to start and build confidence in them through the whole program.”
Spetman said he is pleased with the direction Guy is taking the program and dispelled doubts about keeping Guy, saying, “He’s here for, I think, the long term.”
“I think football can come back,” Spetman said.
Illustrating the value of a powerful football program, Spetman pointed to surrounding schools. Spetman said Brigham Young University and the University of Utah, two schools of fairly comparable size to USU, generate net revenue per football game of about $1.5 million dollars. These teams also play an average of six to eight home games a year, amounting to about a $10 million net profit annually, he said.
USU, on the other hand, played five home games last season and netted a season profit of a mere $430,000, Spetman said. Thus, increased attendance could very well affect the amount of profit made.
Another example Spetman pointed out of a football program contributing to the financial well-being and success of a school was Boise State, a fellow WAC team.
Spetman said Boise State is not well known as a top research institution, yet because of the success of their football team in winning the Fiesta Bowl and pulling off the only undefeated season in the nation, many people see Boise State as a top research university.
“We in the athletics department, whether we want to or not, are the front window of the university,” Spetman said.
As USU athletic programs improve, it will attract more athletes and more students to the university, Spetman said.
As part of attracting more student athletes to USU, construction is currently underway on the North Endzone facility at Romney Stadium. This $13 million project is the second major renovation to Romney Stadium within the past 40 years, Spetman said.. The first phase was the completion of the front entrance to the stadium about a year ago and cost about $1.5 million. This money was raised by the students as they bonded for $10 million, Spetman said.
The second phase, the North Endzone facility, is designed to improve the quality of facilities for the student athletes by providing them with new training rooms and equipment, Spetman said. The old facility was outdated and did not serve the needs of the athletes, he said.
“I can honestly tell you that our student health area, training room, in our north end zone was worse than any high school in the state of Utah,” Spetman said.
But after completion, the new facility will be anything but a high school grade facility. The first floor of the three-floor complex will be a sports medicine facility. It will include improved equipment and rehabilitation instruments, such as three 14 foot by eight foot hydrotherapy pools, Spetman said. These pools will be outfitted with video cameras under the water to enable therapists to see what is going on.
Another important addition will be the inclusion of a doctor and therapist during the afternoon to assist athletes, Spetman said. This is made possible through a partnership with IHC, he said.
The second floor will be offices and meeting rooms for the football coaches. The third floor will be a student academic area with computer labs and meeting rooms. Tutors will also be available on this floor to assist student athletes, Spetman said.
“It will be in place by next fall,” Spetman said. “I will tell you I’m very nervous because the whole front of it, the south side of the building, is glass and it will be really neat. As of this time, I have not raised enough money to put the glass in. I’m about $2 million short in the fund-raising effort.
“We had about $6 million of the student bond money left and I’ve raised about $3 million to pull it off. It’s not money coming from the university. It’s money we’re out actively fund-raising for and a lot of good people are helping us out around the United States that are alumni and in the community.”
Spetman said he hopes with the improvements to facilities and the future advancement of the football program,the athletic department will bring in more money, which will add to the overall success of the university.
-sethhawkins@cc.usu.edu