Wichita State leaders will use report to start its football discussion

Now that Wichita State and its employees, students, fans and potential donors know what they’re talking about, it’s time to talk football.

On Monday, Wichita State released the “Football Benchmarking Analysis,” a 69-page report prepared by College Sports Solutions. Its purpose is to put a price tag and timetable on building a football program, while detailing the steps necessary for such a move. Its purpose is also to give people a starting point for discussion.

That is what’s next for Wichita State president John Bardo and interim athletic director Darron Boatright — a listening tour. Armed with the report, WSU officials can discuss football and determine what the people want and what they are willing to pay.

“We started this process to engage the community,” Boatright said. “We can have a real conversation now to determine what’s best, what direction we want to go.”

Bardo is on vacation this week. Boatright and vice president for strategic communications Lou Heldman both said they expect the pace of discussion to slow during the summer and pick up in the fall. They will talk to the university community, fans, donors in private and in public. A feedback form is available for those willing to leave a name and phone number at wichita.edu and goshockers.com.

Some informal conversations have taken place with boosters; WSU wanted to wait for serious talk until the report arrived.

“This gives us an opportunity to turn opinionated conversation into educated conversation,” Boatright said. “That will lead to private talks about the real feasibility of making a decision like this. It could lead to town-hall-type settings. All those things are on the table.”

The report, completed over roughly four months at a cost of $60,000, details start-up facility costs of more than $40 million and football budgets that start around $6 million annually. It provides timetables and projected budgets for Football Championship Subdivision (a level that includes the Missouri Valley Football Conference) and the Football Bowl Subdivision (the highest level of college football which includes conferences ranging in prominence from the Sun Belt to the Big 12).

For example, the report projects a cost of $238,500 to start an FCS program in 2016-17 with a budget that rises to $6.5 million (after three years of preparation and two of competition) by 2020-21. For FBS, the budget starts at $585,451 and grows to $10.5 million over five years.

The report hints at an important piece of the decision — money coming from the university, government and student fees. WSU’s athletic department currently ranks below most peers in “allocated revenue.” Its institutional support of $7.4 million (in 2015) ranks below the 25th percentile for FCS schools and five FBS conferences used in the study (American, Mountain West, Sun Belt, Mid-American and Conference USA). In case studies provided with the report, schools such as Kennesaw State, East Tennessee State, Charlotte and Texas-San Antonio used an increase in student fees to fund football.

“It will start with on-campus and student leadership and then bleed out into the community, as well,” Boatright said.

The report also includes a case study on Winthrop University, which opted not to add an FCS football program, because of the cost.

There is, Heldman said, no deadline for the next decision.

“We’re much closer to the start than to putting a team on the field,” he said. “The cooler it gets, the warmer the conversation will get.”

▪  WSU’s coaches received a copy of the report before the media on Monday and Boatright has had conversations with some to answer questions and calm nerves regarding the future of the department. Football, with is demand for resources and attention, can frighten some coaches in less-prominent sports.

“I recognize their sense of concern,” he said. “Most of us in the department have worked at other places and had real-life experiences on how decisions like this can impact any other particular sport. You try to cool those concerns.”

▪  When Bardo announced the study in December, he said an examination of conference affiliation accompanied looking at adding sports. The report issued Monday contained little about conferences, other than recommending WSU not try football as an independent.

Conference change was not included in the report because of the confidential nature of conversations with conference administrators.

“I have had communications and conversations (with the consultants) that are not included in the report,” Boatright said. “We didn’t do anything in writing.”

▪  Should WSU add football, the report recommends adding women’s sport(s) to satisfy Title IX, the 1972 law enacted to ensure gender equity at publicly-funded schools. Boatright said sports such as swimming and diving and bowling start with an advantage because WSU already possesses facilities for those sports. Bowling and crew are both non-NCAA sports at WSU. Soccer is another option mentioned in the report. In the case of bowling, the long success of the program, housed in the Rhatigan Student Center, demonstrates a popularity on campus that can also be helpful with Title IX issues.

This story was originally published June 28, 2016 at 6:32 PM with the headline "Wichita State leaders will use report to start its football discussion."