1988: WSU football report contains major “ifs”

Football can make a successful comeback at Wichita State if the athletic department budget deficit is eliminated and if fans provide proper financial support, a panel’s report tells university President Warren Armstrong.

Those are major ifs. Eliminating the deficit is five years down the road, and the report is “a step in the decision process as opposed to a specific recommendation,” Armstrong said.

The 30- to 40-page report, a year in the researching, was delivered to Armstrong on Friday. “I have not even seen it yet,” Armstrong said early Friday afternoon. “I’ll look it over this weekend.”

Armstrong said he would make the report’s findings public either Monday or Tuesday. However, he said the report is neither a vote for nor against football, which was suspended at WSU in December 1986.

The report also recommends that if WSU reinstates football, it should be a member of a conference and should have a year’s funding in reserve. The Shockers were not affiliated with a conference when the program was suspended.

“It is a neutral report,” said WSU athletic director Tom Shupe, who also served on the panel. “It cannot be interpreted as a ‘for’ or an ‘against.’ ”

Dr. John Gaston, chairman of the 14-member panel appointed by Armstrong last May to study the possible return of football, and several other committee members would not disclose detailed information.

“The agreement was that the report would go to the president, then the information would be released from there,” said Gaston.

However, the report is not expected to disclose anything new, sources said. When Armstrong decided to suspend the program Dec. 2, 1986, he cited low attendance and the financial drain that funding football put on the school’s other athletic programs.

WSU’s best average attendance in the 30,083-seat Cessna Stadium was 23,021 in 1982. In its final season, WSU’s average attendance was 9,960.

Sources said the report’s findings primarily deal with finances.

“There’s definitely a chance for it to succeed,” said one committee member who requested anonymity. “But mainly it’s a financial situation. We think first, that the athletic department debt has to be retired.”

Shupe said the debt, which was projected to reach nearly $2.5 million before football was suspended, should be eliminated within five years. “But if there’s a major, unforseen expense in my plan, the five-year goal may be in jeopardy,” said Shupe.

Shupe expects WSU’s athletic budget to show a profit June 30, the end of the fiscal year. “Any excess revenues we have on June 30 will be applied to the existing debt,” said Shupe, who would not disclose how much excess revenue he expected.

Shupe said he did expect the debt to be reduced to about $1.5 million by the end of this fiscal year.

Once that debt is eliminated, the report said, fan support is most critical.

“First and foremost, the university would see football as an investment in the community, to those who would see the games,” said one committee member. “Financial support would have to come from the fans. The program would be dependent and existent on fan and community support.”

Are there enough fans to support football at WSU? Shupe thinks so.

“I don’t believe that Wichita State can provide or has the ability to compete with a Nebraska or an Oklahoma, Notre Dame or that kind of thing,” Shupe said. “I know some people will find that somewhat negative, but I don’t.

“I think there is an opportunity for football to be popular. But not for 80,000 fans on Saturday. Maybe for some level less than that in which standings and a conference championship and a playoff are a possibility.”

Shupe said he believes if WSU were to achieve the success of a Northern Iowa, one of the country’s top Division I-AA programs and a member of the Gateway Conference, fans would support the program.

If football were to be reinstated, WSU could not return to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association classification, Division I-A, for at least four years after the reinstatement of the program.

According to Shirley Whitacre, the NCAA’s membership coordinator, one requirement for I-A classification is average attendance over a four-year period. Although there are several different formulas, WSU would likely have to average at least 17,000 in paid attendance - home and away - for one season of a four-year evaluation period before petitioning for I-A status.

This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 12:32 PM with the headline "1988: WSU football report contains major “ifs”."