FOOTBALL AT UIC!?

[Chuck A]

I know this topic has been broached before, but listen. We are in the third largest market in the country. The only Division I football in the area (not region) is Northwestern. UIC has 25,000 students and a number of alumni in the area. We have a huge operating budget and a decent athletic budget.

I realize that Title IX has put a crimp in men's athletics and would cause the addition of 100 female athletes if we have 100 football players. What would it take for someone to get up an advisory committee to look into the feasibility of starting a program here?

We have alumni that I'm sure would donate if they knew we were trying to start a football program. I'm also sure we could get businesses to donate money for the start-up of a program. I remember mentioning this to Jim Schmidt a while back and he said that initial costs (outside of the Title IX situation) would be 6 million dollars, not counting the stadium. Naturally we would have to have a stadium to play in, which would be another huge amount.

If Division II and Division III teams (Univ. of Chicago comes to mind) can have football programs, why not us?

I will do my part by e-mailing some of the higher ups in administration to get a feel of things.


Hmmm...how does Winfrey Stadium sound? Or Urlacher Field? How about Ditka Stadium? It would be nice if some of the money in Chicago would donate to our cause. I'm sure some of the donors wouldn't mind their name on a stadium.

[Big D]

of course, I'd love to have football, but is UIC willing to risk their money-making athletics for a sport that usually leaves departments operating in the red? Unfortunately...doubtful. We just don't have the fan support or the facilities, or most importantly, the money...

Question though, could we start maybe at a lower level and work our way up? What about D2 or D3 football....does Title IX not apply to one of those? Clearly, I'd love to eventually see a D1 football program, but it's gone for a reason, and I don't see it coming back.

Would you be willing to accept a decrease in quality of all current UIC sports for a probably very weak football team? That's a tough call for me.

[circle70]

I live in the Atlanta, GA area. We are currently in the early stages of looking at the feasability of a football program at Georgia State University. Former pro coach Dan Reeves is heading up the study and so far they are very optimistic with high interest among students, alumni, and the business community. Their only local competition is Georgia Tech. By the way, they are looking at starting at the Division II level.

Georgia State is the mirror image of UIC--large inner city school of about 25,000 students and primarily a commuter school. Their Division 1 basketball team draws only about 1,000 fans or less for most home games so I would think that that would dampen the enthusiam, but the AD is all for starting a football program. Someone in the Athletic Dept. could reach out to the Georgia State people for more details on their progress.

[FuryJP]

I've already purchased my UIC football jersey from Target. It's #32 with "FLAMES" on the back and the UIC Flames logo on the sleeves. It's got an NCAA tag on it. Either someone got their info wrong, or it's a hint

(this is no joke)

[Big D]

JP, got a pic?

[FuryJP]

The store is out of stock, and there's no online photo. I'll have to take a pic and post it. I actually wore it to the DePaul game and was shown on the big monitor at the Allstate. Anyway, I'll wear it to the basketball game tomorrow. I'll be in the front row of the student section.

[soccer fan]

I saw those jerseys at Target on Roosevelt Road in August-September. I was wondering what was up with those, given that UIC does not have a football team.

Come to think of it, Target would be a really good jersey sponsor UIC!

The Flames colors are right (red), and the target symbol would look great (as in, not in need of explanation or further embellishment).

Maybe THAT's how the football team gets funded. After the soccer stadium, of course.

[UICJohn]

well, I wouldn't expect UIC to start out with a Division 1 football team. I would expect them to start with D2 or D3 and maybe in time work their way up. Still, the cost would be large. It's hard to say there would be a ton of interest due to our mediocre basketball attendance. But football is just one of those sports that colleges go crazy for. I have no real reasons why, but I just think that football would become big even without any real good teams for a while. It's like an event. Of course, the administration would have to help out (i.e. allowing for tail gating which they would not do for a soccer game this year!).

[circle70]

UIC John:
Regarding your comment "It's hard to say there would be a ton of interest due to our mediocre basketball attendance" see my (Circle70) post above regarding Georgia State's basketball attendance. By the way, Georgia State played at home last night;
attendance: 1,122 (UIC avg. this year: 4,027) If football doesn't get another chance to work at UIC, it won't be basketball attendance related.

[soccer fan]

uicjohn said:

Of course, the administration would have to help out (i.e. allowing for tail gating which they would not do for a soccer game this year!).

Where were you trying to tailgate at Flames Field? Just curious.

'Cause at the Fire games, the parking lot is right there.

At Flames Field, the logistics seem difficult, seing as how the parking lot is in back of Maxwell Street. Were you asking for them to open up the SES parking lot?

[EzE]

Question - If UIC had football, would rather be one of the top D2 schools or a new to the scene mid major D1 school?

[circle70]

Since our fellow HL members, Valpo, Butler, and Y-State are Division 1-AA members and apparently doing OK, we can shoot for that level, after a few years at Division 2. I think 1-A is too much of a stretch. UAB and UConn succeeded in going from zero to D1-A in < 10 years but I think we're out of their league (no pun intended).

[goflames31]

I wish Athletics would put out a survey of some kind to the student population just to get some feedback on what "we" want. As much as I think the Alumni's voice should be heard (everyday I get closer to joining that voice), the power lies with the students I believe even if the money would lie with the Alumni for UIC to get a football team. I would be all for starting at the D2 level and working our way up as a program because we have to prove we have the interest for D1 before we can make the jump.

With with an increasing % of students living within the UIC area a well publicized effort for athletic teams could/should be successful and I don't see any problem with building a joint facility for football and soccer where they can each grow and excel in. The SES parking lot and baseball field comes to mind...

[EzE]

They would need to listen to both the students and alumni. Students are in and out in a few years and they ultimately become alumni. What they need is increased turnouts for other sports (i.e. - basketball). If there is a larger draw at these events, an argument can be made for football.

What is interesting about my experience with UIC bball is that I have gone to significantly more games as an alumus than as a student. Granted I was a more vocal and definitely more obnoxious fan when I sat in the student section, but my overall support of the program is stronger as an alumnus.

I give the student section credit for being vocal at the games...that's what we need.

[goflames31]

I have been impressed with the attendance thus far this year at basketball games. Obviously some of that has to do with the bussed in kids coming to the games but I think that will always be the case. We need to draw from the students and alumni as well as the community. The first two are the obvious culprits for lack of attendance, but if we can build a "UIC Community" where the area residents support the University I don't see how the students and alumni would not be right there with them. A better, more consistent basketball team is the key in my mind because it is the only "big draw". Our soccer turnouts were great when compared to the typical soccer turnout, but not really even close to what a great basketball turnout is like. An NCAA tourney win at some point would be HUGE.

I wonder how many people attend Butler football games?