UMass-Lowell moving to D1, joining America East

[NHwildEcat]

Announcement coming this morning from Lowell:

http://www.boston.com/sports/colleges/2013/02/14/umass-lowell-joining-america-east/JvZl3l8QhA0A3CYPe6wShP/story.html

[superman7515]

Have they ever expressed any interest in football? Not sure if they have a place to put a stadium but LeLacheur Park is a great venue for a college baseball team in the northeast.

[NHwildEcat]

As far as I know, they haven't expressed any interest in football. They would be able to acquire more land and build a stadium if they ever did want to do that though.

I am surprised they are moving up considering MA will have to cough up more funds to cover the additional costs and because of that I doubt football would be in their 10-15 year plan. But this entire move seems to have come out of nowhere, I hadn't heard even a remote whisper of something like this.

[NHwildEcat]

Have they ever expressed any interest in football? Not sure if they have a place to put a stadium but LeLacheur Park is a great venue for a college baseball team in the northeast.

Absolutely great baseball stadium and they have their own arena where I assume basketball will now be played in addition to hockey already.

[Laker]

But this entire move seems to have come out of nowhere, I hadn't heard even a remote whisper of something like this.

That is what surprised me- all of a sudden it was- there will be a news conference and it is a done deal.

Whoever was involved should work for the government- there didn't seem to be any leaks!

[Seawolf97]

Im sure te River Hawks are going to struggle quite a bit. They are a middle of the pack D 2 program with a 7 million dollar athletic department budet. So they will need funding and start recruiting talent. And yes it was quite a surprise to everyone.

[NHwildEcat]

Im sure te River Hawks are going to struggle quite a bit. They are a middle of the pack D 2 program with a 7 million dollar athletic department budet. So they will need funding and start recruiting talent. And yes it was quite a surprise to everyone.

I don't know where that funding will come from other then a full court press at fundraising. I think by the end of the 4-year transition they will have an athletic budget double that. 7 million in D2 is pretty good, and they should have seen more success with a budget like that IMO. But they are saying the right things and if they continue to push to be greater, they wil suceed. That school has grown leaps and bounds. It's only a matter of time before they beat up on UNH basketball.

[superman7515]

http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/2013/03/04/umass-lowell-well-positioned-move-its-sports-teams-into-division/TKKX5oaGVj2j5C7kujUTDO/story.html


HOWEVER THEY fare in the current state-budget season, Massachusetts’ public universities must look for ways to build their individual reputations, increase alumni giving, and appeal to students outside their host communities. The recent decision by the chancellor and trustees of University of Massachusetts Lowell to move all its sports programs to the more competitive Division 1 will raise the university’s profile in a positive way. The fact that the university does not have varsity football — which requires by far the largest expenditures — will make the transition easier.

UMass Lowell Chancellor Marty Meehan has chosen a reasonable sample of schools to measure the River Hawks against: Among them are the state universities of Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. He isn’t looking toward the national powerhouses, such as Texas or Ohio State, that pour more than $100 million a year into their programs.

The average annual price tag for the sports at Meehan’s peer schools is about $22 million, according to federal data. Reaching parity would still require a significant investment for a UMass Lowell athletic program that spent $7.4 million last year playing most of its sports in Division 2, but UMass Lowell is well positioned to take the leap. Since Meehan, the former US representative, became chancellor in 2007, the endowment, enrollment, and research spending are all up significantly, and the university is attracting students with higher academic qualifications.

The article states that not having football will make the transition easier, but the peer schools they want to be associated with and work to having a similar budget are all schools playing football in the CAA.