UTA Football Vigil - "It's just a matter of time!"

UT Arlington students overwhelmingly voted in favor of reviving NCAA football and beginning Women's Soccer and Golf programs at The University of Texas at Arlington.  Despite this strong mandate, President Spaniolo decided the time was not right.  He felt the first priority should be to get an arena built to replace Texas Hall as an athletic venue.  He said he wanted to re-examine the issue within five years, which would have been by January 20, 2010.  Of course, that date has come and gone with no re-examination of the question. 

The arena has finally been okayed and construction was slated to begin in March 2010.  This is two or three years later than Spaniolo had probably envisioned back in 2004, so maybe that is why it has taken so long for him to return to the question of football at UTA.  Meanwhile, despite the lack of an on-campus stadium UTSA has announced it will go ahead with football, and indeed will strive to go directly to FBS status.  To add insult to injury, Lamar University has shrugged off the effects of two Gulf hurricanes in the last five years and is proceeding to build a football program.

Both UTSA and Lamar have coaches hired and the first class of football recruits on campus.  Alumni at both places are giddy with excitement and are making big contributions in support of the programs and the universities.  Incoming enrollment is on the uptick at both places and it is to some degree being attributed to excitement about football at both schools.  Clearly the leaders at Lamar and UTSA "get it" and understand that football and athletics in general adds significantly to the presence and prestige of their institutions.

Meanwhile, UTA and TAMUCC will be the last two schools in our conference without complete athletic programs.

Perhaps the beginning of arena construction will be catalyst for re-examination of athletics expansion.  One can only hope! 

In the world of NCAA Athletics, there are two sources of funding, internal and external.  Internal funding consists of student fees and other money generated within the institution.  External funding consists mainly of gifts from outside the university.  Most of the UTA athletics budget is derived from the student athletics fee, which is driven by the aggregate number of hours "sold" by the university each semester.  The amount of external giving is a reflection of the standing a university has in the community, especially among alumni.  Such is the case at UTA. 

Consistent with other non-football schools, UTA has a relatively negligible level of external athletic gifting occurring.  At schools where football has been introduced, as at Southeastern Louisiana University, external giving has grown rapidly, not just for athletics, but in general.  The cost argument against football thus appears to lack merit, and in fact, as rising tuition costs and stagnant enrollment growth put a ceiling on further internal funding growth, it is possible that football is the best potential future catalyst for external funding growth that could ensure the survival of existing Division 1 athletic teams at UTA.