UMass’ football move called a ‘huge financial disaster’

[RF1]

UMass’ football move called a ‘huge financial disaster’
By Bob Hohler | Globe Staff December 13, 2013

http://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/2013/ ... story.html

[Ramulous]

My guess is the upgrade ultimately had as its goal the linking to the football powers of the old big east....spend a couple of years in that conference they are now in and when the final split of the old big east happened they would link with UConn, Syracuse, Rutgers, Pitt, Louisville, West Virginia, Memphis, Temple, et al. in an all sports conference that would be attractive to a foolish TV network ( see FoxSports) which would vastly overpay for content.

That ship has sailed.....Temple and UMass should re-think their futures tied to small time BCS football....if UConn doesn't get an invite soon to one of the big 5 conferences they should re-think their commitment to small-time big-time football....

....the old CAA teams should re-group with these teams to form a big-time high school football conference with lower overhead and survive when a couple more A-10 Catholic schools leave for the Catholic big east....if the new big east wants to dilute their $4M individual revenue any further (how stupid can FoxSports get to give them a bigger dollar pool for a lackluster product that generates no national excitement?)

[TruePoint]

I hate to say I told you so, but.....I had this one nailed from the jump.

[RhowdyRam02]

If you're interested in the UMass fans' take go to umasshoops.com. The discussion occurs in the more unhappiness with direction of football program thread, starting on page 32. Needless to say many there don't agree with the article or your conclusions.

[TruePoint]

If you're interested in the UMass fans' take go to umasshoops.com. The discussion occurs in the more unhappiness with direction of football program thread, starting on page 32. Needless to say many there don't agree with the article or your conclusions.

Then they can't see the forest for the trees. They will never be a serious FBS football program. Ever. College football is not a northeast sport. Penn State and BC are finished as serious national programs, and they have traditions, money, conference affiliations, facilities and fan bases that UMass will never have. The startup costs are too high and the payoff too low - anywhere, but especially in New England - for this to ever work.

[RF1]

You are in trouble if you are not part of a power football conference. UMass was damned no matter what it did (stay at FCS or move up to FBS level). It think their move was predicated on the hope that there would still exist a Big East football conference and they would eventually get an invite. That train left the station. The best Umass could do now for football is the AAC. That however would not be good for all their other sports for travel reasons. Furthermore, if UConn's efforts to get out are successful, that league is no longer all that attractive even for football.

I myself have never felt UMass football could succeed. They don't have the fanbase and the move to play games at Gillette was problematic from the start. UMass is pretty much much locked into low level FBS football in a lesser league. I don't see how that will ever succeed financially. I however will give them some credit for taking the risk and trying to make it work. I just don't think they will ever get there.

[RhowdyRam02]

The UMass move is called a huge financial disaster by a UMass art professor who opposes the entire athletic department. UMass fans believe the Globe treats them the way we think the ProJo and Channel 10 treat us (neglect except when they can attack us). Here's a different article on the move up and it's influences on the university as a whole:

http://businessofcollegesports.com/2013 ... ng-to-fbs/

[Surfri72]

How is Penn State finished as a serious national program?

[ramster]

FCS to FBS: Bowl Games
written December 18 by Kristi Dosh
http://businessofcollegesports.com/auth ... egesports/
from the December 18 article...............
This year, every bowl game is on national television. Most games appear on ESPN, with a few on ESPN 2, ESPNU, Fox and CBS. The lowest rated bowl game often outperforms the FCS national championship game, the only shot an FCS team really has at a national viewing audience. Last year, just one bowl game rated lower than the FCS national championship game: the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl, which featured Purdue against Oklahoma State. The Heart of Dallas Bowl averaged 943,000 viewers, while the FCS championship game averaged 1.1 million.

from the December 17 article..............
For performance measurements, universities measure themselves against “peer institutions.” UMass lists the following as its peer institutions: Indiana University-Bloomington, Iowa State University, Rutgers University-New Brunswick, Stony Brook University, University of California-Santa Barbara, University of Colorado Boulder, University of Connecticut, University of Delaware, University of Maryland-College Park, and University of Oregon

In reading both of these articles and then the one by the Art Professor at UMASS you get a more balanced view. We can guess which side an Art Professor is going to come down on.

Interesting who UMASS now considers their Peer Institutions and interesting that we are not one of them.

Interesting that teams that jumped from FCS to FBS have been on TV and to Bowl Games that they never got playing at the FCS level. Buffalo is a prime example. I am sure nobody at Buffalo is yearning for the old FCS days.

We don't know what the future looks like necessarily but I can see a Super AA BCS Group of Teams - those that average 50K to 100K in attendance each week. Then I can see a A Level Groupd of Teams (UMASS, Buffalo, UCONN, etc) who average 15k to 50K in attendance and then there are the URIs of the world averaging 5K to 15K in attendance.

I applaud UMASS for making the move, even if it fails so what...............the Art Department gets less money

[seanmc94]

That's a pretty broad "peer group". UMASS had better figure out who they can be soon; before they become a cautionary tale.

[Ramulous]

They fired their coach today after two years....the next hire will tell a lot about where they think they are going...

[RF1]

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/f ... story.html

[RF1]

There was a sizable number of people connected to UMass football that did not like Molnar. Several football alumni were put off by him as he did not do much to foster their involvement in the program. There were also reports from former players of questionable motivational techniques that many felt crossed the line.

http://www.gazettenet.com/home/8646427- ... of-players

From the story:

[TruePoint]

From the perspective of a Notre Dame football fan, I can tell you that most ND fans were not disappointed to see Molnar go when he got the UMass job, and also that I would watch out for ND to drop UMass from its 2015 schedule (the rationale for scheduling that game in the first place was to "take care of their own," meaning as a favor to Molnar).

[SmartyBarrett]

How is Penn State finished as a serious national program?

I don't get that one either.
Same with BC - they had the best running back in the country this season.

[TruePoint]

How is Penn State finished as a serious national program?

Recruiting and talent pools. The source of talent has steadily moved away from the midwest to the southeast, and as a result traditionally strong programs are struggling to compete athletically with programs located in the talent hotbeds. It isn't just Penn State; look at the entire B1G and how they have competed in bowl games and in other games against teams from other power conferences. These programs can still be popular and have a ton of fan and institutional support, and they can continue to land a few big prospects and produce some NFL players, but in terms of the overall roster 1-85, you just won't see teams from this part of the country deep and talented enough to compete for national championships.

[TruePoint]

http://deadspin.com/who-wants-the-worst ... 1489898227

[RF1]

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/f ... story.html

[RhowdyRam02]

We're linking to Dan Shaughnessy articles now? Good grief. If he's calling UMass moving up a terrible idea I feel more comfortable than ever believing it's not nearly as bad an idea as everyone thinks.

P.S. In the future if you could kindly tell people that you're linking to an article from that piece of human excrement I'd really appreciate you noting that. The last thing decent people need to do is accidentally click on one of his articles, generating page views for that filth and making the Globe think he has a relevant opinion.

[SmartyBarrett]

We're linking to Dan Shaughnessy articles now? Good grief. If he's calling UMass moving up a terrible idea I feel more comfortable than ever believing it's not nearly as bad an idea as everyone thinks.

P.S. In the future if you could kindly tell people that you're linking to an article from that piece of human excrement I'd really appreciate you noting that. The last thing decent people need to do is accidentally click on one of his articles, generating page views for that filth and making the Globe think he has a relevant opinion.

I nominate this for Post of the Year.

[TruePoint]

We're linking to Dan Shaughnessy articles now? Good grief. If he's calling UMass moving up a terrible idea I feel more comfortable than ever believing it's not nearly as bad an idea as everyone thinks.

P.S. In the future if you could kindly tell people that you're linking to an article from that piece of human excrement I'd really appreciate you noting that. The last thing decent people need to do is accidentally click on one of his articles, generating page views for that filth and making the Globe think he has a relevant opinion.

I nominate this for Post of the Year.

Word. Shank is the worst. When he agrees with me it makes me feel bad.

I know in the case of my posting the deadspin article, my point was more to share others' perspective than it was to co-sign the piece.

[ramster]

We're linking to Dan Shaughnessy articles now? Good grief. If he's calling UMass moving up a terrible idea I feel more comfortable than ever believing it's not nearly as bad an idea as everyone thinks.

P.S. In the future if you could kindly tell people that you're linking to an article from that piece of human excrement I'd really appreciate you noting that. The last thing decent people need to do is accidentally click on one of his articles, generating page views for that filth and making the Globe think he has a relevant opinion.

I nominate this for Post of the Year.

I second it