MC dropping football the first domino?
- Thread starter Ranchdawg
- Start date
Serious question, it’s always been said that football pays for all the other sports. Is that not true for smaller schools ? Even if they aren’t profitable does football not at least help defray the cost of some of the non spectator sports or is it the case that football is so large staff and scholarship wise that it’s cheaper to fund a half dozen Olympic sports rather than football?
I don't think so. It's not like Div. II costs are going up with NIL. MC football just never recovered from the national championship being vacated because they were giving twice as many scholarships as allowed scandal. And it's just a weird school.
I think it's probably a balance depending on a school's football derived income. (ticket sales, donations, merch, concessions). Let's say a small FBS school might average 25k attendance per game. That's probably barely enough to cheaply fund football and have a little left over for other sports. At a school like Mississippi College, I doubt they get 25k attendance all season and thus having football puts them in the red financially.
MC may just be slippery slope principal:
Football success->scoring touchdowns->dancing in the endzone->kill the program
Football success->scoring touchdowns->dancing in the endzone->kill the program
The better question is how many schools will stop burning 8 figures a year for false hope of winning a championship, just to be blasted and embarassed in the playoffs (if they make them)
The return on investment only pays off for one team each year, for the rest it is a sigificant financial loss, even a worse loss of just fielding a team with warm bodies
The return on investment only pays off for one team each year, for the rest it is a sigificant financial loss, even a worse loss of just fielding a team with warm bodies
Division II revenue model is in trouble in this new era. NIL is a factor, but not as much as the 105-scholarship limit that is about to go into place.
You either do what North Alabama, West Georgia and others are doing and move up to FCS where you can make your budget playing buy games or you move down to D3 where there are no scholarships.
Mississippi College was caught in a pickle. Football team was not competitive while other sports are seeing success. The grim reaper will come for all D2 sports eventually but football just isn't going to happen for most D2 privates.
By 2030, you will see D2 start to separate. Look at the Gulf South Conference for example.
Alabama-Huntsville (public, non football)
Auburn-Montgomery (public, non football)
Christian Brothers (private, non football)
Delta State (public, football)
Lee (private, non football)
Mississippi College (private, non football)
Montevallo (public, non football)
Trevecca (private, non football)
Union (private, non football)
Valdosta (public, football)
West Alabama (public, football)
West Florida (public, football)
The four public football schools will have a decision to make. FCS or drop football. West Florida is the only Florida public college that is not D1, I expect they will make the move soon. West Alabama, Valdosta and Delta State are all struggling colleges. I don't think they will make the move to D1, but they will have to find new conference homes.
UAH and AUM have the resources to go D1 as well. I expect them to make the move soon.
Montevallo has the same issue as MUW - a public non-football liberal arta college. MUW is in the SLIAC (St, Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) in Division III. The travel is killing MUW but the D3 conferences in the South (SAA -Millsaps and CCS - Belhaven) are 100% private and will not allow a public college.
So where do schools like CBU, Lee, MC, Trevecca and Union - privates without football - land. Their choices are:
Go D1. None of these schools really fit in D1
Stay D2 and compete against public schools with lower tuition
Go D3 and drop all scholarships, maybe form a new conference (there are some schools looking)
Go to the NAIA and have scholarships but lose NCAA prestige
And its not just an athletic decision for these private schools.
You either do what North Alabama, West Georgia and others are doing and move up to FCS where you can make your budget playing buy games or you move down to D3 where there are no scholarships.
Mississippi College was caught in a pickle. Football team was not competitive while other sports are seeing success. The grim reaper will come for all D2 sports eventually but football just isn't going to happen for most D2 privates.
By 2030, you will see D2 start to separate. Look at the Gulf South Conference for example.
Alabama-Huntsville (public, non football)
Auburn-Montgomery (public, non football)
Christian Brothers (private, non football)
Delta State (public, football)
Lee (private, non football)
Mississippi College (private, non football)
Montevallo (public, non football)
Trevecca (private, non football)
Union (private, non football)
Valdosta (public, football)
West Alabama (public, football)
West Florida (public, football)
The four public football schools will have a decision to make. FCS or drop football. West Florida is the only Florida public college that is not D1, I expect they will make the move soon. West Alabama, Valdosta and Delta State are all struggling colleges. I don't think they will make the move to D1, but they will have to find new conference homes.
UAH and AUM have the resources to go D1 as well. I expect them to make the move soon.
Montevallo has the same issue as MUW - a public non-football liberal arta college. MUW is in the SLIAC (St, Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) in Division III. The travel is killing MUW but the D3 conferences in the South (SAA -Millsaps and CCS - Belhaven) are 100% private and will not allow a public college.
So where do schools like CBU, Lee, MC, Trevecca and Union - privates without football - land. Their choices are:
Go D1. None of these schools really fit in D1
Stay D2 and compete against public schools with lower tuition
Go D3 and drop all scholarships, maybe form a new conference (there are some schools looking)
Go to the NAIA and have scholarships but lose NCAA prestige
And its not just an athletic decision for these private schools.
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I assume by these schools being public, maybe they get federal money somewhere as well? Whereas MC is private.
Just making guesses here.
You are correct. It doesn't really go directly to athletics but here's a real life example:
Football player gets a 50% scholarship to Delta State and Mississippi College.
Delta State COA is $22,422
Mississippi College COA is $39,427
That player costs Delta State $11,200, and MC nearly $20,000. But to the player, thats their out of pocket. A Pell Grant cuts Delta State down to about $5k a year and MC costs $15k. Most players considering Delta State and MC are going to choose Delta State (or the D2 public). So MC has to go down a rung on the ladder for talent - they get a bunch of D3 talent that think D2 makes them look better to their hometowns when they could go to a more competitive D3 (Belhaven was a NCAA Playoff team last year, for example), for the same out of pocket costs.
This is not getting talked about a lot, but Mississippi College was one of the worst teams in D2.
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Oh contraire monfrair, OM is rumored to have a salary cap around $10 mil this year (verses probably a $3-4 mil for us), that extra $7 mil spent on football, has likely resulted in more than $7 mil worth of exposure, interest and new admissions. Not to mention the impact on Grenada, without the lake.
I think D2 is a weird funding albatross all its own.
I also think MC's situation exists in a vacuum to many degrees.
Exposure is temporary and yes there is an ad value amount for it that fades quickly... Awareness is expensive and may or may not result in students attending there, cost is WAY upside down. Cost per student admitted is unrecoverable, it would have to be their 5 grandchildren.
West Florida could be an FCS powerhouse. Great facilities, nice location. We'll see them on our schedule before 2040. I'd wager that within four years of becoming FCS, they will have a couple of FBS wins over Troy/Southern Miss type teams.
All JUCOS in state of Mississippi should probably drop football. They're definitely affected adversely with NIL and transfer portal.
What conferences would want UAH & AUM?
Atlantic Sun? Big South?
West Florida to the Southland makes a lot of sense…
D2 and try to attract NAIA schools with a pulse like William Carey and maybe even pry Spring Hill from the SIAC would be my first thought.
Good thoughts.
UAH is attractive academically for those lower conferences.
I think being in Jackson is ultimately what makes belhaven’s and Milsap’s situations untenable. I don’t think being in Clinton hurts MC in the sense that it drives students away. It’s just not an attractive college town to most prospective students. But MC is not for most typical students, so maybe it is more attractive to the type of students that would consider going there.I feel like if MC, Belhaven, Milsaps weren’t in hinds county, attendance would be different. I’d go to a game at MC if weren’t in hinds county and I also think you’d at least have better attendance numbers than the Braves did in Pearl.
In fairness we couldn’t have spent $10 mill last year if we had it to spend.
Belhaven has a cool vibe going on, at least. Milsaps is really just…..existing. Maybe they should combine, Belhaven needs a baseball field close to campus.
Belhaven was one of the first schools in the country to jump on online. They are doing well financially because of it.
Belhaven is also in a better spot athletically. Went to NCAA playoffs in football. Defending national runner up in softball. Men’s soccer just went to NCAAT. Both basketball teams have a chance to make the tournament.
if you are an athlete looking to play at that level, Belhaven is more attractive than just about anywhere between Texas and Georgia.
I’ve noticed they are starting to advertise more in Tupelo. Billboards and commercials everywhere.
Belhaven is also in a better spot athletically. Went to NCAA playoffs in football. Defending national runner up in softball. Men’s soccer just went to NCAAT. Both basketball teams have a chance to make the tournament.
if you are an athlete looking to play at that level, Belhaven is more attractive than just about anywhere between Texas and Georgia.
I’ve noticed they are starting to advertise more in Tupelo. Billboards and commercials everywhere.
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