UAB shuts down football program - does this impact Greek Life?

[ChioLu]

Read the Dec. 2nd post:
http://www.fireraywatts.com/

Ray Watts also killed the marching band and a majority of the cheerleading squad. What a great guy.

If a university has a Division 1 football program, who has 5-6 games televised a year and the President doesn't know how to leverage that into being a money maker, then he doesn't know how to lead a university and should be FIRED!

[OPhiAGinger]

Originally Posted by ChiOLou's linked site

Yesterday, UAB President Ray Watts killed UAB football. He also killed the bowling and rifle teams, the marching band, a big chunk of the cheerleading squad and other support groups, and in the process, killed the future education of thousands of Alabama students who, without the scholarships from those entities, will never be able to afford college.

In a situation like this when scholarships are already awarded and the programs are later eliminated, I would think the university has an obligation to continue to honor that scholarship commitment. Future scholarship opportunities are gone, but don't they have to pay out on the current commitments like with any other contractual arrangement? Is that not true?

[33girl]

Originally Posted by OPhiAGinger

In a situation like this when scholarships are already awarded and the programs are later eliminated, I would think the university has an obligation to continue to honor that scholarship commitment. Future scholarship opportunities are gone, but don't they have to pay out on the current commitments like with any other contractual arrangement? Is that not true?

Nope. Our gymnastics program got eliminated and half the girls had to leave because their scholarships went as well.

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

Read the Dec. 2nd post:
http://www.fireraywatts.com/

Ray Watts also killed the marching band and a majority of the cheerleading squad. What a great guy.

If a university has a Division 1 football program, who has 5-6 games televised a year and the President doesn't know how to leverage that into being a money maker, then he doesn't know how to lead a university and should be FIRED!

Not going to disagree with you.

Given Titchou's comments about this situation, I think that any president who is actively seeking to shrink a university's offerings should be fired. I would think that it would be in the state's best interest to have a 4-year undergraduate university in their largest city.

[Hartofsec]

Originally Posted by ChioLu

If a university has a Division 1 football program, who has 5-6 games televised a year and the President doesn't know how to leverage that into being a money maker, then he doesn't know how to lead a university and should be FIRED!

Most football programs probably don't make money -- even "top tier" programs:

According to Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian, authors of The System: The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football (2013),figures from the 2010-11 academic year show that only 22 of the 120 top-tier football programs broke even or made a profit. That means that while these big-time teams generate millions of dollars of revenue, the cost of running such programs usually exceeds that revenue. To put that more starkly, even within the so-called top tier, 82% of college football teams actually take away money from the university’s budget, rather than generate net revenue. (The NCAA’s figures are, perhaps predictably, less damning with just over half the teams generating profit.) Benedict and Keteyian’s figures suggest that the overwhelming majority of top-tier athletic departments require their universities to allocate funds from elsewhere in the school’s budget for the sake of football. Thus, the myth that college football generates revenue for universities is a lie 82% of the time among the highest grossing “tier” of teams.
http://www.ethosreview.org/intellect...ll-profitable/

I hate it for the students, the scholarship athletes, and city, but UAB was facing some huge expenditures to improve facilities and was (has been) in need of an on-campus stadium. It is very unlikely that the program would become a money-maker.

UAB football has been around less than 14 years I think -- and D1 fewer years than that. Unfortunately, UAB often seemed like a football stepchild sandwiched between several high-profile SEC teams here.

Hopefully something can be worked out conference-wise for the remaining sports (UAB has had a competitive basketball team and following in the past, for instance). Conference USA stipulates that the school must have a football program.

It's sad for the disappointed students and fans. Some of the freshman athletes probably feel betrayed having just been recruited.